No surprises at the Board meeting
The actions of the Legislative Council apparently survived unscathed, and the Board adopted Proposal 2008-062, a previously tabled issue. The NCAA website has a few details.
Archives Archive April 2009
Updated Quizzes
With the adoption of a slew of legislative proposals earlier this week by the Legislative Council, we've updated two of our quizzes: New for 2009 and New for 2010.
For the record, we don't try to cover every piece of legislation that has been adopted or defeated, since our target audience is coaches and we tend to focus on sports for which the Pac-10 sponsors championships.
Tweet your score, if you're brave enough.
April Legislative Council report
The meeting report is out. What you really want is the listing of the legislative outcomes, available as Attachment A.
Keeping in mind that the Board of Directors at its April 30 meeting could ratify, amend, or defeat legislation adopted by the Legislative Council, here are the outcomes:
• What's in: 2008-012*, 2008-013-B*, 2008-015-B*, 2008-020-A, 2008-025-D, 2008-029*, 2008-034, 2008-043, 2008-046*, 2008-052* (FCS), 2008-054, 2008-055-A, 2008-057*, 2008-059, 2008-067*, 2008-068-B, 2008-075 + 2008-075-1, 2008-077 + 2008-077-1, 2008-079 + 2008-079-1, 2009-001*, 2009-002*, 2009-003*, 2009-004*, 2009-005*, 2009-006*, M-2009-001*, M-2009-002*, and M-2009-003*. Asterisked items are effective immediately.
• What's out: 2008-019 (not moved), 2008-020-B (moot), 2008-032-B, 2008-045, 2008-048, and 2008-051.
We've updated our Manual Updates page.
Take two and call me in the morning
The Legislative Council meeting was devoted largely to (surprise) legislation, but one other notable item occurred. We now have a process to deal with previously approved ARS/SLR waivers, similar to what's in place for incidental-expense waivers. An institution that finds precedent for particular ARS/SLR waivers can self-apply the relief and report it to its conference office quarterly.
Details are in Supplement 12 of the Legislative Council meeting materials. The current list is short, but will assuredly grow.
Legislative Council meeting summary
The full report of this week's Legislative Council meeting isn't out yet, but an NCAA News article touches on a few of the highlights.
Softball SLR waiver follow-up
You probably recall the SLR softball waiver issued on April 6. It allows quarter institutions to begin softball practice and competition during the 45-day nonchampionship segment as early as September 15, 2009, even if classes have not started for the 2009 fall term.
The NCAA has confirmed for us that NCAA 17.21.1.2-(c) still applies:
(c) During any week in which practice or competition occurs, a student-athlete's involvement in countable athletically related activities shall be limited to a maximum of four hours per day and 20 hours per week and all countable athletically related activities are prohibited during one calendar day per week;
So even though classes will not have not started yet in this scenario, there are limits on the amount of countable hours that can occur, despite what NCAA 17.1.6.3.5 says.
Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger!
A new official interp goes into succulent, mouth-watering detail about meals and lodging that may be provided to prospects and their parents/guardians/spouse/kids when making an official visit.
I guess this is what they mean by a "drive-in" meal. Or maybe this. And here's a friendly place to stop.
Let's go camping
Very thorough EdCol today on camps and clinics, with quite a bit of detail about implementing a recent Legislative Council interp about how such camps and clinics must be advertised.
SLR blankets the softball field
A new SLR blanket waiver for softball was announced today:
The NCAA Division I Legislative Council Subcommittee for Legislative Relief approved a blanket waiver to permit softball programs at Division I quarter institutions to begin practice and competition during the 45 day nonchampionship segment as early as September 15, 2009, even if classes have not started for the 2009 fall term. The subcommittee granted the request based on the totality of circumstances. The subcommittee noted: (1) Adjusting the start date for the nonchampionship segment helps address competitive equity concerns related to the varying academic calendars (i.e., quarter versus semester institutions) and climates of Division I institutions; (2) The change of the start date does not provide a competitive advantage for these quarter institutions impacted by the blanket waiver because the waiver is not extending the length of the 132 day playing season in the sport of softball; (3) Applicant conference will sponsor legislation for the 2009-10 legislative cycle to address this issue in the future; and (4) The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and the NCAA Division I Women's Softball Committee supported the blanket waiver request. To view this blanket waiver in its entirety, please access SLR Case No. 11653 on LSDBi.
Gymnastics dead period
The NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship is coming up, and so is the dead period that surrounds it. You can pick up a reminder.
A slight loosening
This arrived on LSDBi the other day:
Calls Regarding Institutional Camp and Clinic Logistical Issues (I)
Date Published: April 2, 2009
Type: Official Interpretation
The committee determined that a telephone call to an individual (or his or her parents, guardians, relatives or coach) that relates solely to institutional camp and clinic logistical issues (e.g., missing registration information) is not subject to the restrictions on telephone calls, provided no recruiting conversation or solicitation of particular individuals to attend a camp or clinic occurs. [References: NCAA Division I Bylaws 11.7.1.2 (recruiting coordination functions), 11.7.4 (limitations on number of coaches and off-campus recruiters), 13.1.3 (telephone calls), 13.1.3.1 (time period for telephone calls -- general rule), 13.1.3.4 (permissible callers), 13.1.3.4.1 (institutional coaching staff members -- general rule) and 13.12.1.3 (recruiting calendar exceptions)]
Play this one as it lays.
It means a DOBO could call a high school freshman about camp logistics, even though a call for recruiting purposes couldn't be made until years later and almost never by a DOBO. In other words, all restrictions about phone calls go away as long as the parameters of the interp are met.
This interp has a narrow scope, and as someone smarter than me has said, it's "not a license to get creative in the recruiting process". Instead, think of it as an attempt to apply some common sense to address some of the logistical issues that arise related to camps.
Basketball NLI dead period coming
The spring NLI-signing period for basketball is coming up. You can pick up a reminder of the dead period that accompanies it.