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Lessons Learned from Taipei

April 3, 2012 by

Andrea Dalton
NCAA Guest Blogger

Seeing as my counterpart produced a great many more blogs than I have, I feel more than obliged to give my final remarks about my experience in Taiwan. I had way more faith in using my iphone to complete all my blogs; however, I realized how hard that task actually was. Now that I am home, I am going to share the rest of my experiences at the ease of my HP.

The rest of the forum days went incredibly well. Our groups discussed the meanings of true leadership and how we can implement more youth into leadership roles. I find it so fascinating how all of us come from such different backgrounds, but we share such strong faith in our generation being able to change our countries’ agendas. After our final workshop, I felt at ease knowing that the United States is not the only country interested in promoting sport values in our youth.

My favorite day, by far, was Friday–the actual Forum Fair. We traveled to a local sport university and had the opportunity to try two new sports: badminton and archery. I practiced archery, but I didn’t have the nerve to shoot at the target.

I think pride is my American downfall, and seeing Travis excel at it made me not even want to give it a try. So to better my mood, I had to go play Travis in basketball, knowing very well I would win.

And, yes, I won.

Part of the Oceania tribe’s cultural event!

After he and I played, we ventured on our own. He went to play soccer and I went to play basketball with the different countries. I think my favorite part of this experience was seeing each individual’s sportsmanship.

I played on the opposing team from my two friends from Italy and Spain, and anytime I made a shot or a nice pass they came up and complemented me. I was so shocked by everyone’s positive attitudes. Very rarely do I see friendly and fun pick-up basketball games. Every game I’ve played in, from pick-up to conference play, has been like playing in the NCAA National Championship—competitive to the core.

It was so refreshing to play and actually just have fun; to laugh at myself for a mistake, and applauding an opponent for making an awesome move against me. I think we need more of those games in the states.

After playing some sports, every country set up booths and we had the opportunity to walk around and learn more about each individual country (picture the set up of a college fair.) I received so much literature on each country; learning about their culture, economy, and natural/ man-made landmarks.

The whole Oceania men’s tribe at the fair!

At the end of the fair, each country had the opportunity to showcase some type of cultural event. Clearly, Travis and I kept off the stage, although I was tempted to teach them how to Dougie.

Costa Rica taught us how to Salsa and the Oceania tribe taught us a ritual dance (which scared the living day lights out of me-they made Travis look like a punk, and I would place money on any one of those guys in a fight!) My wonderful roommate, Maruia, from the Cook Islands taught me how to dance and she let me wear her traditional skirt around for the rest of the night.

The final day of our trip to Taiwan proved just as remarkable. We embarked on a cultural trip in the morning to the Pavilion of Dreams, an engineered artistic journey into the life of a flower. It was so serine, yet you could marvel at the high level of technology required to create such a wonderful setting.

The Pavilion of Dreams—they showed you your dream- mine was Career

We then headed back to our hotel, got ready, and headed out for the Farewell Dinner—where we learned that Travis was selected to present at the FISU games in Russia! (So happy for you, buddy!)

We enjoyed our last dinner, or as they called it, party with all of the countries. It was sad to say goodbye on Sunday, but I was so anxious to get back to the states to tell everyone of this amazing experience.

I truly cannot thank everyone enough for the opportunity to experience Taiwan and meet all of the other participating countries. Lori and Delise are fabulous, and I wish them the best. Along with the NCAA, NAIA, and all other participating organizations, they have given something to me that cannot really be described in words.

My new friend from Thailand!

I have made lifelong friends, friends who I know I can call when I travel to Italy, London, Spain, Korea, South Africa, the Cook Islands, and of course, Taiwan. As I said before, one of the most beautiful experiences of my life was seeing every country come together to share their own experiences and life values.

I didn’t think about war.

I didn’t think about economic crisis.

I didn’t think about racism.

I didn’t think about all of the problems each country has currently or had in the past.

All I could see was optimism and excitement for our generation, as we all come together to lead the way of humanistic reform in each of our countries.

So, what did I learn? What is the main lesson I took away from this conference?

Leadership is not just a platform for sustainability. Leadership is a platform for global connectedness.

Sports are the common thread that links us all together, but the variation of our all our experiences, that is what makes us unique.

Filed Under: Global Perspective

Closing Ceremonies and a trip to Russia

April 2, 2012 by

By Travis Misner
NCAA Guest Blogger

The final day of the conference was today, and it was very bittersweet. I’ve had the most amazing time in Taipei, making connections with people all over the world.

At the same time though, I’m excited to come home and get back to real life. We started out the day by going to a place called “Pavilion of Dreams.” This was a technologically advanced museum, where you were given a hologram of a flower at the beginning of the tour, and made your way through a labyrinth of giant leaves, as if you were an insect then to a room full of interactive 3D pictures.

This was one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to without question.

After that we had our closing ceremonies and dinner to cap off the conference. At the ceremony, the committee announced that they were going to elect one male and one female student from the forum to represent the voice of the students at the 2013 university games in Kazan, Russia. They said that the 2 students were who the selection committee found to display great leadership qualities and public speaking abilities.

To my surprise, the chair of the committee called my name to represent the males from the conference. This is truly an honor and I cannot wait for the games in 2013.

As the trip winds down and I have an opportunity to reflect, I can honestly say this was the greatest experience of my life to this point, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to attend. I’ve made lifelong friends and gained knowledge about other cultures that is priceless.

Now for the 17 + hour flights before I’m back in Dubuque for classes tomorrow.

Filed Under: Global Perspective

A Healthy Sibling Rivalry

April 1, 2012 by

The NCAA and NBA are finally having it out. After years of “will they or won’t they” and “are they or aren’t they,” the two most important organizations in American basketball are gearing up for a sustained fight. It’s a fight which if not diffused quickly could lead to radical changes in how basketball operates in this country and how players are developed. These changes will make many people unhappy. This post is about why I hope this fight is not diffused quickly.

The fight started with President Mark Emmert’s comments about the NBA’s 19 year-old age limit that requires basketball players to spend a year doing something:

“I happen to dislike the one-and-done rule enormously and wish it didn’t exist. I think it forces young men to go to college that have little or no interest in going to college.”

NBA Commissioner David Stern had a rather pointed response:

“A college could always not have players who are one and done. They could do that. They could actually require the players to go to classes. Or they could get the players to agree that they stay in school, and ask for the scholarship money back if they didn’t fulfill their promise. There’s all kinds of things that, if a bunch of people got together and really wanted to do it, instead of talk about it.”

Let’s quickly get one thing out of the way: both men are correct. There are a group of athletes who, but for the age limit, would be in the NBA. They are in college because they decided that college basketball was the best alternative. And the NCAA, conferences, or schools could adopt any number of policies designed to fight the effects of the one-and-done rule. But neither really addresses the other. You still have athletes who would rather not be in college and it is still not the NBA’s problem.

This fight is unlikely to go away because conventional wisdom says each group needs the other. Operating a U23 developmental league on the scale of Division I would be impossible for the NBA on its own. And if the NBA removed the best players from college basketball, interest would drop some amount. Both of these facts are true, but both are also irrelevant.

The NBA does not need to operate a developmental league at the same level of the NCAA, with full rosters of NBA-age players, additional facilities, and another administrative staff. The NBA simply needs to operate cheaper youth teams (at least two, one for high school freshmen and sophomores and one for juniors and seniors) and expand rosters using development slots at below the current minimum salary to make teams large enough to support a reserve league. Youth and reserve teams would leverage existing infrastructure, drastically cutting development expenses. Broadcast partners and sponsors, especially shoe companies, might pay for the entire project.

There’s also not great evidence that college athletics needs a steady supply of would be pros to be popular. College baseball has reached record levels of revenue and popularity at the same time MLB clubs were throwing so much money at kids to not go to school that it became the central issue in the new collective bargaining agreement. The same goes for college soccer, which continues to grow despite MLS shifting money to its own developmental system.

If this were the end of it, the answer would be simple. One quick meeting between Emmert and Stern and aside from fending off the conspiracy theorists, the issue would be settled. The outcome would be a different type of early entry system, one that used all or parts of the MLB, NHL, and MLS systems. But this needs to be a knockdown, ugly drag out fight because of something the two men agree on. First President Emmert:

“If you want to become a professional athlete, there’s no better place to go generally than to come to one of our schools to develop your skills and abilities.”

And Commissioner Stern:

“For our business purposes, the longer we can get to look at young men playing against first-rate competition, that’s a good thing.”

Both make the assumption that college athletics is the best way to develop and evaluate future professional athletes. I can concede that it is the best system in existence in the United States at the moment. But the best possible? Far from it. At the risk of beating a dead horse, developing future pros is not a high priority of the NCAA. If you look at the NCAA’s rules, it’s much easier to conclude that the rules are designed to prevent athletes from becoming professional athletes rather than to help them. Some examples:

  • Athletes are limited to a maximum of 20 hours per week of training. But during the season, that 20 hours has to include games, each of which cuts into training by 3 hours.
  • During the offseason, athletes are limited to just eight hours of training. Skill instruction is further limited to just two hours of those eight. For long portions of the year, no training can be required at all.
  • Athletes are generally prohibited from even requesting additional skill instruction because of the way the NCAA has defined voluntary activities.
  • Athletes are required to pursue an academic career parallel to their athletic one, which takes away from the time and energy they can devote to improving.
  • Staffing and recruiting limits make evaluation and selection of athletes with the most potential to be pros more difficult.
  • The NCAA operates (or allows to operate) national championships that become the primary focus of a coach’s job, rather than developing future professional athletes.

All of which makes it curious that the NBA has chosen to outsource its development when an organization with completely different priorities is the best alternative. In fact, far from simply taking advantage of a free service, the NBA once looked to invest directly in the NCAA as a development system, according to Stern:

“Years ago I said to the NCAA, I’ve got a great idea. We’ll insure a select group of basketball players. And that will make them more likely to stay in school, because they won’t feel the loss of a big contract. We’ll designate a pool and those lucky enough to be drafted and make money will pay us back, and those that don’t, it’s our expense.”

That’s odd immediately preceding a quote where Stern says he is not concerned with the NCAA and that NBA rules are not “social programs.” But even stranger is that the NBA was willing to pour money, maybe millions of dollars depending on the size and success of the program, into something it has no direct control over. The NBA is either happy with the quality of player it receives (which it isn’t because it is looking for more time to evaluate) or it likes the exposure players get by playing college basketball (which is odd given the animosity of NBA fans to college basketball and the fact that the NBA is the world leader in marketing individual athletes).

Neither explanation makes sense, so something else might be at work. My gut is that the NBA has in the NCAA a convenient set of excuses for why some players never pan out and some teams never make good decisions. This role of whipping boy is one the NCAA is increasingly unwilling to play. That especially applies to accusations about policies it has no role in drafting (like the NBA age limit) or that it ignores its own rules to protect income it doesn’t receive (like in the regulation of FBS football).

Thus the coming showdown. The war of words over whose “fault” the one-and-done “crisis” (both terms used loosely) is has already started. Both organizations have their next move in the works. The NBA and the union are studying the age limit with a possible move to 20 years-old and two years out of high school. The NCAA is mulling reductions in the number of basketball games and has already passed new initial eligibility requirements that may sideline for a year many of the players the NBA was looking to get extra time to evaluate.

If the current trend continues, the NCAA will increasingly move toward not being an acceptable alternative for the NBA’s purposes. At some point, the NBA would have to move toward a more active role in identifying potential pros at a younger age and investing directly in their development through youth and/or reserve league teams. Not to mention a mechanism to sign homegrown players that both provides an incentive for teams to take youth development seriously but still provides a degree of competitive balance.

And much to the chagrin of partisans in this debate, both the NBA and the NCAA will be fine. College basketball was fine in the prep-to-pros era and will be fine even with more athletes heading to the NBA directly from or even during high school. And the NBA will find it is better able to develop and market elite talents on its own rather than assuming college basketball will do it for them. The tie that binds the two together, the NBA draft, will still exist but it’s impact will be defined by how many players slip through the cracks in the new NBA system. But it will be of secondary importance rather than the be all, end all for many young basketball players.

One might look at all this and say it’s a lot to extrapolate from two press appearances. It is. One might say I’m blowing this out of proportion. I am. In fact, I’m deliberately trying to pick this fight because it needs to happen. Because until it happens, the sport cannot move forward.

About John Infante

The opinions expressed on this blog are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by the NCAA or any NCAA member institution or conference. This blog is not a substitute for a compliance office. If you’re a coach, do not attempt to contact the author looking for a second opinion. If you’re a parent, don’t attempt to contact the author looking for a first opinion. Compliance professionals are by their nature helpful people generally dedicated to getting to the truth. Coaches should have a bit of faith in their own, and parents should talk to one directly.

Filed Under: Bylaw Blog, Feature Tagged With: ,

Leadership, haka and dancing to the ukulele

March 31, 2012 by

By Travis Misner
NCAA Guest Blogger

Today was by far the most fun day of the conference so far. We first had a workshop on leadership, which is always an interesting topic. Then after that, we went to the Taipei University of Physical Education and got to participate in different types of sports such as archery, badminton, soccer, and basketball.

After this we had a culture fair, where every country had a booth and gave away information and pins for their own country. We saw the students from the Oceania region perform the tribal haka dance that is a custom in their culture.

It was such a great time seeing different cultures and seeing what everyday life is like for students around the globe. After that we went to dinner at a German restaurant, thank goodness, to get some food in my stomach that I’m used to.

At one point when everyone was waiting for their dinner to come, one student picked up his ukulele and a man from New Caledonia and the woman from Finland began dancing. After about 30 seconds of dancing, everyone at dinner joined in.

It turned into a huge mob of people, in the middle of the restaurant, dancing to the ukulele. Eventually, there was a train of people, some on others shoulders, dancing through the room.

It has been such a great experience thus far, and I’m excited for tomorrow’s cultural event and closing ceremonies.

Filed Under: Global Perspective

Presenting student-athlete leadership around the world (except on the cricket field)

March 30, 2012 by

By Travis Misner
NCAA Guest Blogger

The theme for today’s workshops was University Sport: a Fertile Ground for Leadership Development. I was given the unique opportunity to present on my experiences with leadership and intercollegiate athletics to the entire conference.

I talked about the roles that are available throughout university sport in the United States, and how we are unique compared to most countries because of the sheer size and emphasis we put on collegiate athletics.

In the last couple of days Andrea and I have really been able to mingle with people from the other countries. We’ve made great friends with students and advisors from Australia, Great Britain, Spain, and Italy to name a few.

Today when we had a little free time after all of the meetings, Andrea and I were invited out to play cricket with some of the other members of FISU. I have minimal experience in cricket but thought I could probably hold my own with my baseball experience, but I was wrong.

The cricket we played in one of my physical education classes was a little different, and needless to say I received a lot of grief from everyone because they expected more out of the Americans.

Coming into this I knew I would meet people, but I really believe that I have made lifelong friends through this week alone. I also now have connections all over the world in case I ever decide to travel abroad again.

Filed Under: Global Perspective

Lin-sanity and the Taipei 101

March 29, 2012 by

By Travis Misner
NCAA Guest Blogger

Today the topic of discussion was gender equality in University Sport. We had a couple great discussions in our breakout workshops with about 15 other students and administrators from around the globe.

Our cultural event was a trip to one of the world’s tallest buildings in Taipei 101. It was really cool seeing the view of Taiwan from 500 meters in the air.

For me, it was similar to going to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago. The difference, though, is there are no mountains in Chicago.

After going to the tower, we explored the area and got to walk through the local mall. This city really is a different place at night. It reminds me of the Vegas strip, because every building and market is lit up with all different colors.

View from the Taipei 101

I’ve also noticed that everybody here is a New York Knicks fan. I thought Lin-sanity was crazy back home; it is taken to another level here.

There are Jeremy Lin jerseys, t-shirts, and posters everywhere. Not to mention every commercial on ESPN has him in it too.

It’s funny how there are so many differences between the US and Taiwan, yet there are some similarities that I never would have thought of.

Filed Under: Global Perspective

Learning about a shared struggle and gaining perspective

March 29, 2012 by

Andrea Dalton
NCAA Guest Blogger

Jetlag has definitely set in. However, I was excited to hear some more lectures and to get the workshop started.

After listening to the conclusions from the previous day’s session, we heard some more speakers and broke out into group discussion. The topic trending: women in athletics.

I thought the subject would be very touchy, but I was wrong. In most “developing” countries, female athletes experience the same issues that we face in America.

I was really shocked to see how much more progressive the Middle Eastern countries actually are. After discussing ways in which women could form leadership roles in athletics, we called it a day.

Today’s cultural trip: Taipei 101. This is the second tallest building in the world.

I hate heights.

Clearly, I didn’t think that this trip was in my best interest, but Travis convinced me otherwise. We went up 89 flights in under 45 seconds (my ears have never popped so much) and had the opportunity to look out over the city.

Travis seized the opportunity, while I did not. He got me a pretty good picture of the view though, so I can at least pretend that I was brave enough to look out.

When we returned home, I found myself in bed by 7:00pm. I don’t believe I’ve been in bed my 7:00pm since 3rd grade.

I hope tomorrow promises more great discussions and lectures…and thank goodness, no more record-breaking buildings.

Filed Under: Global Perspective

The difference between baseball and cricket

March 28, 2012 by

By Travis Misner
NCAA Guest Blogger

Today was another great day outside, low 70’s with not a cloud in the sky. We had the opportunity after our group breakout workshops to visit the National Palace Museum which holds the largest collection of precious items that date back to the 12th century.

The tour guide told us that the museum puts something like 3,000 pieces on display at any one time, but they have over 600,000 pieces in total. She went on to say that if you wanted to see every piece the museum has, you’d have to come back every 3 months for the next 20 years.

It was really interesting to think about how old these intricate treasures really are, and it made me realize how young the United States is. It really began to set in today how different cultures are across the globe.

The view from my room

I was discussing with my roommate, Rob, who is from the Cook Islands in between New Zealand and Australia, how to play baseball. He told me that he saw his first ever game on TV the other day and was confused by it compared to cricket.

This was shocking to me because baseball is just second nature for me and it is such a big part of our sporting society in America. I think the best part of the conversation was the fact that he was playing his ukulele the whole time.

Thus far the trip has been everything I’ve imagined and then some, I could not have been completely prepared for the differences I’ve seen. Tomorrow we get to visit one of the largest buildings in the world, Taipei 101, hopefully the weather stays the same.


Filed Under: Global Perspective

U.S. athletes are blessed with opportunity

March 28, 2012 by

Andrea Dalton
NCAA Guest Blogger

The twelve hour time change is definitely taking a toll. I didn’t realize how tired I was until I had to be up for breakfast at 8:00am.

After eating a hearty breakfast of peanut butter and jelly and pork sausage (yes, I realize how uncultured this breakfast sounds) we gathered in the lecture hall and listened to keynote speakers discuss sports as a sustainable ground for development. After the speakers presented, we had the opportunity to break out into our groups and discuss this topic with other countries.

I prefer listening in these groups, not so much because I don’t have anything to contribute, but I am so intrigued to see how other countries view athletics within their communities. After listening to representatives from South Africa and Israel, I completely realized how incredibly fortunate athletes in the United States are because of the opportunities presented to us.

I think a lot of athletes take advantage of the system; we sometimes believe it is our right instead of our privilege to be university athletes. In some Asian countries, students are not even introduced to sports until the age of 14.

The United States is almost virtually the only country in the world that has university-sponsored athletics. Lucky is an understatement. I like to think that we are blessed for having so many choices and opportunities.

Once the forum was complete for the day, we were shuttled to a Chinese museum of artifacts and treasures. We just so happened to pick the busiest day of the year, so we weren’t able to see much. But it was nice to see a tiny part of their traditional history up close.

If today is any indication of how the rest of the week will play out, I am confident that I will be taking a lot away from this experience!

Filed Under: Global Perspective

Jet Lag and Waking up to Raw Fish

March 27, 2012 by

Andrea Dalton
NCAA Guest Blogger

Having jet lag setting in, I found waking up extremely difficult—like, hitting-the-snooze-6-times-before-my-Monday-8am-class hard. Nevertheless, I got up and met Lori, Delise, and Travis for breakfast.

What’s on the menu? Raw fish, noodles, dried fruit and vegetables and tofu.

Thankfully I found a relatively American-friendly station and made myself a peanut butter and jelly (as you can tell, I can’t get over the whole food thing–typical American.)

I was, however, excited to get the day started. After we ate, we attended the opening ceremony.

Our idea of a fantastic athlete is Lebron James, Hines Ward, Maya Moore, and Michael Phelps. After seeing the students from Taiwan’s University of Sport and Physical Education, I think my perceptions might change a tad.

The incredible performances these students put on and the ways they used their bodies was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Truly remarkable.

If allowed, I’ll send the video I took. You have to see it to believe it.

The keynote speakers spoke on leadership as a platform for sustainable development and we had the opportunity to workshop after their presentations. It was an eye-opening experience.

Hearing how few countries have the opportunity to actually compete in sports and how little their governments run their initiatives is mind-blowing. Some Asian countries are only exposed to sports in school at the age of 14.

As Americans, I think we sometimes take advantage of our own system. We don’t realize how privileged we are to have so many opportunities to play multiple sports at such a young age.

We ended our evening with a welcome dinner at an offsite location. There we enjoyed a 12 course meal (I was bound to find something I like.) It was a great way to end our first actual day of forum!

Filed Under: Global Perspective
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