The Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports approved adjusting the NCAA's allowed testosterone/epitestosterone ratio to align with the World Anti-Doping Agency's standard. The adjustment, which came at the committee's June 14-15 virtual meeting, is an effort to further strengthen the drug testing program's ability to detect cheating.
CSMAS committee members voted to adjust the T/E threshold from 10:1 to 4:1. The move goes into effect immediately.
The committee also extended a flexible application of the drug test penalty granted in the 2020-21 academic year for another year. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, teams may have played only a fraction of their permissible contests in 2020-21. To maintain the intent of the penalty, the committee agreed that penalties for banned substances should be based on 75% (or the conference limitation on contests, whichever is fewer) of the allowable contests instead of a full season. The continuation of this flexibility is intended to facilitate a student-athlete-focused approach.
In other action, committee members approved the formation of the CSMAS Administrative Committee. The Administrative Committee may act on behalf of the committee to transact necessary, routine and emergency business and to ensure normal and orderly administration between meetings. The addition of an Administrative Committee aligns the CSMAS with many other bodies in the NCAA governance structure.
The meeting included reviews of consensus statements authored by participants in the Gender Identity and Diverse Student-Athlete Mental Health summits as concepts to be further considered by relevant governing bodies. CSMAS panel members also provided feedback on proposed wrestling rules changes.
Gender Identity Summit consensus statements highlighted the importance of patient-centered health care based on accepted practices and institutional identification of individuals in athletics, on campus or in the greater community who can provide culturally sensitive care for transgender/nonbinary student-athletes. Participants also emphasized educational practices that support transgender awareness within their campus communities.
Consensus statements out of the Diverse Student-Athlete Mental Health Summit focused on addressing the specific mental health challenges that student-athletes of color face. The statements encouraged the use of surveys within athletics departments, continued review of student-athlete data and experiences and regular meetings within campus leadership to address race-related initiatives that might help support student-athletes of color.
The committee also provided feedback on three playing rules changes proposed by the Wrestling Rules Committee that focus on updating existing regulations to prioritize student-athlete well-being, such as standardizing rules related to nutrition and hydration practices for student-athletes navigating back-to-back dual, tri and quad events. The proposals are designed to ensure consistency.
The mission of CSMAS is to provide expertise and leadership to the Association to promote a healthy and safe environment for student-athletes through research, education, collaboration and policy development. The Association-wide committee is made up of 23 members, including athletics administrators, coaches, sports medicine staff, researchers, faculty and student-athletes.
