Remember... "AA" is Division III schools. Talk to the members. Indy doesn't make these decisions on their own.
Since roughly 400 of the 451 schools in Division III are almost never impacted by this, the chance of the "members" caring about this is about the same as it snowing in South Texas in August.
IMO its the schools 38 schools located in Texas, Louisiana, California, Oregon and Washington that get killed on the travel issue.
Yes... in some sports they do. Not much we can do about geography and money at this time. I have been on record that I wish(ed) the extra money was spent on the championships to allow more flexibility and travel when necessary (not just allow anything, though).
I have already said publicly I've been disappointed in how the "extra" money has been handled so far. There was one thinking of returning the money since it didn't appear to be needed any more. I felt that worst case scenario, the money should be put in a rainy-day fund for future needs (cost overtures, increased championship costs, etc.). Now they have decided to start and fund new programs.
The last part is where I am torn. The reason DIII upped how much money it was paying in dues, and that the rest of the division agreed not to take it's percentage, was that DIII was the only division running at a deficit especially because of it's championships. The division raised it's dues and I was pleased it had handled the problem itself to start.
Where I am torn is how the money is to be spent. It isn't being put in a rainy day fund. It isn't being used for championships which saw the biggest hit when DIII was in such a deficit. Instead, new programs are being funded. The money is going to non-championship items (governmental for lack of a better description). There is, once again, a thinking in the division that funding isn't an issue. There is a false sense of thinking that the DI money will always be there, despite the fact there are clear signs the money won't always be there at the same levels and recent contracts have had decreasing values over the length of the contracts, not increasing (as was the case about 5-10 years ago).
Where I am torn is that the programs are worthy and certainly needed of attention. Of course I want to see further training for athletic trainers and officials. Electronic medical record software to keep track of injuries across the NCAA is certainly understandable. I will certainly would not want to be against LGBTQ initiatives. I will also not stand in the way of improving opportunities for minorities and women in coaching - not by a long shot. Helping more SAAC members be involved at the NCAA level is a wonderful idea.
Now, I know the press release says $1.5m has gone to improving championships, but that isn't coming from the added finances by raised dues best I can tell. That is using money that the new D1 contracts have allowed. I just worry that money isn't always going to be coming in at it's current levels, as we have seen in the past when we had a fiscal budget for the division of about $5-10m LESS.
I just hope the division isn't losing focus of the reason for the increase in the first place... nor the realization that championships are growing especially in large sports (ice hockey, lacrosse, etc.) and not planning for the future or maybe even saving money is only going to send us down the same trap as in the past.
Just my two cents.
