News & Links

MIAC well-represented at 2024 NCAA Convention

PHOENIX – Nearly 40 administrators and a trio of student-athletes from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) traveled to Phoenix, Arizona last week for the annual NCAA Convention where they attended educational sessions, deliberated governance proposals, and discussed key issues facing college athletics.
STATE OF COLLEGE SPORTS
The four-day NCAA Convention officially got underway on Wednesday, January 10 with NCAA President Charlie Baker welcoming the more than 2,600 administrators and student-athletes in attendance with his first "State of College Sports" Address. Baker touted a number of significant accomplishments made in student-athlete well-being over the past year and also identified several action items for the immediate future of the Association including enhanced educational support and opportunities in the area of Name, Image, and Likeness, increased fan engagement efforts, continued focus on diverse developmental programming, and improving NCAA Championship experience and coverage.

"College sports is uniquely American and uniquely amazing," Baker said. "Millions of adults believe, to their core, that the lessons they learned as student-athletes changed their lives. I hear the same message when I speak with today's student-athletes. They are why we are all here. Their future is too important for any of us to stand by and hope it's going to get better. And if we all do our part, get involved, do the work (and) play the hand, we can make progress on the large, complicated problems we face."

 
FIFTY YEARS OF DIVISION III
Division III is the NCAA's largest division with 433 active schools and 44 voting conferences. D-III officially turned 50 years old on August 6, 2023, and its founding has been celebrated by membership throughout the 2023-24 academic year, including at the 2024 NCAA Convention. The MIAC and the bulk of its institutions have been Division III members since the 1982-83 campaign.
Birgen Nelson
NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Gustavus track & field standout Birgen Nelson was recognized among the "Top 30" at the NCAA Woman of the Year celebration on Thursday, January 11. Nelson concluded her Gustavus career last spring as a two-time NCAA Division III outdoor track & field national champion in the 100-meter hurdles in addition to winning the indoor 60-meter hurdles national title. She owns NCAA Division III all-time records in the indoor 60-meter hurdles, outdoor 100-meter hurdles, and outdoor sprint medley relay.

The most decorated athlete in Gustavus program history, Nelson won 13 individual MIAC titles, contributed to an outdoor team title in 2023, and was a two-time MIAC Track Athlete of the Year. In the classroom, Nelson earned First Team Academic All-America honors in 2022 and 2023 following a Third Team selection in 2021, along with four USTFCCCA All-Academic honors.

Nelson joined the rest of the Woman of the Year honorees on center stage Thursday night for well-deserved recognition of their outstanding achievements in college athletics and beyond. Former University of Texas-Austin volleyball student-athlete Logan Eggleston was honored as the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year.
Conference Office Operations Panel
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING
A hallmark of NCAA Convention is the opportunity to learn from colleagues and industry experts during educational sessions and panel discussions. Attendees were able to participate in conversations ranging from more granular topics of understanding championship committee roles and formulating federated playing rules to larger-scale existential issues like developing mental wellness tools and strategizing opportunities and safeguards for Name, Image, and Likeness.

MIAC Associate Commissioner BJ Pickard moderated a panel on Conference Office Operations in conjunction with the University of Washington's Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership graduate program. Panelists included Dan Butterly (Commissioner, The Big West, NCAA Division I), Erin Lind (Commissioner, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, NCAA Division II), and J.J. Nekoloff (Associate Commissioner, Old Dominion Athletic Conference, NCAA Division III).
 
Division III attendees also engaged in the annual Issues Forum, which featured roundtable discussions on emergent themes and items of critical importance to the Division. This year's discussion topics included sportsmanship, officiating, and athletic training.

 
 
 
15257STUDENT-ATHLETE INVOLVEMENT
A pair of MIAC student-athletes took part in leadership initiatives at Convention. St. Scholastica softball student-athlete Grace Hadlich represented the MIAC throughout the Convention as a National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Associate Member, while Saints football student-athlete Donald West was among 40 individuals nationwide selected to participate in the Student Immersion Program.

Hadlich - who also represented the conference as part of a Congressional listening session last August - helped make history at Convention. In addition to speaking at the MIAC administrator meeting, Hadlich joined the rest of National SAAC in making its first-ever vote on the Convention floor during the annual business session, representing the will and interests of Division III student-athletes across the nation. Hadlich also participated in a Special Olympics Unified Sports activity at the NCAA Convention alongside other National SAAC representatives. Special Olympics Unified Sports teams bring together students with and without intellectual disabilities to promote meaningful social inclusion.

West, meanwhile, secured one of the coveted spots in the NCAA Student Immersion Program, which is geared towards providing student-athletes of color with networking opportunities and leadership training at NCAA Convention in an effort to help prepare them for careers in athletic administration and coaching. The programming's ultimate objective is to create a pool of talented individuals that will further diversify Division III's coaching and administrative landscapes.
IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH BEST PRACTICES
The NCAA Board of Governors approved an updated version of the Mental Health Best Practices document that all member schools will be required to follow, effective August 1, 2024. The second edition of the best practices document includes emerging information about the intersection of mental health and sports betting, social media, corruption in sport, suicide contagion, and Name, Image, and Likeness. The document also details specific considerations for student-athletes of color, LGBTQ student-athletes, international student-athletes, and student-athletes with disabilities. The updated best practices document will be formally published in the coming weeks.
MANAGEMENT COUNCIL UPDATES
The Division III Management Council approved a pair of changes at their Convention meetings. The first was noncontroversial legislation to remove cannabinoids from the list of NCAA-banned substances. This follows the September 2023 recommendation from the Committee for Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to do so. The Management Council, in conjunction with the Division III Presidents Council, also approved the expansion of the men's ice hockey bracket from 12 to 13 teams, effective with the 2024 Championship.
NEW LEGISLATION APPROVED
Division III delegates ratified a new philosophy statement and passed three proposals at the annual Business Session on Saturday, January 13. The Division III philosophy statement is used as a framework to describe and guide Division III. Various governance committees spent more than a year working to modernize the vision and principles for D-III. The new philosophy statement was passed with two amendments attached, including language noting that Division III athletics are primarily a four-year undergraduate experience and the Division shall not award financial aid based on athletics leadership, ability, participation, or performance.

Delegates also approved three other proposals including one that decreases the minimum number of participants in a tennis match from six to four, thus aligning sports sponsorship rules with playing rules. A proposal from the Empire 8 and Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference was passed to allow for membership sponsors of original legislative proposals to offer amendments to either expand or restrict the proposal between September 15 and November 1, and the Division also approved Stunt as an emerging sport for women, matching previous legislation passed by Division I and Division II.
FUTURE NCAA CONVENTIONS SET
The next three NCAA Convention dates and locations have been announced. The 2025 NCAA Convention will be held January 15-18, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. The 2026 NCAA Convention will be January 14-17, 2026 in Washington D.C. The 2027 NCAA Convention will be January 13-16 in Anaheim, California.