MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Women's triathlon?

How many D1 schools even have that?

Women's Triathlon

North Central is one of the first NCAA institutions to commit to the addition of a women's triathlon program as one of the NCAA's Emerging Sports for Women. The NCAA's Committee on Women's Athletics identifies and manages emerging sports, which are intended to help institutions provide more athletics opportunities for women and develop more sport sponsorship opportunities for institutions.

"The NCAA's recognition of triathlon as an emerging sport certainly grabbed our attention," said Marty Sauer, North Central's vice president for enrollment management and athletics. "We feel that it's a natural fit for North Central, given the strength of the fitness and triathlon community in this area. We're excited to get in on the ground level in pursuing a varsity program."

The College's addition of women's triathlon was made possible in part due to the Emerging Sport Grant program sponsored by USA Triathlon, the national governing body for the sport. USA Triathlon is distributing nearly $1 million in grant aid to be awarded to NCAA Division I, II and III institutions in order to develop, implement, grow and sustain women's triathlon at the collegiate level. North Central is one of eight recipients of a three-year, $70,000 grant to institute its program.

Triathlon was approved as an NCAA Emerging Sport for Women at the NCAA Convention in January 2014. Emerging sports have a 10-year window in which to establish 40 programs. The first-ever Women's Collegiate Triathlon National Championships were held on Nov. 2, 2014 in Clermont, Florida.

"There was a fairly extensive process to apply for the grant," said North Central athletic director Jim Miller '86. "Our director of grants, Michelle Porcellino '05, and our assistant athletic director, Sue DeNigris '02 Kane, took the lead and we were told the bid was very impressive."

North Central triathletes will have access to the Residence Hall-Recreation Center, Jay and Dot Buikema Track and the Merner Field House pool. In addition, the local community offers more than 500 miles of local trails for running and cycling and a community with a sport and fitness culture that will provide abundant competitive opportunities as well as local interest and support.

Intercollegiate women's triathlon is a fall sport, competing from Sept. 1 through the first full weekend in November, and will consist of up to six dates of competition each year.

"The Naperville area and all of Chicagoland are home to multiple triathlons," Miller said. "We have a lot of opportunities as far as training, too. It seemed to all of us to be a fantastic fit, and the grant is a significant boost to help us get started."

[Gregory Sager]

Yeah, triathlon is certainly very new. I applaud any attempt to add women's sports rather than cut men's sports, however.

Agreed, but my first thought when I read the post about North Central adding two men's sports and one women's sport was, "How is that going to fly in terms of NCC's Title IX compliance?"

No matter what the sport, it is a major sport to the kids who play it.  That is the DIII Philosophy.  It baffles me how people who spend so much time following DIII don't get that.  While some may get more publicity or draw more fans, it is all still "love of the game."

Oh, I certainly agree with that, as far as it goes. But there's no mistaking the fact that there is a distinct hierarchy of intercollegiate sports even in D3, although ADs such as yourself are loath to say so publicly. The CCIW has a bylaws requirement that each member school must field teams in football, men's basketball, and baseball, which reinforces the major-sport aspect of what I've dubbed the Big Three. It's really now the Big Four, due to the national ubiquity and high interest in men's soccer, even though the CCIW bylaws haven't been amended to require the sport. (It's probably not necessary, since all eight schools have men's soccer programs, and Carroll has it, too.)

I'm all for reinforcing interest in the other sports, several of which I broadcast for NPU. And you're right that any sport is a major sport if you play it (or if your kid plays it). And the Walnut & Bronze is the same size and model regardless of the sport. But let's not fool ourselves; the interest level and attendance for the Big Four (and the bylaws requirement for the original Big Three) really do put them in a different category.

[AndOne]

Yeah, triathlon is certainly very new. I applaud any attempt to add women's sports rather than cut men's sports, however.

Agreed, but my first thought when I read the post about North Central adding two men's sports and one women's sport was, "How is that going to fly in terms of NCC's Title IX compliance?"

From the document "Requirements Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972" issued by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights:

A college or university is not required to offer particular sports or the same spots for each sex. Also, an institution is not required to offer an equal number of sports for each sex. However, an institution must accommodate to the same degree the athletic interests and abilities of each sex in the selection of sports.

Adding 2 men's sports as opposed to only one women's sport would therefore have no adverse effect provided an institution was in compliance to that point. 

[Gregory Sager]

I understand that, Mark. I also understand the whole "three prongs" bit regarding Title IX compliance. However, I've spoken with a college administrator whose comment regarding Title IX was along the lines of, "Best not do anything that's gonna get 'em looking your way -- so, if you add a men's sport, you should probably add a women's sport, too, just to save yourself the headache of having to explain yourself."

[kiko]

I understand that, Mark. I also understand the whole "three prongs" bit regarding Title IX compliance. However, I've spoken with a college administrator whose comment regarding Title IX was along the lines of, "Best not do anything that's gonna get 'em looking your way -- so, if you add a men's sport, you should probably add a women's sport, too, just to save yourself the headache of having to explain yourself."

I believe North Central did not add a men's sport when they added women's LAX a few years ago.  I'm not sitting here with my green visor and calculator to confirm the numbers, but perhaps this balances things out.

As for this:

I applaud any attempt to add women's sports rather than cut men's sports, however.

Agree 100%.

[badgerwarhawk]

Doesn't Title IX require the ratio of men and women athletes be approximately equal to the their ratio in the general student body? 

[Pat Coleman]

Doesn't Title IX require the ratio of men and women athletes be approximately equal to the their ratio in the general student body?

That is one of the three ways a school can show compliance with Title IX, but there are two others.

[Bombers798891]

No matter what the sport, it is a major sport to the kids who play it.  That is the DIII Philosophy.  It baffles me how people who spend so much time following DIII don't get that.  While some may get more publicity or draw more fans, it is all still "love of the game."

One of the best interviews I ever did was with a high school AD who said that. His school had won a lot of titles over the years, and he said that one of the most important things he had to remember was that every student-athlete thinks their sport is the most important, and he needed to be a visible advocate/supporter for all of them. I view D-III the same way. It's not a situation where football/men's hoops has to be good to help pay the bills. Success in "lower profile" sports with smaller participation numbers is just as valuable as football/hoops titles

[AndOne]

Doesn't Title IX require the ratio of men and women athletes be approximately equal to the their ratio in the general student body? 

Doesn't Title IX require the ratio of men and women athletes be approximately equal to the their ratio in the general student body?

That is one of the three ways a school can show compliance with Title IX, but there are two others.

Policy interpretation, which explains the standards of the regulation, clarifies the obligations of colleges and universities in three basic areas.

1. Student interest and abilities
2. Athletic benefits and opportunities
3. Financial assistance

Under Student Interest and Abilities (1) compliance is assessed by how a school (a) determines the athletic interests and abilities of its students, (b) selects the sports that are offered, and (c) determines levels of competition, including opportunity for team competition. Under (a) there are four separate requirements that must be met. Compliance with section (b) deals largely with whether a sport is designated as a "contact" sport, and section (c) compliance can be met in any one of three ways much of which is dependent on a school's history of developing and adding sports for the underrepresented sex.

Under Athletic Benefits and Opportunities (2) Title IX regulation specifies ten specific factors that must be considered. Among the areas considered are equipment, facilities, scheduling, coaching and tutoring, medical/training services, and publicity. To determine equivalency, each of the ten factors is assessed by comparing whether there is any difference between men's and women's teams in five additional areas.

The Financial Assistance section (3) primarily deals with athletic scholarships and thus is not pertinent to D3.

The bottom line is that if 60% of an institution's athletes are male, the total amount of aid going to men's programs should be approximately 60% of total aid provided.

* If you want to know the specifics regarding how each area is assessed and what each point is that is examined, especially under the Athletics Benefits and Opportunities section, Google-Requirements Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
The requirements for compliance are exceptionally detailed.

[petemcb]

Any more intriguing tuition deposits arriving on CCIW campuses in the last few days?  (Trying to follow the "don't complain about a topic unless you bring a new (or revive a previous) one to the table".

[Gregory Sager]

Any more intriguing tuition deposits arriving on CCIW campuses in the last few days?  (Trying to follow the "don't complain about a topic unless you bring a new (or revive a previous) one to the table".

Bless you for using the phrase "tuition deposits", Pete, because, as it turns out:

North Park...

* Cory Boeckh, 5-10 SG (Jacobs H.S.)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3362260/cory-boeckh

I believe these are the names to hit the board so far...

North Park has two verbal commitments from high-school seniors and another from a juco sophomore. However, I'm not disclosing names, because a verbal commitment is one thing and a tuition deposit is something else altogether. I never saw the movie Jerry Maguire, but I'm fully in tune with the phrase, "Show me the money!"

Do the verbals include at least 1 player with some decent height?

Yes.

Is it also safe to assume the Jacobs SG is one of the two seniors you're referring too?

Yes, Cory Boeckh was one of the two HS seniors to whom I alluded. The other one is -- hold on to your hat -- a guard who is over six feet tall!

... Cory Boeckh wasn't a verbal commitment after all. I was mistaken in confirming Bob's post. I knew that NPU was recruiting Boeckh, but I had him confused with another Fox Valley Conference guard who did commit to NPU, and who has now taken the next step and put in a tuition deposit at the Park.

All of which makes me wonder where and how Bob got this information that Cory Boeckh had declared for North Park. Boeckh did not give a verbal commitment to Tom Slyder or to either of the NPU assistants, and in fact he is most likely not going to attend North Park.

I know that Bob's getting a lot of these verbals from kids or from coaches who're tweeting their announcements, but, in this case, he must've been getting it from some other source. It all goes to show that there's some inherent danger to posting these names on the Internet. Verbal commitments in and of themselves aren't written in stone, of course, and, apparently, there's some sort of source out there that's providing unverified (and, in this case, false) information about verbal commitments. All of which reinforces my belief that the only really sound way to post recruiting announcements on d3boards.com is to wait for tuition deposits.

NPU now has several verbals. However, at this point there are only two new basketball players who've actually put in 2015-16 tuition deposits at North Park. They are:

* Matt Perhats, a 6'1 point guard from Prairie Ridge HS in Crystal Lake. He's the other Fox Valley Conference guard of whom I spoke. Perhats graduated from PRHS in 2014 and has spent this school year as a non-playing student at the University of Northern Colorado; and

* Vance Rockford, a 6'1 shooting guard from Lane Tech.

[Titan Q]

... Cory Boeckh wasn't a verbal commitment after all. I was mistaken in confirming Bob's post. I knew that NPU was recruiting Boeckh, but I had him confused with another Fox Valley Conference guard who did commit to NPU, and who has now taken the next step and put in a tuition deposit at the Park.

All of which makes me wonder where and how Bob got this information that Cory Boeckh had declared for North Park. Boeckh did not give a verbal commitment to Tom Slyder or to either of the NPU assistants, and in fact he is most likely not going to attend North Park.

I know that Bob's getting a lot of these verbals from kids or from coaches who're tweeting their announcements, but, in this case, he must've been getting it from some other source. It all goes to show that there's some inherent danger to posting these names on the Internet. Verbal commitments in and of themselves aren't written in stone, of course, and, apparently, there's some sort of source out there that's providing unverified (and, in this case, false) information about verbal commitments. All of which reinforces my belief that the only really sound way to post recruiting announcements on d3boards.com is to wait for tuition deposits.

http://www.nwherald.com/2015/05/01/high-school-boys-basketball-jacobs-orange-picks-augustana/adejve7/

Jacobs has three other seniors heading to play college basketball, as Kenton Mack (D-II Northern Michigan), Cory Boeckh (D-III North Park) and Mike Canady (D-III Carthage) also will play next year.

[Gregory Sager]

OK. It appears, then, that the culprit is a journalist at the Northwest Herald who didn't do his homework. Still, it makes me wonder how many other small-town sportswriters out there hear a player say where he's going to go to college, and then print it without verifying it. Or they hear the kid say where he'd like to go to school, or where he's made a recruiting visit, and then they print it as a done deal.

All the more reason to wait for a tuition deposit.

[Titan Q]

OK. It appears, then, that the culprit is a journalist at the Northwest Herald who didn't do his homework. Still, it makes me wonder how many other small-town sportswriters out there hear a player say where he's going to go to college, and then print it without verifying it. Or they hear the kid say where he'd like to go to school, or where he's made a recruiting visit, and then they print it as a done deal.

Can you think of any other example of that happening though?  Of all the names posted here from newspaper articles over the years, I can't think of one.

[Gregory Sager]

Not off of the top of my head. But it's so easy for something like that to happen that it makes me wonder. Plus, I've seen plenty of other examples of small-town newspaper guys getting the facts wrong. Here's an example: Remember that story from five years ago in which some paper down in Tennessee identified McKinley Maples as signing a letter of intent to accept a basketball scholarship from Millikin?

I'm not saying this just to single out the small-towners to rag on. (No pun intended.) But this is the sort of detail that only mom and dad and the kid himself -- or obsessives like you and me -- would notice.