The NCAA Division III staff has created this bi-weekly communication for the Division III Commissioners Association in an effort to provide up-to-date communications on the constantly evolving impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Division III membership. Please share this communication with your conference members.
RECENT GOVERNANCE MEETINGS AND KEY COVID-19 DISCUSSIONS AND OUTCOMES
Championships Committee, Nov. 2
Championship winter formats. The committee continued its discussion regarding winter championship formats and agreed to the following:
Swimming and diving. Two separate three-day formats.
Wrestling. No change to format.
Indoor track and field. No change to format.
Basketball. Eight (8) sites to host six (6) teams each. The eight (8) advancing teams travel directly to the final site.
Women’s ice hockey. Two (2) proximate sites to host four (4) teams each. Two (2) advancing teams to compete at one of the sites for the final.
Men’s ice hockey. To be determined.
Winter championship automatic qualifications.The committee discussed winter AQ requirements for ice hockey and basketball. It concluded that if the conference creates a conference schedule for at least four core members, the conference can maintain its AQ, even if not all of the core members finish the season, or the teams compete in less than the minimum contest requirements.
Winter sport championships. The committee continues to monitor winter championship sponsorship levels and the impact on winter championships.
COVID-19 Playing and Practice Season Internal Working Group
Resocialization of Collegiate Sport: second edition. The NCAA has released the Resocialization of Collegiate Sport: Developing Standards for Practice and Competition, Second Editionto update and extend previous guidance considering new and emerging information surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The document includes considerations specific to the prevention of community spread of COVID-19, reclassification of transmission risk of sport based on emerging information, and COVID-19 testing and masking for athletes, officials and other Tier 1 personnel.
Cardiac content update. Updates have been made to the post-infection cardiac management algorithm that had been published on the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine website (AMSSM Algorithm) and is currently contained in the NCAA’s Resocialization of Collegiate Sport: Developing Standards for Practice and Competition(Developing Standards). As originally provided in the Developing Standards document, certain clinical publications identified potential cardiac manifestations related to COVID-19 infection, including some that were identified in individuals with no or mild symptoms. Additional medical publications have clarified cardiac risk following COVID-19 infection. These publications prompted further discussion with an expert panel from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and the American College of Cardiology, which recommended the algorithm update.
UPCOMING MEETINGS AND ANTICIPATED DISCUSSIONS
Championships Committee, Nov. 17
Winter brackets and pool allocations. The committee is monitoring winter sport participation and resulting bracket sizes and pool allocations.
At-large selection considerations.The committee is discussing minimum contest requirements for at-large selection consideration.
Strategic Planning and Finance Committee, Nov. 19
Division III budget. The committee will receive an update on last year’s revenue loss due to the cancellation of March Madness and its impact on the overall budget. It also will review the 2020-21 budget and continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19.
RESOURCES
Division III Compliance page. (2020-21 Division III COVID-19 Question and Answer Guide – (last updated Nov. 6) and the Blanket Waiver Summary Guide (created Nov. 6)
With every communication, we also anticipate additional questions. Please send all questions to d3identity@ncaa.org. Stay healthy and safe and thank you for your continued collaboration and leadership.
This email was sent to the NCAA Division III Commissioners Association