2016 NCAA Convention
The 2016 NCAA Convention will begin its three day lineup of student-athlete legislation tomorrow January 14th and run through January 16th at the Grand Hyatt and the Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio, Texas. The purpose for this meeting is for members and representatives of NCAA institutions to oversee the newest proposals being presented for the coming athletic seasons. Once every board proposal is validated by the NCAA’s top officials and committees, they sign off on whether the proposition is supported or opposed for the year of 2016. Each division in the NCAA has been assigned a specific schedule so they receive proper exposure and have enough time to convene on their separate proposals.
While NCAA Swimming isn’t listed on the convention’s schedule, it’s important to recognize what impact the proposals might have on our sport as a result of the weekend’s delegation. Division I representatives and officials of late are campaigning for more sport sponsorship and value-based revenue distribution under the branding, “the Division I experience.” The Sport Organizational Structure group is presenting fresh ideas on how to determine the openness of their membership while retaining the importance of what it means to belong to Division I athletics. Meanwhile, the Values-Based Revenue Distribution group is drafting motions to evaluate how revenue earned from championship earnings is distributed to deserving resources and school’s members based on their student-athlete academic record. This legislation is more focused on cash flow sports like NCAA Football and Basketball, but these two groups could collaborate in a way that sees more sponsorship of NCAA Swimming, acknowledging its reputation of producing quality student-athletes, and the aquatic side of “the Division I experience.”
NCAA’s Division II is presenting significant legislation during its session on Saturday the 16th to discuss the possibility of recognizing certifications from strength and conditioning coaches as members on a coaching staff. This would require any person hired as a strength and conditioning staff member must be accredited with a nationally recognized certification, which at this time is not specific to a single certification license. Not only would it create opportunities for conditioning professionals and kinesiology students in collegiate swimming, it will benefit Division II programs to receive this status whether one of their coaches administers the workouts or third-party individuals are contracted for the conditioning aspect.
For the NCAA’s Division III level programs, representatives are discussing on the deregulation of electronic transmissions which would lift the barriers preventing coaches and recruits from conversing on public or private social media accounts or by any electronic means. This piece of legislation likely will not pass due to overwhelming opposition from the likes of the Presidents Council and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
One of the items on the NCAA Convention’s agenda is for the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to receive new or gently used college-branded shirts as donations for their fundraiser, “One Shirt, One Body.” Shirts received will go to middle school students of IDEA Public Schools in San Antonio.