Hours Needed For Football Shocks Ncaa

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Hours needed for football shocks NCAA

By MIKE KNOBLER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 01/12/08

Nashville -- Playing major college football is more than a full-time job, an NCAA study released Saturday shows.

Division I-A football players reported spending an average of 44.8 hours per week on their sport. That doesn't include the hours involved in taking care of their academic responsibilities.

The number came as a shock to college presidents and athletics directors because NCAA rules limit mandatory practice and playing time to 20 hours a week. That limit, though, doesn't include things like time involved with travel or visits to the training room for treatment of injuries.

"It's an early warning signal that we've got a problem," said University of Hartford President Walt Harrison, chairman of the NCAA's committee on academic performance. "I think we need more safeguards."

"Once you get past 40 hours, you're really pushing things," NCAA President Myles Brand said.

Researchers and Brand cautioned that the data were self-reported and did not indicate teams were violating NCAA rules.

"We have limitations of 20 hours a week, but we can't stop a student who wants to use their spare time to go work out in the gym on their own," Brand said. "Their own spare time is up to them.

"If the data show there's problems, we need to find ways to not necessarily regulate it but address it one way or the other. If [athletes] choose to say the two things I want to do in college is get a good education and participate in athletics, rather than hang out and eat some pizza and drink beer, you know, that's up to them. I'm concerned about whether it's a balanced life they're having."

Other sports take less time than football, from a low of 30.7 hours a week for track and cross country to 40.0 hours a week for baseball and 40.8 for golf. Athletes involved in women's sports spent slightly less time on their sports, with women's basketball players reporting spending 36.1 hours per week and men's basketball players spending 36.8.

The numbers come from a 2006 survey of 21,000 NCAA athletes in all sports and in all divisions. The NCAA received responses from 1,658 Division I football players.

"We're honestly not sure how precisely college students are able to report time spent," said Tom Paskus, principal research scientist for the NCAA. To make the numbers as reliable as possible, researchers asked the athletes to describe a typical day, and then the researchers did the math.

"The number seems high," said Georgia athletics director Damon Evans, who played football for the Bulldogs from 1988 to '92. "I don't think I spent near that amount of time [on football]," Evans said.

Division I-A football players also reported spending more time on academics than athletes in any other men's sport. Football players reported spending 39.5 hours a week on school work. That's more than 84 hours a week -- an average of 12 hours a day -- on school work and football combined.

Georgia Tech athletics director Dan Radakovich said it would be a mistake to try to keep athletes from devoting themselves to their sports.

"It's real hard to legislate people's drive and determination," Radakovich said.

Other key findings:

• The majority of athletes report spending as much or more time out of season on their sport as they spend during the season.

• Almost two-thirds of Division I athletes said their GPA would be higher if they had not participated in a sport.

• Most of the people the NCAA identifies as "student-athletes" saw themselves more as athletes than as students. That feeling was highest among baseball players (81 percent) but also high among men's basketball players (76 percent). Football players (72 percent) were less likely than baseball or basketball players to view themselves more as athletes than students.

• Most Division I athletes say they feel positive about their athletic and academic experiences. Baseball players were most likely to be satisfied with their athletic experience (70 percent) and women's basketball players least likely (56 percent). Women's basketball players were most likely to be satisfied with their academic experience (68 percent) and football players least likely (56 percent).

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

The situation is likely worse for basketball players...... they often play two or three games in a week.......and compounding the problem.... they play/practice during Christmas break and there season is spread out over two semesters. At least football players can really work hard at academic work during their spring semester and don't have games on class days.

[untbowler]

The situation is likely worse for basketball players...... they often play two or three games in a week.......and compounding the problem.... they play/practice during Christmas break and there season is spread out over two semesters. At least football players can really work hard at academic work during their spring semester and don't have games on class days.

I believe the NCAA has a mandated 140 days of practice (at least tennis had that) or some sort so yes over half the year is spent as official practice but there are many 1 on 1 drills and talks. Also a team must have at least 1 full day off every 7 days.