Did the NCAA just vote to change the process for determining the date teams can officially start XC practice? It used to be a formula based on when your first meet is and your first day of school...
I heard they just voted to change it so that everyone's first date of competition is Sept 1 and everyone's first day of practice is August 16th. Anyone know if this is a fact? If so, those on the quarter system are happy....
Its stupid to limit schools that start class in late sept. when there are athletes staying weeks after spring semester ends anyways. I have heard of schools ending as early as the 3rd week of april and there are a lot of schools that end spring semester by early may.
Would love to see it. The governing rules should be as simple as possible. It should not take a multiple paragraphs in the rule book outlining the start date of season practice and competition.
The formula was designed to try to make it more fair for everyone. However, this new rule, if true, will penalize universities that start early. (Penalize in the sense that many schools will get to train for many days while school is not in session.)
For Fall sports, a school on the quarter system that starts classes in late September has a big advantage over a semester school that might start the third week of August. A quarter system school could have, in the case of football, five games before ever attending a class. That's almost half the season. That's a huge advantage to the team.
The formula was designed to try to make it more fair for everyone. However, this new rule, if true, will penalize universities that start early. (Penalize in the sense that many schools will get to train for many days while school is not in session.)
And you could argue schools with exams in april are rewarded during track.
I would argue a rule like this penalizes no one, it just does not give some schools an advantage they use to have.
From a competitive standpoint, why should everyone not have the exact same allowable start date for practice? There may be financial reasons, among other things, that may limit teams. But no one would be forced to start on the given date, you just have the option to.
Like most things, I suppose it's your perspective. The new rule allows everyone to start on the same date. This naturally gives an advantage to those not in school. That is without a doubt true. The choice to be able to train 3+ weeks at altitude is kind of a plus, no?
The formula was designed to try to make it more fair for everyone. However, this new rule, if true, will penalize universities that start early. (Penalize in the sense that many schools will get to train for many days while school is not in session.)
And you could argue schools with exams in april are rewarded during track.
You are correct on the track side there are some schools that are still taking finals but many schools take a shorter winter break to avoid that issue. I could be wrong but I don't think there are many schools who have yet to take final exams at this point in the season. (very few are taking them in April).