2008 Woodie Awards
Future of NESCAC questioned by proposal of Division IV
Molly Biddiscombe
Issue date: 3/9/07 Section: Sports
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In recent college athletic news it has been all about the numbers. 420: the number of members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. 1,871: the enrollment of Colby College. IV: the newest athletic division proposed to accommodate small schools like Colby due to the rampant growth of Division III.
Division III now includes over 400 schools, which makes it by far the biggest division in college athletics. The original mission of Division III was to provide smaller schools, many of which have excellent academic reputations, an opportunity to participate in college athletics free from athletic scholarships and still maintain academic merit among athletes. Yet now as the Division III continues to grow in membership an emergence of new ideals has profusely spread throughout the division.
There seems now to be a separation of mindset over the suitable role of athletics in the academic setting of a college, along with issues of money and national championships. The bottom line is many NCAA leaders believe that the diversity of principles within Division III and the sheer number of schools has outgrown the canopy of a single division.
The answer? The Executive Committee Working Group of NCAA developed a proposal for a fourth division, hypothetically called Division IV. Rather than capping Division III, NCAA would like to divide the preexisting Division III on the basis of school size and philosophical criteria based on institutional objectives for athletics. Two groups are currently working on proposals for the new division, one that would be a fourth division in its own, and another that would be a subdivision of the Division III.
Smaller, generally private institutions would most likely move to maintain a more conservative attitude about college athletics. They would require schools to offer a vast number of sports, and would place limitations on recruiting, the length of seasons and the amount of off-season preparation allowed. The present Division III rules state that coaches cannot visit recruited athletes until their junior year of high school, each school is only required to support five women and five men sports (three of which need to be team sports), the traditional in-season practice is limited to either 18 or 19 weeks, and there are specific number of days allotted for off-season practice. Schools remaining in Division III would have a more relaxed set of rules regarding the above-mentioned limitations. Likewise, Division III would only require that schools offer as few as six sports.
Division III now includes over 400 schools, which makes it by far the biggest division in college athletics. The original mission of Division III was to provide smaller schools, many of which have excellent academic reputations, an opportunity to participate in college athletics free from athletic scholarships and still maintain academic merit among athletes. Yet now as the Division III continues to grow in membership an emergence of new ideals has profusely spread throughout the division.
There seems now to be a separation of mindset over the suitable role of athletics in the academic setting of a college, along with issues of money and national championships. The bottom line is many NCAA leaders believe that the diversity of principles within Division III and the sheer number of schools has outgrown the canopy of a single division.
The answer? The Executive Committee Working Group of NCAA developed a proposal for a fourth division, hypothetically called Division IV. Rather than capping Division III, NCAA would like to divide the preexisting Division III on the basis of school size and philosophical criteria based on institutional objectives for athletics. Two groups are currently working on proposals for the new division, one that would be a fourth division in its own, and another that would be a subdivision of the Division III.
Smaller, generally private institutions would most likely move to maintain a more conservative attitude about college athletics. They would require schools to offer a vast number of sports, and would place limitations on recruiting, the length of seasons and the amount of off-season preparation allowed. The present Division III rules state that coaches cannot visit recruited athletes until their junior year of high school, each school is only required to support five women and five men sports (three of which need to be team sports), the traditional in-season practice is limited to either 18 or 19 weeks, and there are specific number of days allotted for off-season practice. Schools remaining in Division III would have a more relaxed set of rules regarding the above-mentioned limitations. Likewise, Division III would only require that schools offer as few as six sports.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Ira Waldman
posted 3/10/07 @ 1:07 AM EST
If there are D-III schools that want to emphasize athletics more than others, let them go up to D-II, or have a subset of D-II based on school size, but it would be a real crime to break up a conference with as much going for it as the NESCAC, and the AD's should fight like hell to keep it together. (Continued…)
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