NAIA Tennis Coaches Association Annual Business Meeting Agenda

Transcription

1 NAIA Tennis Coaches Association Annual Business Meeting Agenda May 14, :00-5:00 p.m. I. CALL TO ORDER JENNIFER POURCHIER, TCA PRESIDENT a. Welcome---Jennifer Pourchier, TCA President b. Coaches in attendance: Chris Tolson, Arizona Christian; Jarred Miller, Asbury; Andre Ferreira, Brenau; Kyle Caven, Campbellsville; Mark Goldin, Cardinal Stritch; Karen Martinez, Cumberland; Chase Hodges, Georgia Gwinnett; Camron Yazgerdi, Hastings; Eddy Shigley, Indiana Wesleyan; Daniel Finn, Keiser; Steve Behmlander, Lawrence Tech; Justin Martin, Lindsey Wilson; Melinda Descant, LSU-Alexandria; Dustin Wheeler, McPherson; Tom Bates, Middle Georgia State; Jennifer Pourchier, Reinhardt; Jim Bodor, San Diego Christian; Ken Obermeier, SCAD- Savannah; Amyn Mukadam, SCAD-Atlanta; Jason Speegle, Southwestern (Kan.); Francisco Gallardo, Tennessee Wesleyan; Sam Moore, Texas A&M-Texarkana; Roscoe Moonieyan, Union College; Chin Tan, Cumberlands (Tenn.); Uwe Tittl, Mobile; Phil Carlisle, Northwestern Ohio; Mark Basham, Westmont; Ellie Johnson, Westmont; Marc Lux, William Carey; Justin Stuckey, William Woods; Alan Green, Xavier, Kai Fong, Lewis-Clark, Richard Southern, Bethel (Kan.), Chris Moment, Judson. II. INTRODUCTIONS OF OFFICERS President: Jennifer Pourchier, Reinhardt University Vice President: Christopher Tudor, Olivet Nazarene University Secretary: Jessica Cunningham, Georgetown College Past President: Kai Fong, Lewis-Clark State College III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 2017 (MINUTES ARE IN THE COACHES MANUAL) JENNIFER PURCHIER, TCA PRESIDENT Motion to Approve Chin Tan; Second: Mark Basham YES = 46 ; NO = 0; ABSTAIN = 0 IV. SPONSOR PRESENTATION a. Nikki Vorhees, HEAD Penn HEAD Penn and the NAIA s partnership has continued to grow. The current agreement between the NAIA and HEAD Penn expires after the current season. V. ITA a. Mary Edman, Director of Member Programs There has been discussion to move all collegiate divisions to the NCAA DI scoring format. The ITA is currently working with the NAIA and NAIA Coaches to see if this format would work at the NAIA level. VI. REPORTS a. Awards and Hall of Fame Report Christopher Tudor, Olivet Nazarene University No Report b. Advisory and Special Report Kai Fong, Lewis-Clark State College No Report c. NAIA National Office Report Marc Burchard, NAIA NAIA Legislative Process Discussed the NAIA legislative process that must be followed to move forward with any sport motions or other changes in sport rules, policies or other legislation. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS NAIA-WSCA BUSINESS MEETING 1

2 Sport motions require a simple majority vote of NAIA Tennis Coaches in order to take the next step forward in the legislative process. A straw poll is taken onsite and then followed up by an electronic vote if the simple majority is not met on site. The results of the electronic vote are then passed on to the appropriate National Administrative Council Committee If passed by the NAC Committee, the sport motion would then go to the full NAC and then to either the Council of Presidents or full membership for final approval. Can be a long process, but important for coaches to understand the items voted on and passed at the Tennis Coaches Meeting have a longer path for final approval to be granted. NAIA s Role in Coaches Associations Informed coaches that the NAIA Sport Manager serves as a facilitator to the coaches association and is there to help coaches navigate through issues and provide guidance on topics and processes. NAC s Role in Coaches Associations Explained that the National Administrative Council (NAC) is a group that initiates operational policies for Conference and National Championship competition, as well as procedures for NAIA statistical services, awards and event management The NAC is made up of representatives from a number of different constituent groups (Conferences, ADA, CCA, SIDA, ATA and at-large members), with each sport having liaison that serves each coaches group specifically. The National Office has made it a priority to get NAC sport representatives involved in each sport s legislative process NAIA Ball Adoption The current agreement between HEAD Penn and the NAIA expires after the 2018 season. RFPs have been sent out to all major tennis ball manufacturers. The NAC will have purview over the next agreement NAIA Drug Testing Drug testing has started a championships during the season. Testing is only for performance enhancing drugs. VII. NOMINATION OF SECRETARY a. Nomination of Secretary VIII. OLD BUSINESS - Tom Bates, Middle Georgia State University NAC Motion: Tennis Selection Committee is now permanent part of the ratings process. Remove the "pilot" part of the protocol. APPROVED NAC Motion: Move the conference tournament to the last week of April beginning in the season. Move up the date of the release of the National Championships qualifiers to the Monday following the completion of the conference tournaments. APPROVED NAC Motion: Motion to utilize SLAM/UTR system and Raters combined to create national ratings. Raters will receive the Slam/UTR data to help input their ratings. DENIED

3 NAC Motion: Minimum requirements for hosting a conference or unaffiliated regional championship. Requirements for all parties (these requirements essential outline the minimum expectations for the host and what the host can expect in terms of support, both human and financial resources) DENIED NAC Motion: All sports maintain a 3-year sunset period on the bi-weekly ratings calendar, which would end the sunset period after the third year of implementation for all sports after the academic year. APPROVED NAC Motion: Drug Testing The NAC formally approved the policy manual for NAIA Drug Testing, which will begin in The Drug Education & Testing Committee has been working to develop the manual over the past several years. IX. NEW BUSINESS a. Sport Motions Motion #1: NAIA Nationals Tennis Tournament: to stop all matches at 5, including first round matches. Rationale: To increase the chances of an upset in the second round. To give first round winners a better chance at competing against a fresh and higher ranked opponent in the second round. Ultimately making second round matches more exciting and close. Playing first round matches to completion only hurts first round winners (they spend unnecessary time on the court, getting tired for the next day). Discussion: Changes the format of the tournament. Hurts the experience for the first rounds winners. Puts the winners of the first round at a disadvantage by having to spend additional time on the court in warm weather. No other Championship has this type of format. Possible downside is that some student-athletes will never has national tournament results if the matches stop at five. Motion to Approve: Chase Hodges, Georgia Gwinnett; Second: Richard Southern, Bethel YES =37 ; NO = 7; ABSTAIN = 2 Motion #2: To add a consolation match for first round losers at the NAIA National Tournament. Rationale: his would be relevant for several reasons: 1. We could stop all matches at 5 (main draw and consolation); 2. It would give teams a chance to play two matches at nationals, improve players experience, help with final rating, and justify the cost of a trip to Mobile. Discussion: This would not apply to the second round (teams with a bye). This would potentially add costs if there is rain that impacts the tournament. There may be logistical challenges on the amount of courts available at the national tournament. There would also be additional costs to institutions that stay an additional day after being eliminated from the championship side of the bracket. Motion to Approve Richard Southern, Bethel; Second: Jason Speegle, Southwestern YES = 31 ; NO = 18; ABSTAIN = 8 Motion #3: To get rid of the Tennis National Selection Committee Rationale: Conflict of interest: coaches in the committee have direct interest in both the selection of teams for nationals, as well as seeding; Too much power in few hands: few people making crucial decisions; Subjective and not transparent: nobody outside the Selection Committee understands the rationale behind selection and/or seeding decisions; No due process: it doesn't allow anyone to complain, request rationale or ask for a review; Planning for teams on the bubble: impossible to make plans if your team is on the bubble - do you tell your players to go home or stay?; Prior system much more black and white and straight forward: you look at the

4 final rating and easily figure out who's in and who's out; who's #1-#8 seeds (etc.). Easy to comprehend and easy to explain; Prior system is much more democratic: bigger pool of raters, representing more areas in the NAIA, trying to get the ratings correctly throughout the season. It also allows teams/coaches to communicate with their rater and ask for rationale and input. Discussion: There does not seem to be a reason to have both ratings and the selection committee, there has not been a huge difference between using the rankings vs. the selection committee. The committee uses data to make the determinations for seeding and at-large. There needs to be more transparency in the selection committee process. If you move back to the ratings, you may see coaches protecting their ratings. The presenter withdrew this motion, however may bring it back for discussion in the future. Motion withdrawn for submitter. Motion #4: To replace the current 9 point team scoring format to a 7 point team scoring structure as used by NCAA D1 programs (with slight modifications as listed) This will include: Rationale: 1. A one set to six games in doubles (with the tiebreaker happening at six games all). Winning two of the three doubles will earn one team point. 2. The singles will be two out of three sets played to six games with the tie breaker happening at 6-6 in each set. One can of three balls for the first two sets but new balls will be provided for the third set. 3. The no-ad game scoring shall be used throughout to replace the current deuce/ad scoring. 4. All singles and doubles matches are to be played to completion, unless agreed upon by both coaches to stop when the dual match is clinched for scheduling reasons. 5. For the men, there should not be any service lets. It will be a play through if the service delivery hits the net cord and drops into the proper service box. This does not apply to the women. 6. Eliminating the warmups after introductions of the line ups. A 10 minute warmup can be accorded to singles players who did not play in the doubles. Or when the dual is played on fewer than six courts. Rationale: 1. This format will reduce the duration of a dual match. Here is some actual data collected in our four court facility. On four courts, played out dual matches of 3 doubles and 6 singles took between 3 and 4 hours. This appeals to scheduling of matches four hours apart. In the event of court rentals, this will be considerable savings in fees. 2. The reduced time can facilitate playing two dual matches in a day without it being too physically demanding. It will facilitate scheduling athletic trainers and officials. 3. The adoption of this will be a move to have a universal college tennis team scoring across all Divisions. Tennis might be the only sport where the scoring is different when crossing divisions. 4. With regards to officiating, ITA Officials have indicated concern about working the longer NAIA matches for the same amount of pay. 5. The shorter duration will facilitate better travel times for day travel matches. 6. The nature of the game has evolved since the NAIA adopted the team format in It is vital that we keep up with the times. When the no-ad format was first mandated three years ago with the D1 programs, it was met with quite a bit of hesitancy and produced many complaints. The complaints greatly diminished in the second year. The complaints were almost nonexistent in the third year as coaches and players realized the benefits of the format. The NCAA Division 1 programs have adopted this format and their matches are very intense and competitive. It is a tried and tested system which will benefit all divisions. 7. From conversations with the ITA office, the D2 and D3 programs are headed towards adopting the no-ad scoring format. This fall, the ITA Small College Events will probably utilize the no-ad scoring in the region and national events. 8. It will be less confusing for spectators to watch tennis matches without having to know the different scoring systems for cross division play. 9. There is a better probability for spectators to stay for a three to four hour match, as opposed to one which could linger for six hours.

5 Discussion: If this is adopted it would possible add costs to institutions for additional officials being needed for matches. There are benefits to this format, however not sure it fits for NAIA institutions. Motion to Approve Chin Tan, Cumberlands; Second: Chase Hodges, Georgia Gwinnett YES = 8; NO 40=; ABSTAIN = 6 Motion #5: Switch to computerized ranking system, or allow two raters in each conference. Rationale: The current ranking system is not working and doesn t seem fair. Motion died on the floor. X. ADJOURNMENT YES = 46; NO = 0; ABSTAIN = 0