by Dave Kisor, D3baseball.com

With the fall "nontraditional" segment of the baseball season having ended on October 31st, most players have embarked on voluntary winter strength and conditioning programs in personal preparation for the "traditional" spring season. The objectives of these programs vary to some degree, but they all have the goal of improving the student-athlete's performance in the spring season. The objectives of one such voluntary program at Ohio Northern is found in the Daily Dose. Due to NCAA regulations, strength and conditioning programs or other winter programs cannot be mandatory. However, with a multitude of exercises for strength and conditioning, many schools provide guidance for the voluntary workouts so the players can "maximize gain" while avoiding injury.

Earlier this year, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) put forth a proposal that is meant to support the student-athlete by helping them prevent injury due to inappropriate strength and conditioning. The stated intent of the proposal is to "permit certified strength and conditioning personnel to conduct voluntary workouts for all student-athletes." Here the specificity of a certified individual is evident. Currently, the NCAA Division III Bylaws state that "If the strength and conditioning coach is also a coaching staff member for one of the institution's intercollegiate teams, the monitoring may occur only if that staff member performs monitoring duties for all student-athletes using the facility at that time." No mention is made of the strength and conditioning coach being certified.

The MIAC proposes that the bylaw be changed to "Voluntary individual strength and conditioning activities conducted by strength and conditioning personnel who have received strength and conditioning certification from a nationally recognized certification program. If the strength and conditioning coach is also a coaching staff member for one of the institution's intercollegiate teams, the conducting of the voluntary individual strength and conditioning activities may occur only if that staff member performs those duties for all student-athletes using the facility at that time." Adding "(f) Monitoring, but not conducting voluntary individual workouts for safety purposes by athletics department personnel. If the athletics department staff member monitoring the workout is also a coaching staff member for one of the institution's intercollegiate teams, the monitoring may occur only if that staff member performs monitoring duties for all student-athletes using the facility at that time."

The MIAC also proposes that Bylaw 17.02.13a be changed to "The student-athlete must not be required to report back to any of his or her sport specific coaches any information related to the activity. In
addition, no athletics department staff member who observes, monitors, or conducts the activity (e.g., strength coach, trainer, manager) may report back to the student-athlete's coach any information related to the activity", with the remainder of the bylaw remaining the same.

Part of the rationale according to the MIAC is that "The weeks outside of the competitive season are the time to increase cardiovascular endurance, build strength and explosiveness, train for purposes of injury prevention, and become a better athlete so that students are prepared for their sport season. If our student-athletes do not have access to the person on campus that is trained in this area, then they are left to their own devices and expertise, of which they might have little knowledge, or they are put in
the position of hiring someone from an outside organization as a personal trainer. The sponsors believe it is a disservice to students-athletes to ask them to compete at a high level without providing them with the support necessary to prevent injuries and to maximize performance."

It could be argued that "off-season" strength and conditioning should be mandatory in that the student-athlete would be provided with supervision that would lend towards an appropriate strength and conditioning program. The student in this setting would be able to progress towards a positive benefit while decreasing the potential for injury. This does raise the issue of having a certified strength and conditioning staff member to oversee this type of program. This could be an issue for schools that could not afford such an individual. Certainly personnel monitoring and conducting voluntary strength and conditioning programs have the student-athlete's best interests in mind. The argument is that a certified strength and conditioning coach would be optimal in this setting.

Importantly, as stated in the NCAA Division III 2009-2010 Initial Publication of Proposed Legislation printed this past August, the workouts would still be voluntary and staff members that are monitoring the workout facilities only would not require special certification.

The NCAA requires a co-sponsor before a proposal can be placed on the legislative docket for the 2010 NCAA convention to be held in January in Atlanta. Dan McKane, the Executive Director of MIAC, recently informed D3baseball.com that due to the timing of the initial [MIAC] sponsoring of the proposal (summer 2009) a co-sponsor was not found by the September 1st deadline. McKane added that the MIAC is considering co-sponsoring a similar proposal for the 2011 NCAA Convention.