When Practice Counts: The “Reasonable”
Application of
NCAA Playing and Practice Rules
Interpreting and applying correctly all of the NCAA rules that govern playing and practice seasons are not as easy as many athletic compliance departments would like. NCAA bylaws stipulate the maximum amount of time a student-athlete is allowed to participate in countable athletically related activities (CARAs), which include practice, meetings and strength workouts that count toward that time. There are also regulations indicating when a coach can require (non-voluntary) a student-athlete's participation and when a student-athlete may request (voluntary) to workout with the coach. Additionally, student-athletes can play or practice on their own using the institution's facilities, however there are rules regulating when a coach can be present. Confused yet?
The rationale behind these playing and practice season rules is two-fold. First, they are designed to protect student-athlete welfare by limiting the amount of mandatory time spent on athletics, thus preserving that there is time for the 'student' portion of the "student-athlete" concept. You've no doubt heard the popular NCAA slogan: "There are over 400,000 NCAA Student-Athletes, and just about all of us will be going pro, in something other than sports." This being true, NCAA student-athletes must be afforded time to focus on academics and to experience life as a traditional student. In addition, the rules are meant to promote competitive equity by equalizing practice time among member institutions.
In-Season and Out-of-Season CARAs
In order to clarify how the rules apply in this area, the NCAA has created charts which indicate what activities are or are not considered a CARA. The NCAA defines CARAs as any required activity with an athletics purpose involving student-athletes and at the direction of, or supervised by one or more of an institution's coaching staff (including strength and conditioning coaches) and must be counted within the weekly and daily limitations (see NCAA Bylaw 17.02.1) For example, the following required activities would be considered countable: practice, competition, athletic meetings, reviewing game tape, weight training and conditioning. Examples of activities that would not be considered countable are: compliance and Champs/Life Skills meetings or presentations, training room visits, and anything at the request of the student-athlete (i.e., voluntary activity).
When a sport is in its championship segment, student-athletes are permitted to participate in no more than 20 hours weekly and four hours a day of CARAs (see NCAA Bylaw 17.1.6.1). Additionally, student-athletes are required to have one day off per week. Outside of the playing season or championship segment or other specified timeframes (e.g., spring football, fall baseball) coaches, for sports other than football, are permitted a maximum of eight hours per week with no more than two hours per week spent on skill-related workouts (see NCAA Bylaw 17.1.6.2). Football is further regulated regarding the time of year for practice, film review, conditioning and weight training are permitted during the academic year and during the summer vacation period (see NCAA Bylaws 17.9.6).
Despite the emphasis that the NCAA has placed on the importance of playing and practice season rules in order to protect student-athlete welfare, major infractions involving playing and practice season rules recently have become more common. This trend also demonstrates that the violations have not been limited only to the high profile sports and involve many different sports. The most prevalent findings in recent major infractions cases involve coaches exceeding the allowable CARA hours and coaches observing student-athletes (and prospects) participating in athletically related activities during a time when coaches are not permitted to view such activity.[1]
Monitoring CARAs
As previously discussed, the NCAA has prepared charts and interpretations to help define what athletically related activities are countable or not countable. It is the responsibility of each institution's athletics compliance staff to educate coaches and student-athletes regarding the applicable NCAA rules and instruct these constituents and how these rules apply. Currently, it seems that most athletic compliance staffs require coaches to submit logs depicting the number of hours of countable participation each week by each student-athlete on a regular basis (e.g., monthly, weekly).
What is the expectation or industry standard for athletic departments to monitor in this area? Does it have to know every move a team makes on the practice field? How often should coaches report countable hours to the compliance staff? Should the compliance staff seek input from other parties, student-athletes, and other athletics staff?
On Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010, the National Association for Athletics Compliance (NAAC) issued its initial report regarding “Reasonable Standards” for monitoring three key NCAA compliance areas. According to the release it is the NAAC’s goal to present these standards as a “framework” for Division I compliance offices to develop a monitoring system for playing and practice activities and offer the “flexibility” each institution needs to meet these standards on its campus. (See “NAAC Announces Compliance Industry Standards” at http://www.nacda.com/sports/naacc/spec-rel/092810aac.html.) One of the three Reasonable Standards recently released involves the compliance monitoring of CARAs. The specific reasonable standards can be found on NAAC’s Web site, but in summary the Reasonable Standards suggest the following for monitoring, educating and documenting teams’ CARAs:
· Monitoring: Coaches are to maintain a record of each student-athlete's CARAs per day during both in-season and out-of-season segments. It is recommended that at least one student-athlete per team verify the hours reported by the coach and for the compliance staff to review these records at least on a monthly basis.
· Education: Review at the beginning of the academic year with coaches, student-athletes and athletics staff playing and practice seasons rules and what activities are considered and not considered countable. Additional updates are recommended throughout the year to address specific requirements for the playing season and outside the playing season.
· Documentation: Maintain any records completed by coaches and/or student-athletes regarding documented CARAs for at least four years or longer if mandated by institutional record keeping standards.
The Reasonable Standards presented by the NAAC provide a great framework for NCAA institutions and monitoring CARAs that may lead to recognized industry standards and help compliance staffs to understand the expectations of their jobs. As reported, one out of every five cases that went before the Committee on Infractions for major violations since 2005 have included a playing and practice season violation. Developing a strong monitoring system for this area of the rules is essential and would allow the athletic compliance staff to detect any issues early, before they become major in nature. Ice Miller's Collegiate Sports Practice conducts multiple compliance reviews on NCAA campuses each year. In addition to the Reasonable Standards established by the NAAC, Ice Miller has also recommended other strategies to help monitor for violations in this area, such as, periodic spot-checks by the compliance staff, obtaining feedback from the athletics training and strength and conditioning staffs regarding time spent on CARAs and the confidential designation of specific student-athletes to track the total time on CARAs. Demonstrating these additional monitoring activities could further assist an institution in its defense in the event a coach chooses to circumvent these playing and practice season rules and major violations develop.
Ice Miller's Collegiate Sports Practice professionals are experienced at investigating and advising on any amateurism issues faced by a university and its student-athletes. For more information please contact Mark Jones, chair of Ice Miller's Collegiate Sports Practice at mark.jones@icemiller.com or (317) 236-2488 or Carrie McCaw, Ice Miller's Collegiate Sports Practice manager at carrie.mccaw@icemiller.com or (317) 236-5944.
Neither Mark Jones nor Carrie McCaw is licensed to practice law in any jurisdiction.
This
publication is intended for general information purposes only and does not and
is not intended to constitute legal advice. The reader must consult with
legal counsel to determine how laws or decisions discussed herein apply to the
reader's specific circumstances.