KWC making NCAA schedule adjustments - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Kentucky Wesleyan College had its football players reporting to campus this past Friday to get ready for preseason camp.

It was a week later than the Panthers are usually coming in to start their preparations.

KWC and other NCAA Division II schools are under new rules which limit some practice times and have cut the number of games in some sports' seasons.

“It does make a difference,” KWC football coach Brent Holsclaw said. “The days become much longer. You've got to get so much stuff in.”

The football season for D-II is also starting a week later. The Panthers open on Sept. 2 against Indianapolis.

“It really tests your teaching ability — you've got to be more productive with your time,” Holsclaw said. “You like to have guys in a month in advance, but now it's three weeks.”

The practice and preparation time can be significantly squeezed for football because of heat and other weather concerns. Owensboro Catholic, which shares Steele Stadium with the Panthers, had a scrimmage on Friday night. After Catholic played, KWC went out for a practice session. The Panthers didn't get off the field until close to 2 a.m.

“You can get pushed back by heat, lightning or heat index issues,” Holsclaw said.

A “dead period” has been instituted for the week of Christmas, which will effect both KWC's men's and women's basketball programs. The dead period, which mandates athletes not play in games or practice, is Dec. 20-26.

The number of basketball games has also been cut by one to 26.

Baseball seasons were reduced by six games, volleyball and soccer were each cut by two games.

Money issues were believed to be at the heart of the NCAA Division II Management Council mandates. The season and practice time reductions were voted on by school presidents and athletic directors.

“The reason the NCAA is giving them seven days off is schools don't want to pay for them to be here, and I can see that,” said KWC men's basketball coach Todd Lee of the Christmas dead period. “When you have kids on campus you've got to give them a per diem for food. That's one reason why they moved football back a week. So instead of feeding kids for another week and taking care of them, they just saved the schools a ton of money.”

The initiative is being called Life in the Balance. Coaches at the NABC convention during the NCAA Division I Final Four were calling it “budgets in the balance,” according to Lee.

“Division II budgets are hurting, we don't draw what (Division I) does, we don't get the big TV contracts,” Lee said.

KWC athletics director Gary Gallup thinks the new D-II rules are designed to save money, but it's also helps the student athletes by giving them more time for school work.

“Mainly it is a cost savings initiative, because of the reduced number of games in various sports, and practice times during the preseason,” Gallup said. “It's a student-athlete welfare issue, too, because of the demands on them with time, especially. It's a little more time they don't have to be involved with their sport during the academic year.”

Gallup doesn't anticipate the dead period during Christmas break being a detriment to the basketball teams.

“It gives the student-athletes the opportunity to go home and enjoy Christmas break,” Gallup said. “I think it's a good thing for the coaches and administrators, too.”

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