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Volume CXXXII, Number 8 |
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Injury forces NESCAC to amend rules
TED REINERT
ORIENT STAFF
Following the injury of a Colby student in an out-of-season hockey scrimmage, the presidents of the 11 NESCAC colleges amended the NESCAC constitution at a September 25 meeting. Now, any type of practice or game organized by a team member and primarily for a NESCAC team is not permitted.
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| If this seemingly innocuous scene were occuring out of season, these lacrosse players would be in violation of the NESCAC's new regulations regarding student-led practices. (Karsten Moran, Bowdoin Orient) |
The NESCAC constitution originally prohibited out-of-season practices, although strength and conditioning have always been permitted in the off-season and remain so. Over time, the rules were modified so that out-of-season practices organized by team captains were allowed, but only if voluntary for team members. This change ends such practices. Casual pick-up games between students are still allowed.
"I think the fear of the change is greater than the reality of the change. There were a lot of rumors going around," said Jeffrey Ward, the Ashmead White Director of Athletics. "If we were going to say to kids you can't get together and play, I would understand [resistance]. If people want to get together and play basketball, that's fine."
According to Ward and President Barry Mills, Bowdoin sports were for the most part already in compliance with the rules, and as Mills pointed out, the presidents' decision is going back to the original rules. However, the decision has been questioned by some among the student body and has been discussed in the editorial pages of this publication, although Ward said that there has been considerably less rhetoric at Bowdoin than at other NESCAC institutions.
Jared Porter '03, captain of the baseball and hockey teams, is one student who disagrees with the presidents' decision. "I think [the practices] are a pretty valuable learning experience. All 30 kids who come out there want to be out there," Porter said.
Porter said the pre-season is a good time to build up mind, body, and team chemistry, and believes that the regulations will limit potential, which "goes against everything that should be strived for. By limiting that, I believe the NESCAC presidents are taking away the ability to be the best."
"The idea that there would be nine months of out-of-season practices was never part of what NESCAC was about. And there was some skepticism of whether in all cases these practices were really voluntary," said Mills.
"We're in a league that has certain principles, that tries to establish a balance between people's academic experiences here and their extracurricular and athletic experiences here."
Guidelines for the application of the rule at Bowdoin are still being worked on. The issue will be further discussed at a November 18 meeting between NESCAC athletic directors and at the NESCAC presidents' next meeting in December.