The Division III Championships Committee endorsed recommendations from the Division III Wrestling Committee and Division III Women’s Rowing Committee that could carry an annual price tag of more than $50,000.
Despite the division’s budget constraints, the Championships Committee recommended the enhancements at its meeting in Indianapolis because it hopes to bolster fairness at those championships and ensure they operate more effectively. The Division III Strategic Planning and Finance Committee will review the recommendations in the coming months.
The Championships Committee also endorsed a recommendation from the Division III Rowing Committee to permit eight full teams (fielding both a I Eight boat and a II Eight boat) to compete in the championship. The current field consists of six full teams and two at-large I Eight boats. Covering expenses for the additional competitors would cost roughly $30,000 annually.
The Championships Committee also recommended requiring regions in the Division III Wrestling Championships that field more than 16 teams to expand their regional tournaments from one day to two. Wrestlers in these three regions are now asked to take part in as many as nine matches in a single day, and the Wrestling Committee argued that expanding the tournament would reduce strain on the participants. Expanding the regional tournaments would require additional funds for facility rentals, staff meals and personnel expenses that could reach up to $6,000 in each of the three regions that fields 16 or more teams.
The Wrestling Committee also asked to expand from four members to six, a change the Championships Committee endorsed. Currently, two regions are not represented on the committee. Growing to six members would allow each region to be represented, as with all other Division III sport committees. Covering travel and other expenses for two additional members would cost about $6,300 annually.
The Strategic Planning and Finance Committee will review each of the Championships Committee’s recommendations that could generate additional costs and determine whether funds are available. Cuts to championships spending made last year have helped ease some budget concerns, but Division III committees are still weighing extra spending carefully.
“The budget reports are positive for the 2014-15 championships as it seems that the decisions we made to cut costs are working. The championships committee will continue to be cautious when approving recommendations that carry additional expenses,” said Monica Severson, Championships Committee chair and associate athletics director and senior woman administrator at Wartburg College. “It’s important that we’re listening when the sport committees tell us what they may need. We felt like these recommendations were merited.”
Other actions:
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The Championships Committee engaged in a lengthy discussion regarding the current structure used to determine championships selections. A recommendation from the Division III Men’s and Women’s Tennis Committees catalyzed the debate. They argued that all at-large bids should be selected from the same pool. Those bids are now divided into two groups: Pool B – independent schools plus schools from conferences that don’t have an automatic bid; and Pool C – all teams not yet selected to the field, including those from automatic qualifying conferences that don’t earn the automatic bid by winning the conference championship. The tennis committees argued that because of the current structure, unqualified Pool B teams are being selected at the expense of deserving Pool C teams. This issue has been triggered by more conferences earning automatic bids in recent years, which has created a dearth of teams eligible for a Pool B bid and a glut of potential Pool C teams.
Given those concerns, the tennis committees asked that Pools B and C be combined when championships selections are made. Other sport committee chairs expressed similar frustrations when they met with the Championships Committee earlier this week. Given that the issue seems to extend beyond tennis, the Championships Committee chose not to vote on the tennis committees’ proposal and asked for more information to be gathered before it decides a course of action. It also requested input from the Division III Membership Committee. While no action was taken, the discussions seemed to be the first step toward a deeper examination of the structure of at-large bids.
“As your automatic qualifiers are continuing to increase, how is that affecting Pool B’s and Pool C’s?” Severson said. “It’s more than just a Championships Committee discussion, but we can kick-start the conversation because that’s what we’re hearing from our sport committee chairs. It’s certainly something we’ll keep our eye on as we move forward.”
- The Championships Committee endorsed a proposal from the tennis committees to eliminate the team third-place match at both the men’s and women’s championships events. This is effective immediately and will provide athletes more rest time before they partake in the individual portion of the championships, the committee members said.
- Gerald Young, Carleton College athletics director, was elected chair of the Championships Committee. His term will begin in 2016.