Summertime

 

written by STEVE ULRICH your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III     >> Good Friday Morning.  >> Today's Word Count: 1,238. The weekend is here. >> Thanks for reading. May I ask a favor? Share this with a friend or colleague today and invite them to subscribe.   Sign Up for Free: D3Playbook TOP STORY 1. Summertime Thank you to all for your support of D3Playbook. The 2020-21 academic year has been one that will not be forgotten soon and I'm glad that we could provide some help along the way. D3Playbook will now shift into its summer publishing schedule. What does that mean? We will publish on Mondays and Thursdays through mid-August and will return to a Monday through Friday slate beginning August 16. Of course, we will provide breaking news as it happens to ensure that you are in the know as to what's happening in the world of Division III. Have a safe, happy and healthy summer! Steve   WOMEN IN COLLEGE SPORTS 2.  More Athletes, Fewer Leaders   by Patrick Hruby   "Long before Dr. Nicole LaVoi became a leading scholar of gender in sport looking, she was a 10-year-old elementary school student, unexpectedly called to the principal’s office. An avid basketball player, LaVoi had just been selected to play on a boys’ travel team. She assumed that her principal wanted to congratulate her. Instead, she says, the principal asked LaVoi if she would join the Girl Scouts or take up ballet. “It was because I had displaced a boy on the team,” LaVoi says. “And I said, no, I want to play basketball.” She laughs. “I think that is where this all started.” >> Situational Awareness: "Today, LaVoi is the director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota, which conducts scholarship and outreach focused on understanding and improving sport and physical activity for girls and women. >> Why It Matters: "One of the Tucker Center’s ongoing research projects, the Women in College Coaching Report Card, tracks the percentage of coaches who are women for women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I teams. Over time, LaVoi and her fellow researchers have identified a trend: While the number of women playing college sports has increased dramatically, relative opportunities for women to coach have not." >> Reality Check: "We have a paradox that's operating in college sports. Post-Title IX, the number of participation opportunities for girls and women has gone up," said LaVoi. We have a record number of female collegiate athletes today. And we have 50 years of girls and women who have played sports with knowledge, passion, and interest in coaching. So you would think that the percentage of women coaches would have gone up. In fact, it has gone down." >> Of Note: "So we have a grading system (to determine the most and least underrepresented). It’s a fairly generous scale. My students would love it. To get an “A,” you have to have 70 percent of your head coaches of women’s teams be women. The sports that have consistently gotten “A” grades have been field hockey, equestrian, lacrosse, and rugby. The sports that have gotten F’s and haven’t really moved much over the years are swimming and diving, cross country, track and field, water polo, fencing, and alpine skiing." >> Keep Reading   FOOTBALL 3. Straight-Line Collision Drills Prohibited by Jeremy Villanueva, NCAA "Football athletic activities designed to create straight-line collision are prohibited in Division III after the division’s Administrative Committee approved the recommendation as noncontroversial legislation at its meeting today. The prohibited athletics activities are specified in the policies and procedures established and maintained by the Division III Football Committee and the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports and will be annually specified. As noncontroversial legislation in effect immediately, the proposal will be added for ratification at the 2022 NCAA Convention. The Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee recommended the prohibition following a report at the 2021 Football Concussion Task Force meeting that found data trends showing a disproportionate number of head impact exposure during the preseason as compared to the regular season." >> Quotable: “Prohibiting these straight-line contact drills that are not common to the sport will help reduce the head exposure impacts for our football student-athletes,” said Troy Hammond, vice chair of the Division III Presidents Council and president at North Central (Illinois). >> The Key Stat: "A survey completed by 92% of Division III football coaches showed most supported the legislative action." >> Read More   NCAA 4.  ADR Institute   Division III will conduct the seventh annual Athletics Direct Report Institute on Jan. 19-20 at the 2022 NCAA Convention in Indianapolis. The purpose of the program is to engage Division III ADRs in best practices to oversee and manage athletics departments and to improve the relationships between ADRs and their presidents, athletics directors and conference commissioners. The two-day program includes networking opportunities and interactive discussions with ADR peers and other expert presenters. Click here for event details. ADR Institute participants will receive a registration fee waiver to the NCAA Convention to continue their professional development. The institute also provides travel, meals and lodging for all participants. Nominations will open in the NCAA Program Hub on July 1 and close at 5 p.m. Eastern time Aug. 15. Eligible nominators include commissioners, presidents/chancellors and directors of athletics. ADRs also may self-nominate for the institute. Please contact Leah Kareti with any questions.   NEWS 5.  D-Backs Tab Hedman 2009 D3baseball.com Player of the Year Drew Hedman has been named co-hitting coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The former Pomona-Pitzer standout received the promotion after serving as the D-Backs Run Production Coordinator. Hedman played four seasons in the Red Sox organization, and while he topped out in Double-A, that alone qualifies an accomplishment. A total of 1,521 players were selected in the 2009 draft, and only three of them went later than Hedman. As a 50th-round pick, the writing was on the wall by the time the ink dried on his first contract. Not that he didn’t give pro ball the old college try. Staying in the game beyond his playing days was a goal even before his release. The question was, in which capacity? A front office role made sense — Hedman has a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, with a focus in Economics — but his alma mater wasn’t yet the baseball breeding ground it’s become. Over a dozen Pomona alums have gone on to work for MLB teams since Guy Stevens, who now runs the Kansas City Royals’ R&D department — broke the ice in 2013. >> Read More courtesy of David Laurila, FanGraphs   NCAA 6.  Calendar June 14-15 - Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports 15 - CoSIDA Divisional Day 15 - Strategic Planning and Finance Committee 16 - Interpretations and Legislation Committee 21-22 - Championships Committee 23-24 - Membership Committee courtesy of NCAA   TRANSACTIONS 7. Comings and Goings   BRIDGEWATER - Dan Schiele named assistant football coach EASTERN NAZARENE - Scott Polsgrove stepped down as head men's basketball coach and director of track and field ELMIRA - Cody Griswold named head men's wrestling coach HOOD - Michael Petro named head cross country/track and field coach LASELL - Valerie Driscoll named assistant women's basketball coach MANCHESTER - Katie Mitchell named head women's soccer coach MERCHANT MARINE - Harry Passante named assistant football coach MIT - J.J. Hunter named director of track and field/cross country OBERLIN - Alex Hanna stepped down as director of football operations and assistant coach OGLETHORPE - Kellen Greer named head baseball coach RHODES - Antonio Brown named assistant football coach TUFTS - Sydney Kahan named assistant women's soccer coach WABASH - Chris Burke named head men's lacrosse coach WHEATON, Ill. - Pete Felske announced his retirement as head women's soccer coach WHITMAN - Jocelyn Awe named director of sports performance    Thanks for starting your day with us and enjoy your weekend. Please invite your friends to sign up for D3Playbook.    Sign Up for Free: D3Playbook

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