Much clamor is made by fans and the media about the NCAA’s 400-page rulebook and the compliance departments at member institutions that try to follow them.
“The NCAA compliance rules are complex, they’re convoluted at times, and they’re very often confusing,” said Associate Athletic Director of Compliance and Academic Achievement Jackson Stava.
Not only is the rule book complex, it often times seems ridiculous. The University of Oklahoma self-reported a violation in 2013 that three players “were provided pasta in excess of the permissible amount allowed” at a graduation event. The players donated $3.83 (the cost of the pasta) to charity to resolve the situation. While it eventually came out that the pasta may not have actually been a violation, the point remains.
“We took a small ball of yarn that turned into a thundering ball of yarn that’s trampling people,” Athletic Director Gary Pine said.
While nearly everyone involved acknowledges the troublesome nature of the rules, the department also recognizes the need to compete with integrity.
“It reveals our integrity, that’s an important part of competition – that you’re a person of integrity, a program of integrity, you’re a person of fairness, a program of fairness,” Pine said. “And compliance is what ensures that we are doing things right and that we can be trusted.”
There have been numerous scandals at the Division I level with programs skirting the rules or blatantly breaking them in order to provide extra benefits or improve students’ academic standing. However, Division II is not free from mistakes. Last year Cal Poly Pomona used an ineligible player on its men’s soccer team. The mistake kept the top-ranked Broncos from competing in the postseason.
“As a Christian school we need to never let competitive drive or the will to win get in the way of doing the right thing,” Stava said.
The Cougars were successful in their first year of NCAA Division II active membership. The program finished 17th in the 2014-15 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, which measures success across all sports for the entire academic year.
“It’s extremely important, because when people win you want to believe they did it the right way,” said Pine. “You’d better have good compliance if you’re winning.”
The department also realizes its role in protecting and expanding the university’s reputation.
“The reality for us in athletics is most of our colleagues across the country, most of the student athletes we compete against, most of the people we see on the road – all they’ll ever know of Azusa Pacific is our athletic program,” Stava said. “The interactions that we have with those folks when we’re representing APU are critical because we are representing everything else that makes this institution what it is.”
“I don’t have to worry about our coaches’ morals because I know that their moral compass keeps them from deliberately breaking rules,” Senior Compliance Administrator Shelby Stueve said.
While the Cougars and the rest of the NCAA membership try to find ways to ease the burden of the rulebook while still competing fairly, the compliance officials will continue to maintain integrity in the department.