As the Seton Hill University’s (SHU) athletic programs switch to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) some policy and provision changes are projected to take place.
Concerning the NCAA and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), associate athletic director Dan McCarty said, �There will be few changes made to our athletic program because of the similarity between the two divisions (NCAA and NAIA).�
By Jaynelle Stevens,
Staff Writer
As the Seton Hill University’s (SHU) athletic programs switch to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) some policy and provision changes are projected to take place.
Concerning the NCAA and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), associate athletic director Dan McCarty said, �There will be few changes made to our athletic program because of the similarity between the two divisions (NCAA and NAIA).�
The requirements and provisions, which are predetermined to occur are not just academically related, but they also include topics such as different recruiting policies and altering practice times and locations.
One of the biggest changes according to McCarty is going to be the recruiting policy.
�The SHU athletic staff recruiting is going to be the biggest change from the NAIA because the rules are more stringent on coaches with the different periods of when we are allowed to recruit. For example, during the Dead period, all the recruiters are allowed to do is give a greeting and leave it at that.�
The periods, which he is referring to are known as the four NCAA recruiting periods: the Contact period, Dead period, Evaluation period, and Quiet period. The Contact and Evaluation periods are when the athletic department staff members are permitted to do off-campus recruiting and evaluating. However, Evaluation does not permit any in-person contacting.
The Dead period is what McCarty accredited as the period when recruiting comes to a halt and the staff members are not permitted to contact athletes in any way. The final period is the Quiet period, which permits in-person recruiting only on the member institution’s campus. Each of the periods differs, according to the sport according to the NCAA official website.
Concerning the provisions with practice times and locations, acquiring field access is going to be more difficult, according to McCarty. A similar situation to the recruitment policy is going to occur with practicing concerning the active and dead times for practicing. The Active practice time is when the team is permitted to practice on the field with a certain amount of hours per week and the Dead time is when the teams are not permitted to practice because of their time limitations.
Some SHU programs consider the NCAA changes positive and others negative.
SHU cheerleader, Amanda Swartz, a sophomore, said, �The changes which are going to take place in the cheerleading squad are positive because we are going to expand our squad and increase our work out and practice time which will make us more efficient for the different sports.�
The SHU baseball team, however, has not yet discussed the new changes to practice and locations. However, what they have discussed according to sophomore teammate Matt McCune, is that with the NCAA change they may not be eligible to participate in the playoffs for the 2006-2007 school year due to scholarships.
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