Eye On Gambling

Garden Grove, CA (Sports Network) - The NCAA released a document Tuesday, saying 35 percent of male student-athletes and 10 percent of female student- athletes reported gambling on sporting events in the past year, which is a violation of NCAA rules. Because of this, the NCAA Sports Wagering Task Force plans on expanding educational efforts to help curtail gambling on college sports by student- athletes. The organization said it wants to partner with more outside organizations and increase the number of background checks on game officials. The plans were presented to the NCAA Management Councils in all three divisions at their summer meetings. The Sports Wagering Task Force was formed in 2004 by NCAA President Myles Brand. "Gambling is very much a part of the culture right now, so the task force specifically focused on the areas over which we have jurisdiction, namely sports wagering on college and professional sports," Rachel Newman-Baker, NCAA director of agents, gambling and amateurism activities, said. The Task force recommended creating a division-specific and sports-specific interactive website for student-athletes with programming and educational materials. The organization also wants to provide more educational programming, which is already available at the men's and women's Final Fours, the men's Frozen Four and the College World Series. Expanded background checks of game officials in men's ice hockey and baseball were also suggested, and Newman-Baker said that will begin this fall. "One of the very clear messages from the task force is that eliminating sports wagering involves a number of complex issues, and we need to engage many outside groups so that we can be successful," Newman-Baker said. ©The Herald News 2005