NAIA Region VIII Meeting Minutes - NAIA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Region Meeting/Kansas City/March, 19, 2007

A large group was welcomed, introductions were given, and an invocation was given by Mike Riemersma of Cornerstone University.

I. RMC Members present -- Mike Fratzke, Linda Anderson, Ken Pletcher, Larry Bos, Bryan Rizzo, Sr. Elisse Kris, Tim Burkholder, Terry Bocian

II. RMC Members -- all have agreed to stay to finish region business through the spring of 2008 when regions will be dissolved.

III. All region sports chairs and raters have agreed to stay through the 07-08 year as well.

IV. Financial report -- at the conclusion of this year the region will see a surplus of approximately $3600. Dues for next year will be analyzed in the summer meeting. Profits from gates @ 07-08 events will be distributed amongst the participating schools AFTER EXPENSES ARE PAID. Any surplus dollars at the conclusion of the final year of region play will be distributed equally among all region members.

V. Membership -- Holy Cross College will be a full NAIA member in 07-08 and Margrove College (Detroit, Michigan) will be an NAIA probationary member next year. University of Windsor is looking at increased involvement in the future.

VI. Region Awards
A. Dr. Tim Burkholder (Taylor) was named RFAR of Year;
B. Rebekah Deal (Taylor) was Student Athlete Champion of Character honoree for 07-08;
C. Dr. Blair Dowden(Huntington) was honored with the national Administrator of the Year Award;
D. Terry Bocian was named RAD of the Year;
E. There wwere no coaches of character nominees per Larry Bos;
F. Team & Individual Region Sports Awards will continue to be given. Women's golf awards have been added for this year.

VII. SI Report -- Matt Fancett urges all to get the DAKSTATS Programs.
This is an NAIA MANDATE. Matt has on the region website the duties pertaining to Sports Information for REGION HOSTS to follow. Stories can be submitted to Matt but national office needs a picture attachment as well. This is mandate from national office.

VIII. Spring Sports --- all paperwork is completed, sites selected, and all have an inclement weather policy in place.
  A. Baseball & softball held simultaneously in Battle Creek.
  B. Women's Golf in South Bend, IN.
  C. Men's Golf in Vicksburg, MI
  D. Men's & women's tennis both @ IWU with a back-up indoor site of Greenwood, IN (approximately 20 miles from IWU).

IX. Fall Sports -- inclement weather policies must be in place for 07-08.
  XC -- will be held in Grand Rapids, MI
  MS -- MCC will host and event must be finished by Nov. 7th
  WS -- WHAC will host a weekend event
  Vball - WHAC will host a 6 team event.

X. Winter Sports -- Indoor track meet is being looked at for next February.
Meet either @ a MCC site or at Eastern Michigan.

XI. Reports
A. Kevin Dee(National office) -- Membership growth in the past year. Direct qualification input is critical in the next few weeks. Move to new office in Kansas City is currently being coordination. Office is located in downtown KC.
B. CACI & CAA -- both committees will remain intact for last year.
    1. Both committees endorsed an anti-gambling resolution for
      NAIA members betting on NAIA events.
    2. Eligibility for all emerging sports (Men's VB, bowling, etc)
      must be filed.
    3. National letter of intent will be looked at again.
    4. If a school drops a sport, a forfeit can be given if a signed
      contract is in place & cancellation is after specific date.
     (8/1 for fall sports; 10/1 for winter sports; 1/10 for spring
                  sports.
    5. Men's soccer region deadline for 07 will be November7-07
    6. If a team declares in golf & XC, and then does not have enough to field a team-- team must undeclare with NATIONAL OFFICE in order to have individuals compete.
      If you do not undeclare, individuals CANNOT compete.
C. FAR --    no major issues to report. Home schooling evaluation is going
  well.   ACT & SAT evaluation was discussed.
D. C of C   ----Cornerstone will be hosting a C of C seminar in December. They will distribute information to all region members in advance.
E. MCC ----    no information to report.
F. WHAC -- HolyCross, Margrove & University of Windsor have all expressed interest in membership. Sports offerings by member schools are increasing.
G. INDEPENDENTS --    concern about what will happen to independents after the direct qualification goes into effect.

XII. Direct Qualification ---- get input to national office in the next few
weeks. The COP will be voting on it in September & it will be in place in Fall of 2008. There are a lot of issues to work out in regards to awards, governance, communication once the competition piece is in place.

XIII. BYLAWS -- All 7 bylaws passed or failed overwhelmingly. The two
softball bylaws failed, the baseball bylaw failed, and the other 4 passed. A student-athlete who is a professional in either XC, Indoor track, or outdoor track is now a professional in all 3 sports. The 24 week rule now goes into
effect on August 1st for fall sports.

Next meeting for region management committee is scheduled for summer.
Please refer to the region website through naia.org for detailed information.

Respectfully submitted, Terry Bocian/Region Chair

Region 8 Minutes from July 18th, 2006 Meeting held in Jackson, Michigan

Members Present: Bryan Rizzo, Matt Fancett, Linda Anderson, Ken Pletcher, Mike Fratzke, Amy Stucky, Terry Bocian

1. Everyone was welcomed. Amy Stucky started the meeting with a prayer.

2. Current region format will remain in place for two more years. The regional realignment will begin in the fall of 2008-09. It is looking as if the conference direct method(with at larges) will be used with some sports having a super region event to get to a workable number of teams at the national event.

3. Given the situation the RMC members all agreed to serve the final two years of current Region 8 format.

4. All sports chairs have agreed to serve in 2006-07.

5. Membership: Holy Cross College (IN) will be a probationary member next year offering cross country only for men & women. University of Windsor has a strong interest in becoming a more active member. Kevin Dee is meeting with them later in the month. They have been active only in track in the past.

6. The region financial balance ends @ $2,482.32 The softball tourney
raised $513.19 for the region. Based upon this information region dues for
06-07 will REMAIN THE SAME. League members will pay $375 and independents will pay $425. Probationary members will pay $200.

7. Awards given will remain the same. Only possible additions will be women's golf event and indoor track meet.

8. Sports information report -- Matt Fancett statedd that everyone should move towards DAKSTATS if a school does not currently have it. Also SID HELP is being used by both WHAC & MCC to streamline reporting of scores. Matt is composing a list of MUST DO's for regional hosts for the fall sports in regards to sports information. The spring list worked well. There have been problems with the soccer & volleyball statistics. The website continues to have a variety of news items, information. We will start to update it as we begin the new season. Region members are encouraged to get info to Matt for posting.

9. Region Re-alignment handouts were given out to all to share with other members. This information is available on NAIA website. Also national host information & dates as well as regional information was distributed.

10. FALL SPORTS
a. women's soccer -- MCC will host in 06 & WHAC in 07.weekend format will continue. Officials will be paid $120, $90, & $70 for the 4th official.
b. men's soccer -- WHAC will host in 06 & MCC in 07. Same pay scale as women's soccer for officials. It was mandated that we book officials well in advance for the region dates. Region sports chair will work with supervisor of officials in respective conference for advance assignments.
c. Volleyball -- a 6 team tourney will be held for the next two years.
Same format as in the past. MCC will host. Officials will be paid $90 per match, with 2 line judges $50 per game. $25 per diem for meals, mileage,.
d. Cross Country -- MCC will host. HYTEC scoring must be used.
If a team undeclares, it can still request individuals competing in meet if cleared. Results must be sent to raters after each meet. Raters are Dave Wood of Aquinas for men and Tom King of Huntington for women.

11. SPRING SPORTS

A. Men's golf -- WHAC will host (probably @ Bedford Valley/Battle Creek)

B. Women's golf -- MCC will host. We need a minimum of 5 teams with 4 players minimum to host region. Bethel will be host site. If a team undeclares with national office, it may allow individuals to compete if it requests.

C. M & W Tennis -- MCC will host in Ft. Wayne. Three spots for MCC and 4th spot will be between Aquinas, Indiana Tech and 4th place MCC team. It was mentioned that the chairs will be asked about hiring roving officials at the meet.

D. Baseball -- WHAC will host a 4 team regional. Host school must have tarp for infield available. Umpire fees same as in 06. $90 per game with
$25 per diem. Lodging available if umpire works 2 consecutive days.

E. Softball -- WHAC will host a 6 team regional. Selection process same as in the past. Officials same as in 06. $70 per game with $25 per diem and lodging if needed.

WHAC is looking into Battle Creek as a possib le site for softball & baseball tournies to be held simultaneously at Bailey Park. The site has 4 lighted softball fields & 3 lighted baseball fields.

12. National Report (submitted by Kevin Dee)

a. CAA & CACI unanimously approved the direct qualification model for regional realignment. COP will review in September.

b. CEO Search -- interviews will begin in August. Final decision in September.

c. Strategic planning -- council met in Kansas City to continue work on issues. Marketing, fundraising, image building for NAIA all part of the package.

d. Scholar Athlete Awards -- 1 form will be used for ALL SPORTS> No sports related information will be needed.

e. Score reporting -- aLL SCORES MUST BE REPORTED TO NAIA SCOREBOARD OR THROUGH DAKSTAT within 24 hours of an event or school is ineligible for ratings.

f. Official publications -- will be avilable in late July.

13.. CAA/CACI report

a. 24 week rule remains unchanged. There will be an official starting date in 2007.

b. Practice in the non-competitive season will be defined.

c. Indoor soccer is not soccer per NAIA.

d. There must be a COMPREHENSIVE WEATHER SYSTEM in place for all region events to assure that national timetable is adhered to.

e. HYTEK scoring must be used for all regional cross country events.

f. CACI dealt with many issues in regards to ratings.

14. ELIGIBILITY -- a handout was distributed to committee members on "Trust Based System " of eligibility which the NAIA uses. It was emphasized that leagues, regions, should begin more education on the eligibility rules. It
is a two part system: know the rules and enforce them on your own
campus. #2-- if you are aware of a problem at another institution have your athletic director contact them & bring it to their attention. It becomes that school's responsibility to investigate and get info to you, the league eligibility chair and the NAIA office.

15. Indoor track meet is still a possibility @ IWU or at a Michigan site.

16. Gender equity -- national office is putting together a workbook on making your institution, conference more inclusive and diverse.

Meeting was adjourned. Next meeting will be held in Kansas City in March
of 2007.

April 19, 2006

MINUTES/REGION 8 MEETING/SAN DIEGO/APRIL 2006

Region 8 members present: Madonna - Bryan Rizzo; Cornerstone- Dave Grube, Larry Bos; Davenport - Todd Pitts, Paul Lowden; UM Dearborn - Steve Rotta, Mike Gibson; Indiana Wesleyan - Mike Fratzke, Jerry Showalter; Spring Arbor - Ryan Cottingham; IU Northwest - Linda Anderson, Charles Gallmeier; Aquinas - Terry Bocian, Phil Hatlem; Grace College- Roger Newton, Bill Gordon

1. Terry Bocian welcomed all to the meeting. Ryan Cottingham offered the invocation.

2. Handouts were distributed: region 8 management committee, list of region 8 sports chairs, region website information, budget breakdown, minutes from last meeting, region site rotation information for next two

years, NEW region host responsibility list for sports information.

3. Minutes from summer meeting were discussed. Two changes-- Deb Thompson will remain as softball sports chair; softball & women's soccer site changes were noted.

4. RMC Committee -- remains same. Terry Bocian accepted chair position for another 3 years and all members at this time will stay.

5. Sports Chairs -- All sports chairs are staying. Newest addition is Candace Moats from IWU in volleyball.

6. Financial Report -- at the conclusion of the 05-06 year the region should have a positive balance of $2,017. It was assumed that stipends and expenses would remain the same and that the dues structure would not be altered in 2006-07.

7. Membership -- Holy Cross College (Indiana) was accepted as a NAIA provisional member. They will be an independent provissional member of Region 8 and will offer men"s & women's cross country in 2006-07. They have a plan to offer more sports in the future. Several members of the RMC were involved in the site visit.

8. Future region sports offerings: It looks as if we will have 6 women's golf teams in 06-07. There will be a region golf tourney in spring of 2007. Also the last weekend in February was opened ( later national indoor track event) for a possible region indoor meet.

9. Awards: John Grimes/Marian/ Region AD of the Year; Bill Blackerby/Siena Heights/RFAR of the Year; John Foss/ IWU/ C of C coach award/ C of C student-athlete award will be announced later.
Larry Bos announced that the format/process for the C of C award is very cumbersome and is being looked at.

10. Possible region awards addition next year: women's golf & track

11. NAIA is doing a region analysis of award systems hoping to streamline them. All awards MUST be purchased through Midwest Trophy.

12. SID Report -- region website is FINALLY becoming user friendly.
Thus, we are adding information to it. All of the spring regional information is on the site. Matt Fancett again asked that Region 8 members send him newsworth information (along with a picture) to post on the site. We are looking into links for champions of character events and a link to post minutes from meetings. Dakstats has been a problem for some members but they must continue to use them and hopefully will become easier for users. Matt compiled a list of SI duties for host school for ALL regional competition. This will be on the website and will be mailed/sent to all region 8 hosts. There have been inequities from one regional event to another for this aspect.

13. Regional Ratings -- there will be an expanded ratings oversight committee to correct potential inequities. It was encouraged that regional coaches associations by sport compile a list of SPECIFICS for regional raters and players of the week to help those making the selections. Each region will select its own committee.

14. Fall Sports Issues

A. the weekend format for women's soccer will continue.
B. Dates for region will NOT be pushed earlier in 2006. It looks as if 2007 this will happen.
C. Soccer Officials -- It was suggested that we hire regional final officials at the beginning of the year to guarantee top people.

D. Volleyball -- 6 team vs 4 team region will be discussed in summer meeting.
E. Cross Country -- event ran smoothly; no reported problems at this time.
14. Spring Sports Issues
A. Men's golf -- MCC hosts in Peru, IN; 6 whac teams, 6 mcc teams and independent (INW).
B. Tennis -- MCC will host both in Ft. Wayne, IN (4 teams in each field)
C. Baseball -- MCC will host (6 teams with 2 fields)
D. Softball -- MCC will host (6 teams with 2 fields) All detailed information is on the region 8 website.

15. National Report -- big item is regional realignment. Coaches groups, AD's, should get all input to the national office. Mike Fratzke (IWU) is on the committee and can take your input.

16. CAA report -- 24 week rule (school year only) will remain as is for near future. Presidents council has recommended at looking at starting date for each sport. It will studied at NACDA.

17. CACI report -- NO NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT, conference letters of intent can be used; movement to streamline all scholar- athlete awards and also to streamline the Honorable Mention All American to equal them out evenly among all sponsored sports.

18. FAR Report -- New DVD coming for FAR training from NAIA. The gap FORM will be increasingly emphasized with potential problems dealt with. FAR committee is getting older and is making inroads to bring some younger people into the fold.

19. WHAC Report -- Bryan Rizzo stated that Indiana Tech is adding men's & women's tennis and Davenport is adding volleyball for next year. Siena Heights is adding women's golf in 2006-07. UM Dearborn is looking at sports expansion as well. No new members on the horizon as Rochester continues to delay application for NAIA membership.

20. MCC Report -- Mike Fratzke states that MCC is looking for a 10th member; they are implementing a new program for stats and revising its website.

Terry Bocian & Mike Fratzke the importance of studying and getting input to NAIA and regional alignment committee members on the upcoming changes. The next few months is critical. Look at your area and your sport as to what is the best scenario.

NEXT MEETING --- WILL BE HELD THE 3RD WEEK IN JULY. SITE TENTATIVELY IS GOSHEN. DATE WILL BE EITHER 19TH OR 20TH. DATE TO BE APPROVED BY RMC AND KEVIN DEE