I want to use this space in the coming months to examine the Val Ackerman White Paper in depth, and talk to many people involved in women’s college basketball to get their thoughts on her recommendations and what might be realistic to implement, in the near- and long-term.
Within a week of the report’s release in June, the NCAA, which commissioned her work, has taken action on some NCAA Tournament changes for the 2014-15 season. That’s when the Final Four will go back to a Friday-Sunday game format, and some other possible tournament changes for that season are also being considered.
An NCAA stakeholders’ summit also will take place at the 2014 Final Four in Nashville.
The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association board met late July to create several working groups that will tackle several key topics: legislation and governance, playing rules and officiating and professional and grassroots development.
WBCA president Sue Semrau of Florida State called this “an opportunity to reimagine our sport,” and I think that’s a perfect description for the challenge facing leading figures in the sport.
This white paper could become as important to the next phase of women’s college basketball as the passage of Title IX and the NCAA sponsoring women’s sports have been in getting to this point.
That may smack of hyperbole, especially since this does depend upon the NCAA and other “stakeholders” to do more with this report than let it collect dust.
I know some are disappointed Ackerman didn’t tackle recruiting, officiating and student-athlete welfare issues, to name a few examples. But she was issued a specific charge by the NCAA generally limited to attendance, television ratings, the NCAA tournament and the sport’s governing structure.
But I think this is a great opportunity for everyone in the college game – coaches, players, parents, administrators, media and business people and fans – to be heard at a critical time in the game’s evolution.
In this initial post, I want to provide a quick overview and offer a few initial impressions.
So much of the reaction to the white paper I’ve read in news accounts, seen on social media and heard in private conversations has been understandably encouraging.
In nearly 25 years of covering this sport, I’ve not seen anyone attempt such a thorough examination of the state of the sport – the game you see on the floor, and, just as importantly, what’s gone on behind the scenes.
Ackerman drove down deep and mentioned the effects of such seemingly minor aesthetic things as baggy shorts and tattoos, reflecting the care that she took to listen to a wide range of people.
Indeed, I was most intrigued to read the anonymous comments she sprinkled throughout her 52-page report and that illustrate what many people have sensed for a while: A sport that has made tremendous strides over but that currently suffers from a lack of vision and clear direction.
Here’s one comment that sums up what I know a lot of people in the game feel today:
“Bring us back to why we fell in love with this sport 30 years ago.”
Well, bingo.
It’s been just about that time since the NCAA had its first women’s national tournament, and since then so many in the sport have understandably celebrated growing attendance, greater television and media exposure, better salaries and resources and the highest profile of any non-revenue sport.
In reading Ackerman’s report, a good bit of the problem lies at the door of the NCAA. She mentioned that there had been a status report on the sport prepared by the NCAA’s Women’s Basketball Issues Committee in 2000, but nobody could find a copy for her to draw upon while she compiled the white paper.
It’s a damnable thing to have to point out, but she also was unsparing in her criticism about a lack of communication among the many NCAA committees devoted to women’s basketball. Many of those panels have existed largely as leadership development vehicles for women coaches and administrators.
This is also around the time that ESPN ramped up its coverage, the Women’s Final Four was being played in domes and some coaches were beginning to earn seven-figure salaries.
Thankfully, Ackerman has done a solid job of trying to fill in that part of the narrative, and she’s given everyone who cares about the game plenty to think about, as well as a road map for the future.
One of the strongest areas of her white paper is addressing the business of women’s college basketball, which I’ll be writing about next.
(If you’d like to talk with me about the white paper, feel free to contact me at wendygparker@gmail.com. I’ll be conducting interviews over the next few weeks and throughout the season that I would like to post here.)
Highly respected longtime journalist and web editor Wendy Parker, formerly with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has joined the Blue Star Media line-up. She’s a correspondent for Basketball Times and the author of “Beyond Title IX: The Cultural Laments of Women’s Sports.” Parker has covered the Olympics, World Cup and been a fixture in college sports throughout her career. The Troy State graduate was named to the inaugural Sports Illustrated Twitter 100 list and also offers varied topics and thoughts on her personal blog Extracurriculars. http://www.wendyparker.org/
