As Division II members prepare to vote Saturday on eight proposals, the Division II Management Council kicked off the 2016 NCAA Convention by looking ahead to next year. The council, meeting in San Antonio, is recommending that the Presidents Council sponsor three legislative proposals that could come to a vote at the 2017 Convention in Nashville.
The new concepts that will be reviewed and discussed over the coming months include one that would change the Division II requirements for student-athlete hardship waivers and season-of-competition-while-
On Wednesday, the Management Council supported a recommendation from the Division II Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement that would streamline the requirements to qualify for such waivers. The new standards would increase the maximum number of competitions to no more than three contests or dates of competition, or less than 30 percent of a playing season, as prescribed by the Division II Manual. Additionally, the proposal specifies that in order to receive a hardship waiver, the injury or illness would have had to occur during the first half of the season – a condition that now exists in Divisions I and III. Likewise, in order to receive a season-of-competition-while-
“The Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement is seeing a very large amount of these waivers that are coming at the very end of seasons,” said Notre Dame College Athletics Director Scott Swain, a Management Council member who also serves on the Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee. “We felt after a lot of discussion and feedback that we should probably put this out to membership for a vote.”
The Management Council also recommended sponsorship of a concept from the Division II Legislation Committee that would broaden the circumstances under which a student-athlete can receive from sponsors for non-NCAA competition expenses described as “actual and necessary.” The proposal would enable student-athletes participating in outside competition – such as an athletics event that is unaffiliated with their school – to receive necessary expenses from certain sponsors. (Sponsors could not include an agent, a booster or a representative from a professional sports organization.) This proposal would allow Division II student-athletes to have the same opportunity provided to Division I athletes.
The third Management Council-recommended proposal for 2017 would permit student-athletes in team sports to miss class during the nonchampionship segment for competition against other Division II schools in Alaska, Hawaii, Canada or Puerto Rico once every four years. Likewise, the proposal would provide flexibility for teams in those locations traveling to the mainland United States for competition.
All three proposals will be reviewed by the Division II Presidents Council on Thursday.
Other actions
The Management Council also approved several noncontroversial proposals that will take effect immediately, including:
Legislation that enables a Division II school or conference or the NCAA to provide complimentary admission to prospect-aged children of military families for regular-season contests, conference tournaments, NCAA championships and other postseason competitions. Military families may already receive free admission to these Division II events, but previous legislation did not extend the benefit to their prospect-aged children.
Legislation that allows schools to provide a student-athlete with transportation between campus and any bus station, train station or airport at any time. Previous legislation permitted a school to provide only local transportation.
Legislation that aligns the Division II playing and practice season and sports sponsorship legislation in women’s rugby with the legislation now in place for Divisions I and III.
Republished with permission Rachel Stark from NCAA.org.