I've had several committee members and colleagues ask me recently, "Why all the focus on basketball and flag football? What about soccer and volleyball?"
Okay -- let's talk about them.
What should we do about the Volleyball Championships? In their current form, the volleyball championships attract approximately 250 collegiate teams each year. This tournament is easily the largest and most representative of our national championship tournaments. So what's the problem?
Well, here are a few of the concerns that surround the volleyball championships.
1) Size and Format of the Tournament
The size of the tournament requires us to rent convention centers to hold our tournaments. This has both positive and negative outcomes. There are those that suggest we should return to campuses to host regional qualifying events -- consistent with our National Championship format adopted by the NCCS. The NCCS Committee has taken this stance. The question is, "What would this look like and how will it impact the existing championship?" Do we truly understand what it will take to accomplish this and are we, the NCCS and the NIRSA membership, willing to commit what it takes to see that through? Regional qualifying events require regional hosts. They require professionals willing to run tournaments. They require teams willing to attend and pay entry fees that can support the tournament and the winning teams qualifying expenses. Are we prepared for that? Are students?
2) Behavioral Issues
When you have 250 collegiate teams in one or more hotels surrounding the convention center, there will inevitably be behavioral issues that lead to increased expenditures -- we call it security. This has proven true for the NCCS. These behavioral issues are not uncommon when you get 2500 college students together in the same place. Issues of concern include alcohol use and abuse, sexual health, safety and security, among others. The question is, what does the NCCS do about it? Are we doing enough to safeguard the students that attend? Is that our role? The problem -- and yes there has been a problem -- hasn't been in the convention center or competitive venues. The problems occur in the hotel rooms that are reserved by these students. Noise violations, property damage, alcohol and alcohol related behaviors do pose a reputational risk to the NCCS. So we must address it in some way -- and we have. Is what we have done enough?
3) Cost
There are inherent costs involved when you rent out a large convention center -- costs that increase the amount of money a team must pay to attend. Facility rental, maintenance and custodial services, set-up and take down, staff meals, security and a host of other expenses are incurred at a higher rate than at a college or university (generally speaking). Moving these same expenses back to campus might create lower teams costs, but you then would be adding an additional level of play required for qualification to the national championship. Add these costs up -- which is better for students or institutions that foot the bill?
That's all for now. I know I haven't covered all of the issues, but I hope there are those of you who will help drive this conversation. Let me hear your feedback.
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4 comments:
would it help to schedule the men's and women's tournaments on different weekends to cut down on the numbers?
Hollie Adams
Indiana State University
My criticism of having regional tournys to get into the national championship is it does not allow for club teams to budget properly. Because the expenditure for nationals is something that pretty much every club team in the nation budgets for in someway, not knowing whether or not you are going until a month or two, or even three before the actual championship creates major financial problems- travel, tournament expense, hotels, getting commitments, etc. In addition, I can vouch for hundreds of students that are more than happy with the current format of the National Championships. Most teams from each region are friends with each other and the National Championships in addition to being competitive is a great place to see old friends from back home, highschool, abd former club teams. To address the aspect of behavior: the outcome of the hotel rooms reflects upon the particular teams, in my opinion, much more than it does on NCCS as a whole.
I respectfully disagree. The reputation of both the NCCS and NIRSA are indeed adversely affected by poor behavior exhibited by teams at National Sports programs. One or two isolated problems at a tournament would indeed reflect poorly on the showing of said team and school - at volleyball the reputation proceeds us as a 2nd spring break for binge drinking, parties, sexcapades, and the occassional volleyball match for teams attending. As such, hotel chains get to know certain groups as problematic - I am certain that convincing general managers that problems will be minimal is a tough sell for our NIRSA and NCCS counterparts.
I would suggest implementing a regional format with paid expenses for top teams from each region. In addition, put a limit on the number of "open" spots available (whatever makes sense for venue size) for teams wishing to participate who don't win their regional. Ex: 16 regional champs plus 32 open spots creates a more manageable group of players than the current free for all.
The number of teams allowed dictates to tournament organizers whether or not to remain in a convention center atmosphere or return to campuses. Smaller team numbers means smaller space.
Regional tournaments work for soccer championships. I don't feel finding the appropriate number of volunteer or host sites in each region would be overly problematic, though it certainly can create some financial issues for host institutions.
Thanks to those that have posted. I think we are seeing both sides of the issue in the posted comments. First of all, it is a nice event that brings thousands of our students together for one event and lots of students really enjoy it. Secondly, there are problems.
If we were to change direction and move to a championship format, then it would require teams and institutions to budget in different ways. That is change, and change is sometimes difficult to manage. But it is managable.
Could change include separate male and female tournaments? It certainly could, though I'm not sure I'm a supporter of that. It would require us to host twice as many events -- I'm not sure we want that. I do like the coeducational element to our tournaments, which is consistent across all of our events. It's something to think about. Good question.
Would regional tournaments provide the same type of social networking we see at the national tournament? I personally think it creates more opportunities. It would grow, not shrink, the sport. In a championship format, teams would qualify for the national tournament, just as they do in soccer, tennis, and basketball, currently. Competing at a regional level rather than at (or in addition to) one large national tournament doesn't mean we are limiting volleyball, or the chances for social interaction. My arguement is that we would be increasing those opportunities.
And while we are at it, we are creating a more attractive structure for corporate partners. Rather than one large volleyball event with an undefined "regular season", we incorporate regional qualifying events or a bid process or some qualifying structure that provides more opportunities for people to partner with us. AND -- if there is a way to coordinate our intramural volleyball seasons along with our sport club volleyball season, the likelihood of partnerships increases even more. I know that's a bit of a paradigm shift, but numbers are what sponsors are looking for; and they need numbers on an ongoing basis -- not a one-time event. If we are looking to control the rising cost of entry fees, we need to think about those things.
My final point here is this. If we want to change direction (there is no answer to that question yet), we will need to identify NIRSA professionals that can commit to coordinating NCCS Volleyball tournaments. I need to know that these people exist and would be willing to step forward in a leadership role to help us. If you have an interest in helping with that, please let me or any of the members of the volleyball work team know about it.
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