Below is an open letter to NCAA Division III members from Dan Dutcher, Vice President for Division III.
Dear Colleagues,
I want to bring to your attention a recent series in the
Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch focusing on youth sports:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/special_reports/stories/2010/youth_sports/index.html .
The series ran Aug. 27 through Sept. 5 and examined the physica
l, emotional and financial toll that youth sports are taking, with year-round play, specialization and travel, on the estimated 40 million young athletes and their families in this country. It addressed the significant growth of youth club sports, and the often unrealistic expectations fueling that growth.
This series aligns well with the 2008
New York Times series about the reality of the athletics scholarships: (
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/sports/10scholarships.html?_r=1&ref=sports) . You may recall that the series was the focal point of a discussion session at the 2009 Convention.
An excellent interview with Bill Pennington, the NY Times reporter who wrote the series and participated in that discussion session, can be found here: (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aMvKnLkmIg).
Recall also that the Times series was a focal point in the Division III Presidents Council’s White Paper No. 2, “The Philosophy and Identity of Division III” (
http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/DIII_MC_PC/Misc/White_papers/Issue%20Two_Philosophy%20and%20Identity.pdf), which was the genesis of the Division III Identity Initiative and the Division III Strategic Positioning Platform
(http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/DIII_Toolkit/DIII_Toolkit.swf) .
Amid the attention given to this subject and the forces driving youth sports, it is incumbent upon us to continue to use the Division III Strategic Positioning Platform and related resources to educate prospective student-athletes and their parents of the many options available to them when determining the best campus for them academically and athletically. Every day, Division III presents an opportunity for nearly 170,000 student-athletes to excel academically, athletically, socially and culturally at campuses and in conferences across the country.
We will add links to the
Columbus Dispatch and
New York Times articles on the “information for prospective student-athletes and parents” new public oriented Division III website:
http://bit.ly/cuUDZ7
I welcome your feedback and ideas for further educating high school students and their parents about the benefits of following their passions and discovering their potential in Division III.
Thanks for your continued leadership on behalf of Division III.
Dan Dutcher
Vice President For Div. III
NCAA
317-917-6942
www.ncaa.org/divisionIII