SUWANEE, Ga. - The Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference (SCAC) Presidents Council adopted several measures aimed
at cost reduction and also tackled the issue of student-athlete
welfare at its annual spring meeting, June 11, in Atlanta.
The measures were derived, in part, from a four-month cost
containment study that was commissioned by the group in February.
"By virtue of the geographic makeup of the conference, the SCAC has been in the business of cost-containment since its inception," said conference commissioner Dwayne Hanberry. "That being said, the current economic climate required further examination of the league's business model. It is never a bad thing to re-examine how you conduct your business, and I think this exercise produced valuable results that will allow our schools to save real money and continue to make our league viable."
Perhaps the most significant measure adopted by the Presidents
Council is an across the board 10% reduction of contests as
measured against the current NCAA permissible maximum. All schools
in all sports will be expected to be compliant with this measure in
time for the 2010-11 athletics season. The one exception is
football, which will comply effective with the 2011-12 season, due
to existing scheduling contracts. The 10% reduction does not affect
conference scheduling models.
"The SCAC Presidents Council looked at contest reduction to obtain
a two-pronged positive effect," said Hanberry. "It will, no doubt,
save money for our member institutions. But it should also have a
positive impact on student-athlete well-being. Hopefully, the few
extra days of downtime from a student-athlete's respective sport
can be used for additional studies or for other extracurricular
campus activities."
A student-athlete survey that was commissioned earlier this year
indicated that only 24 percent of current SCAC student-athletes
disagreed with playing 90% of the NCAA allowable games during a
season.
A few of the more notable cost-reduction initiatives, in addition to the 10% reduction of contests, include:
- More clearly defined "hard" travel squad sizes for each conference sport.
- Reduction in number of contest officials in the sports of baseball, softball and soccer. In baseball and softball, the number of officials used will drop from three to two - in soccer, the number will drop from four to three.
- Increase in multi-team travel. The conference office will align schedules for the sports of baseball and softball to allow teams the opportunity to travel together. The SCAC already plays men's and women's doubleheaders in basketball and soccer and has done so since its inception in 1991.
- Increase in Friday-Saturday competition. Conference mandated scheduling adjustments - when travel distances permit - of more Friday/Saturday competitions will allow for often less expensive Sunday morning air travel. In addition, there will be the added benefit of students returning to campus on Sunday afternoon or early evening.
- Conference-wide lodging program. The SCAC partnered with HotelPlanner.com last year and more schools will take part in the savings offered through this program.
- Teams will take their meals, when feasible, in SCAC campus dining halls.
Conference officials estimate the cuts will save $500,000 to $575,000 in direct budget expenditures league-wide.
In other action taken by the group, the Presidents Council
reversed an earlier decision and decided to reinstate all SCAC
tournament fields to their original size. The consensus was that
any cost savings made by reducing the number of teams did not
outweigh the importance of the student-athlete experience.
Also, in the sport of softball, Millsaps College was moved from the
SCAC East to the SCAC West, effective this coming season, to
balance the divisional structure at five teams a side. The move was
necessary following Colorado College's decision earlier in the year
to drop the sport of softball.
Men's lacrosse will become the SCAC's 20th conference-sponsored
sport in 2009-2010 as five teams (Birmingham-Southern, Colorado
College, Hendrix, Sewanee and Southwestern) will play a single
round-robin schedule. The team with the best regular season record
will be declared SCAC champion - there will be no postseason
conference tournament. With three more teams coming aboard in
2010-2011 (Centre, Millsaps and Oglethorpe), the SCAC will petition
for automatic qualification to the NCAA men's tournament and
consider a season-ending conference tournament.
Women's lacrosse should become the league's 21st sport in 2010-2011
as Centre and Millsaps plan on fielding teams that season to join
the current programs at Birmingham-Southern, Colorado College and
Sewanee. Hendrix is slated to come on board in 2011-2012 and
Oglethorpe in 2012-2013.
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