Time-demands of student-athletes

[bonarae]

I do not know for certain if this has an impact at the FCS level... but apparently the NCAA is now surveying about the time demands of all Division I student-athletes.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/14855388/ncaa-conducting-demands-survey-all-division-athletes

In several lawsuits, some of the anonymous comments include: (source (http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/25496418/study-how-the-big-ten-struggled-recruiting-against-power-5-conferences))

Excerpts of the survey were recently filed by plaintiffs in their lawsuit against the NCAA and conferences over scholarship compensation. Some of the anonymous comments:


“I think CARA activities could be increased to 25 hours and you eliminate voluntary activities all together.”



“Please do not increase CARA hours … we are already moving to a ‘semi-pro' model in collegiate athletics, and increasing the hours would (solidify) that and take away from our educational opportunities.”



“Coaches (nowadays) have brainwashed their (athletes) into ‘Mandatory/Voluntary' and (athletes) are scared to come forward and inform compliance office of violations.”



“Student-athletes spend 40-60 hrs/week with their sport, which is confusing to them when we tell them they are limited to 20 hrs/week … and they can't keep track of what counts as CARA and what doesn't. All they know (is) that they are spending HUGE amounts of time with their sport, and they don't have time for school work or anything that integrates them into the normal student college experience.”



“If a student-athlete wants to voluntarily spend more time with a coach, this should be allowed. The college experience is too short and the influence a great coach can have on the future of an athlete should never be underestimated.”



“In turn, we need to lengthen the periods of time where coaches may NOT be involved in the student-athlete's time on campus, e.g., where they can be NORMAL HUMAN BEINGS. They train as much as they want, but not in any fashion organized by the coaches. We are not a minor league for the pro sports, but that is how we currently run our organization.”


Is the NCAA at a crossroads regarding this issue?

[Bisonoline]

20 hours a week is pretty short.

[CFBfan]

20 hours a week is pretty short.

it's almost 3 hrs a day 7 days a week, that is PLENTY! unless you are taking basket weaving courses.

[mmiller_34]

At first glance at this thread, my immediate respond was "Cost of Time-Demands" Haha. Imagine the outrage.

[Catsfan90]

I understand the gripes between voluntary/ mandatory. But anyone who plays a sport will tell you that the time spent at practice isn't enough. It is up to the individual to spend time on their own to improve. Now how much time that is has to do with how badly that athlete wants to do better.

If we are talking about shaming people though who aren't participating in something "voluntary" I disagree with doing that.

[kdinva]

I'm gonna wait for CitDog to chime in.....

[Professor Chaos]

It's a good idea in concept but the problem is they contradict themselves (or are living in a dream world) when they say "Coaches (nowadays) have brainwashed their (athletes) into ‘Mandatory/Voluntary'" and then say "If a student-athlete wants to voluntarily spend more time with a coach, this should be allowed" and "They train as much as they want, but not in any fashion organized by the coaches".

Everyone knows damn well that in the highly competitive world of D1 college athletics this would mean essentially the same as what it is now which is players going through offseason regiments organized by the school S&C staff on a "voluntary" basis.

There's really no governance that will stop this trend so I choose to take it for what it is. One thing I know is that college student-athletes leave school with a much better ability to budget and prioritize their time because they have to more than a normal student does. That's not a bad thing.

[Bisonoline]

it's almost 3 hrs a day 7 days a week, that is PLENTY! unless you are taking basket weaving courses.

Conditioning , Practice, Training room, Film study and meetings. 3 hours? Really.

[CFBfan]

Conditioning , Practice, Training room, Film study and meetings. 3 hours? Really.

I find that aprox 40 hrs is the reality so yes really, please do not raise the useless ncaa limit above 20.....imagine the abuse then!

[Sycamore62]

how about.....play 4 years of college ball earning a scholarship each year (or whatever percent you agree to) you can take however many hours of class you want during school and then complete the balance when you are done playing football. kind of like the GI Bill

[Hammerhead]

Don't forget about time spent competing. A football game lasts around 3 hours, basketball teams usually play two games per week. Women's softball plays 4 or 5 games per week.


Conditioning , Practice, Training room, Film study and meetings. 3 hours? Really.

[Sycamore62]

Don't forget about time spent competing. A football game lasts around 3 hours, basketball teams usually play two games per week. Women's softball plays 4 or 5 games per week.

away games used to last from about friday at noon until sunday when you got home.

[Yote 53]

Anybody who has played college sports understands there is no such thing as "voluntary". Players that skip their "voluntary" activities are not around very long.

20 hour rule? I remember during the season putting in over 40 hours a week towards football related activities. Between training table, meetings, practice, film study, etc. it was approximately 4 to 5 hours a day from the time I entered the facility until the time I left in the evening. Gameday is practically an all day affair. You don't just show up 1/2 hour before the game to get dressed, you have meetings and walk-thrus, etc. That didn't even include slipping over to watch some film between classes in the morning. During the off-season, probably 2 hours or so for off-season workouts. Add on top of this "voluntary" study-table in the evening for players who are not making grades and freshman to make sure they get off on the right start and you end up spending practically every waking moment with your teammates and there is no such thing as "free time".

By the definition of the rule we were probably meeting the 20 hour limit but there is a lot of grey area and a lot of "voluntary" things that are just expectations if you want to keep your spot on the team.

[SUPharmacist]

how about.....play 4 years of college ball earning a scholarship each year (or whatever percent you agree to) you can take however many hours of class you want during school and then complete the balance when you are done playing football. kind of like the GI Bill

Interesting idea, part of me likes it, but I also don't see anyway for it to be implemented and still consider athletes students. Additionally, this would likely punish students who are not interested in the next level and are truly using it for the scholarship to get an education. Just like the 'voluntary' activities I would think athletes who tried to pursue a full academic schedule would slide down the depth charts and risk losing the scholarship for the following year.

[Bisonoline]

Don't forget about time spent competing. A football game lasts around 3 hours, basketball teams usually play two games per week. Women's softball plays 4 or 5 games per week.

Exactly.

[Sycamore62]

I think a lot of the time, wasted time also accounts for problems. Back in my day (i just love to say that) i tried to schedule most clases on mwf. Id go to class from 9-12 come back, grab to go lunch and then waste 2 hours waiting for practice so instead of a 3.5 hour practice i had basically 5.5 hours that I couldnt use because im not going to dig into studying the haul ass to practice. Home games were shot (partly by the way I drank after games) and road trips were a blown weekend. I guess technology has helped that a little.

[Twentysix]

I think a lot of the time, wasted time also accounts for problems. Back in my day (i just love to say that) i tried to schedule most clases on mwf. Id go to class from 9-12 come back, grab to go lunch and then waste 2 hours waiting for practice so instead of a 3.5 hour practice i had basically 5.5 hours that I couldnt use because im not going to dig into studying the haul ass to practice. Home games were shot (partly by the way I drank after games) and road trips were a blown weekend. I guess technology has helped that a little.

I see you were on the JSU linemen beer belly diet. Kudos to you.

[Sycamore62]

I see you were on the JSU linemen beer belly diet. Kudos to you.

Yes, I have photographic proof

[Bisonoline]

I see you were on the JSU linemen beer belly diet. Kudos to you.

Funny story from the Natty. The night before the game there was a BBQ feed which both teams attended. I guess there was a JSU lineman that was about 6-0 ft tall and weighed about 350 that was just shoving BBQ in his mouth at an alarming rate--After watching this for about a half hour one of our coaches look at another and says-- hey coach I like our chances tomorrowxlolxxthumbsupx

[Bisonoline]

http://news.yahoo.com/having-ball-michigan-players-loving-florida-spring-break-015804937--spt.html


(http://news.yahoo.com/having-ball-michigan-players-loving-florida-spring-break-015804937--spt.html)BRADENTON, Florida (AP) — For anybody concerned Michigan's football players are being deprived of an enjoyable spring break by being forced to practice in Florida this week, Wolverines tight end Jake Butt has a message: Everything is great.



"Not everybody on our team is going to take a spring break to get away," Butt said after Michigan finished a four-hour practice Tuesday, just after sunset at the IMG Academy.
"We're away. We're down here in Florida. Beautiful territory. Sun shining. Not too hot. Nice breeze. Eating great food with our brothers. I don't have anything negative to say about it."

(http://news.yahoo.com/having-ball-michigan-players-loving-florida-spring-break-015804937--spt.html)

[bonarae]

Posted from another thread...

The Ivies are leading the way in restricting athletics-related activities for students; the two rules stated below will take effect this fall.


The first change gives student-athletes a 10-hour window of no athletic activity following their return from a road trip. The second requires a two-week recovery period with no allowable team athletic activity upon the completion of the team's final contest of the season.

http://www.fresnobee.com/sports/article82834022.html

Looks like the Ivies are turning into quasi-D-III athletics programs... for real, with the changes stated above...

[bonarae]

Further information and an analysis of the said rules...

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/10/ivy-league-adopts-new-rules-limiting-time-demands-athletes
(https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/10/ivy-league-adopts-new-rules-limiting-time-demands-athletes)
Something significant of note:


“We have a long history of regulating time demands beyond what the NCAA requires, and we’ve been paying attention to the conversation about these issues the past couple of years,” said Robin Harris, executive director of the Ivy League. “Our athletic directors just asked themselves, ‘Why can’t we just do this?’ The answer was, ‘Of course we can do this.’ We hope that it shows that this is not that hard.”


The Ivy League -- whose members include Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton and Yale Universities, Dartmouth College, and the University of Pennsylvania -- has long beaten the NCAA to the punch on issues of athlete welfare in Division I, the associations' most competitive level.

[Son of Eli]

Further information and an analysis of the said rules...

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/10/ivy-league-adopts-new-rules-limiting-time-demands-athletes
(https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/10/ivy-league-adopts-new-rules-limiting-time-demands-athletes)
Something significant of note:

I'm hoping that part of the strategy behind this new Ivy League rule is to give cover to now extend the season to eleven games or possibly even FCS playoff participation. Probably wishful thinking on my part.

[Terry2889]

I do not know for certain if this has an impact at the FCS level... but apparently the NCAA is now surveying about the time demands of all Division I student-athletes.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/14855388/ncaa-conducting-demands-survey-all-division-athletes

In several lawsuits, some of the anonymous comments include: (source (http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/25496418/study-how-the-big-ten-struggled-recruiting-against-power-5-conferences))

Excerpts of the survey were recently filed by plaintiffs in their lawsuit against the NCAA and conferences over scholarship compensation. Some of the anonymous comments:


“I think CARA activities could be increased to 25 hours and you eliminate voluntary activities all together.”



“Please do not increase CARA hours … we are already moving to a ‘semi-pro' model in collegiate athletics, and increasing the hours would (solidify) that and take away from our educational opportunities.”



“Coaches (nowadays) have brainwashed their (athletes) into ‘Mandatory/Voluntary' and (athletes) are scared to come forward and inform compliance office of violations.”



“Student-athletes spend 40-60 hrs/week with their sport, which is confusing to them when we tell them they are limited to 20 hrs/week … and they can't keep track of what counts as CARA and what doesn't. All they know (is) that they are spending HUGE amounts of time with their sport, and they don't have time for school work or anything that integrates them into the normal student college experience.”



“If a student-athlete wants to voluntarily spend more time with a coach, this should be allowed. The college experience is too short and the influence a great coach can have on the future of an athlete should never be underestimated.”



“In turn, we need to lengthen the periods of time where coaches may NOT be involved in the student-athlete's time on campus, e.g., where they can be NORMAL HUMAN BEINGS. They train as much as they want, but not in any fashion organized by the coaches. We are not a minor league for the pro sports, but that is how we currently run our organization.”


Is the NCAA at a crossroads regarding this issue?

If you are on scholarship 40-60 hours should be expected in exchange for the education and opportunities you are being provided. If you are on partial or a walk on you should not and, I believe, can not be required to attend "voluntary" workouts or meetings. I believe that when I played winter workouts were technically "optional".