Thread: Amazing...The NAIA does not have a drug testing policy

Originally Posted by bccs

NAIA leaves drug testing up to member schools

They do not test at any level or sport, even D1 football...I find this amazing with all the publicity of drug use in sports. Oh well, I guess all of us NAIA athletes are free to juice up.

Probably not in the budget. NAIA schools don't give scholarships, and play for much smaller crowds. Players play for the love of the game.

Thats true, I still think that they would have some sort of policy regarding performance enhancing drugs, I mean the NCAA tests in division I, II, and III and I'm sure most NAIA schools are on par if not better than a lot D2 and D3 NCAA schools.

Originally Posted by bccs

Thats true, I still think that they would have some sort of policy regarding performance enhancing drugs, I mean the NCAA tests in division I, II, and III and I'm sure most NAIA schools are on par if not better than a lot D2 and D3 NCAA schools.

NCAA D2 abd D3 give scholarships, and have the monetary support of the powerful NCAA behind them. Steroid testing is very expensive. There is a huge difference between the NCAA programs at any level and the NAIA. I think it simply comes down to funding.

NAIA does give scholarships, I believe they get 24 or 26 equivalants. Also I would beg to differ with the play for the love of the game. Look at the top 5 in the NAIA, most teams open with a lower end D1 or higher end D2 and beat the piss out of them. Also drug testing is not a mandatory policy, agreed, however if your coach suspects you then you will get tested, I've seen it happen, also hell yeah someone mentioning NAIA. On another note yes most NAIA teams have a group of guys who juice, gonna happen on any level.

Originally Posted by HATEFULone

NAIA does give scholarships, I believe they get 24 or 26 equivalants. Also I would beg to differ with the play for the love of the game. Look at the top 5 in the NAIA, most teams open with a lower end D1 or higher end D2 and beat the piss out of them. Also drug testing is not a mandatory policy, agreed, however if your coach suspects you then you will get tested, I've seen it happen, also hell yeah someone mentioning NAIA. On another note yes most NAIA teams have a group of guys who juice, gonna happen on any level.

You can get some help for school, but it is funding dependent on the school, and NAIA schools never give full ride scholarships like NCAA D1 and D2 schools. The NAIA schools are not members of the NCAA. Usually the funding includes a "talent grant" or award and financial aid. In major sports like football and baseball, there is a huge difference in the ability level. NAIA schools do not beat D1 or D2 NCAA schools regularly. The level of competition is NCAA D1, D2, D3 and after that the NAIA. Prominent NCAA schools do not schedule NAIA schools. My alma mater, The University of Oregon has not played an NAIA school in decades. Also, over the past few years the NAIA is slowly dying, with more schools switching over to the NCAA every year.

Here is a complete outline of the different levels of college athletic competition-

Athletic scholarships for undergraduate student-athletes at Division I and Division II schools are partially funded through the NCAA membership revenue distribution. About $1 billion in athletic scholarships are awarded each year. Over 126,000 student-athletes receive either a partial or full athletic scholarship. However, these scholarships are awarded and administered directly by each academic institution, not the NCAA.

Division III schools offer only academic scholarships. They do not offer athletic scholarships.

Per the NCAA they have 4 divisions(Div. I, Div. I-AA, Div. II, Div. III):

Division I
Division I member institutions have to sponsor at least seven sports for men and seven for women (or six for men and eight for women) with two team sports for each gender. Each playing season has to be represented by each gender as well. There are contest and participant minimums for each sport, as well as scheduling criteria. For sports other than football and basketball, Division I schools must play 100 percent of the minimum number of contests against Division I opponents -- anything over the minimum number of games has to be 50 percent Division I. Men's and women's basketball teams have to play all but two games against Division I teams; for men, they must play one-third of all their contests in the home arena. Schools that have football are classified as Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) or NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). Football Bowl Subdivision schools are usually fairly elaborate programs. Football Bowl Subdivision teams have to meet minimum attendance requirements (average 15,000 people in actual or paid attendance per home game), which must be met once in a rolling two-year period. NCAA Football Championship Subdivision teams do not need to meet minimum attendance requirements. Division I schools must meet minimum financial aid awards for their athletics program, and there are maximum financial aid awards for each sport that a Division I school cannot exceed.

Division II
Division II institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women, (or four for men and six for women), with two team sports for each gender, and each playing season represented by each gender. There are contest and participant minimums for each sport, as well as scheduling criteria -- football and men's and women's basketball teams must play at least 50 percent of their games against Division II or Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) or Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) opponents. For sports other than football and basketball there are no scheduling requirements. There are not attendance requirements for football, or arena game requirements for basketball. There are maximum financial aid awards for each sport that a Division II school must not exceed. Division II teams usually feature a number of local or in-state student-athletes. Many Division II student-athletes pay for school through a combination of scholarship money, grants, student loans and employment earnings. Division II athletics programs are financed in the institution's budget like other academic departments on campus. Traditional rivalries with regional institutions dominate schedules of many Division II athletics programs.

Division III
Division III institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women, with two team sports for each gender, and each playing season represented by each gender. There are minimum contest and participant minimums for each sport. Division III athletics features student-athletes who receive no financial aid related to their athletic ability and athletic departments are staffed and funded like any other department in the university. Division III athletics departments place special importance on the impact of athletics on the participants rather than on the spectators. The student-athlete's experience is of paramount concern. Division III athletics encourages participation by maximizing the number and variety of athletics opportunities available to students, placing primary emphasis on regional in-season and conference competition.


History of the NCAA and their divisions:
It was the flying wedge, football's major offense in 1905, that spurred the formation of the NCAA.

The game's rugged nature, typified by mass formations and gang tackling, resulted in numerous injuries and deaths and prompted many institutions to discontinue the sport. Others urged that football be reformed or abolished from intercollegiate athletics.

President Theodore Roosevelt summoned college athletics leaders to two White House conferences to encourage such reforms. In early December 1905, Chancellor Henry M. MacCracken of New York University convened a meeting of 13 institutions to initiate changes in football-playing rules. At a subsequent meeting December 28 in New York City, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) was founded by 62 members.

The IAAUS officially was constituted March 31, 1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910. For several years, the NCAA was a discussion group and rules-making body; but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was held: the National Collegiate Track and Field Championships. Gradually, more rules committees were formed and more championships were held.

A series of crises brought the NCAA to a crossroads after World War II. The "Sanity Code" - adopted to establish guidelines for recruiting and financial aid - failed to curb abuses involving student-athletes. Postseason football games were multiplying rapidly. Member institutions were increasingly concerned about the effects of unrestricted television on football attendance.

The complexity and scope of these problems and the growth in membership and championships demonstrated the increasing need for full-time professional leadership. In 1951, Walter Byers, who previously had served as a part-time executive assistant, was named executive director. A national headquarters was established in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1952. A program to control live television of football games was approved, the annual Convention delegated enforcement powers to the Association's Council and legislation was adopted governing postseason bowl games.

The Association's membership was divided into three legislative and competitive divisions - I, II and III - in 1973. Five years later, Division I members voted to create subdivisions I-A and I-AA (subsequently renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision and the Football Championship Subdivision) in football.

The NCAA began administering women's athletics programs in 1980 when Divisions II and III established 10 championships for 1981-82. A year later, the historic 75th Convention adopted an extensive governance plan to include women's athletics programs, services and representation. The delegates expanded the women's championships program with the addition of 19 events.

On August 1, 1997, the NCAA implemented a change in its governance structure that provides greater autonomy for each membership division and more control by the presidents of member colleges and universities.

Walter Byers retired October 1, 1987, after 36 years as the Association's executive director. He was replaced by University of Virginia Athletics Director Richard D. Schultz, who resigned in 1993. He was replaced by University of Arizona Athletics Director Cedric Dempsey, who led the Association beginning in 1994 and served as president until December 2002. Today, the national office staff of more than 380 employees based in Indianapolis is led by President Myles Brand. Brand assumed office in January 2003 after serving as president of Indiana University, Bloomington.

College Football Scholarships
Score Some Big Funding
The Rose Bowl. The Orange Bowl. The Gator Bowl. These are some of the biggest college games in football. What does it take to get to play in these tournaments? Top high school football stars will likely be marketed by their high school coaches to the appropriate recruiter and handpicked by the most maverick collegiate football coaches in leading programs across the country.

Media Visibility
The football elite benefit from the sport's high visibility. Football on the college level is perhaps the most marketed of all athletic programs. So recruiting the cream of the crop in high school players is about following the news.

The only players who will qualify for football scholarships are those who can make the cut for the NCAA Division I and II schools. Division III and under may offer competitive football even for the above average, but you will likely be admitted via attractive academic or need-based scholarships and grants.

Elite Football: NCAA Division I
There are 236 Division I colleges and universities, among them the big names like Princeton, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Michigan State, Florida State, Baylor, Kansas State, and UCLA. Programs like these are nearly untouchable except to the very elite football players.

NCAA Division II
The competition for Division II scholarships is fiercest. This is where competitive recruiting really plays a part. D2 schools need the best football players they can get their hands on in order to build their programs and win games. Without winning teams, scholarship money begins to hang in the balance. So if you may not be able to make it into a D1 school, there are 156 competitive D2 programs shopping for the best their money can buy.

Players looking at D2 football programs should consider that many of the best teams win because of depth, not because they have a superstar on their field. The biggest controversy among the Division is the ongoing debate over scholarship reductions, not in dollar amount but in the number that any D2 school is qualified to offer. Currently the maximum is 36, which the top teams can easily manage. Middle of the road programs are unable to fund that many new scholarships and focus efforts instead on making every player on their team a worthy choice for their stressed-out athletic budgets. Good examples are Humboldt State University football program and the Morehouse College football program.

Ivy League
If you're looking for Ivy League football - Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, and the University of Pennsylvania - don't bank on a football scholarship. Ivy league schools have Division I football programs, but athletic scholarships are not part of their scene. These schools are academically focused before anything else. Harvard and Yale offer big money in academic scholarships, so they don't have to mess with the athletic bucks. Not only are these student-athletes talented on the field, but they are brains when it comes to the books, as well.

NAIA Football Scholarships
An alternative to the NCAA schools is the NAIA, or the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Where the NCAA is too unwieldy and competitive, like football, the NAIA offers options and more equality among athletes. Colleges and universities that participate are smaller, more academically balanced, and yet nearly all of them offer athletic scholarships of some sort. Don’t expect full scholarships, many students are awarded partial athletic scholarships combined with academic and need-based scholarships. Student-athletes in the NAIA may get more playing time, more opportunities to compete on a championship level, and certainly more access to scholarship money.

Top ranked NAIA football programs:

Carroll College, with only about 1500 students in all, leads the NAIA in football, volleyball and basketball championship titles. The Student Athletic Association generates big donor support for their student-athlete scholarships.
Georgetown, St. Xavier University, Sioux Falls football, and Morningside College football.

Why Div III Football is a Good Bet
There are 235 Division III football programs in the country. These schools work vigorously to draw the best football players they can, considering that they cannot offer traditional athletic scholarships. So how do they manage to attract talented football players?

Smaller colleges have developed well-honed strategies for netting the biggest fish available to them in college football recruiting. The secret to getting money to play football at a small school: academic and need-based scholarship money.

Originally Posted by MDR

The level of competition is NCAA D1, D2, D3 and after that the NAIA.

I didn't mean for this to become a debate between NAIA and NCAA, but I will put in my two cents. First of all I will say that the above statement is completely false, my school has played D2 basketball teams and kicked their ass. The NAIA is a significantly smaller organization than the NCAA but that does not mean that the NCAA is vastly superior across the board. Great athletes come out of the NAIA as well, in recent years my school has produced 2 MLB players, 1 NBA player and one of our pole vaulters went to the Olympics the year after he graduated.

A good D2 school will always beat a good NAIA school. NAIA schools do occasionally beat D2 and D3 NCAA schools, but it is not the norm, and it is becoming more and more rare as schools are moving to the NCAA in bunches every year. Usually the D2 schools getting beat by NAIA schools are new to the NCAA, and came from the NAIA ranks. There are less than 100 NAIA schools playing football nationwide. I stand by what I said earlier. Great athletes come out of the NAIA, but as a rule, the level of competition is lower than the NCAA.

Originally Posted by MDR

A good D2 school will always beat a good NAIA school. NAIA schools do occasionally beat D2 and D3 NCAA schools, but it is not the norm, and it is becoming more and more rare as schools are moving to the NCAA in bunches every year. Usually the D2 schools getting beat by NAIA schools are new to the NCAA, and came from the NAIA ranks. There are less than 100 NAIA schools playing football nationwide. I stand by what I said earlier. Great athletes come out of the NAIA, but as a rule, the level of competition is lower than the NCAA.

As a whole the NAIA cannot compete with NCAA, but the schools you mentioned ealier, as I went to one of them, are the top teams. I was only referring to football in terms of competing, as I only played football, I will stand by saying that the top 5 NAIA football teams could hold their own in D2, as many have been switching in the past few years for financial reasons, and also a few D1 progams, not anyone big time, but mediocre programs have been taken down by NAIA schools, be it a fluke or not.

Originally Posted by HATEFULone

As a whole the NAIA cannot compete with NCAA, but the schools you mentioned ealier, as I went to one of them, are the top teams. I was only referring to football in terms of competing, as I only played football, I will stand by saying that the top 5 NAIA football teams could hold their own in D2, as many have been switching in the past few years for financial reasons, and also a few D1 progams, not anyone big time, but mediocre programs have been taken down by NAIA schools, be it a fluke or not.

No doubt there. Schools like Carroll and their competition are very good programs, Just not too many of them left in the NAIA. Kinda sad to see them go. I Played my first year at Pacific Lutheran University a couple decades ago, and we won out until reaching the national championship game, and then we were beaten by Wisconsin-La Crosse. One of their lineman was drafted in the top 10 in the NFL draft and went on to a hall of fame career. He was 285 and faster than me at linebacker. Beat the holy shit out of me for four quarters. Best player I ever faced, hands down. PLU did go on to win three national titles over the span of a decade or so.

never even heard of the NAIA until this post must be some small schools