adership positions at the highest level of collegiate sports. T

As retirement announcements go Wallaby powerhouse Wycliff Palus was in complete contrast to the way he played the game.It was left to his Wallabies coach Michael Cheika on Friday to sheepishly, almost apologetically, inform the world the 58-cap back-rower had retired from international rugby.No fanfare, but then again that was typical of 34-year old Palu who made his Test debut back in 2006.He would surely have won more caps had it not been for a number of injuries and will now play for a Japanese club later this year.Capable of crashing over defenders or flattening opposing attackers, Cliffy as he was universally known, was one who always let his on-field deeds do the talking.Weve been trying to make an announcement about it but hes so humble, he doesnt want any noise about this stuff, Cheika said.I hassled him a fair bit because hes one of the greatest servants that weve had.Hes done so much for Australian rugby and its not like he should just be shifting out the side door to go and play in Japan, which is what hes going to do.Weve been hassling him to do something, but thats the type of guy he is.Im not supposed to really be announcing it.Palu amassed well over 100 caps for the NSW Waratahs, making his debut in 2003 after dabbling in rugby league.He went to the last three World Cups, though injury cut short his involvement in the 2015 tournament.Hes been, for me personally, one of the great players Ive coached, said Cheika who coached Palu at both the Wallabies and Waratahs.Because of not only the way he plays the game - I like the way he plays the game - but just his attitude towards the team and what he does for his team.When hes involved with it, its all class and its always understated and its never looking for a headline, as you can see.THE HARD FACTS OF WALLABY HARD-MAN WYCLIFF PALUS TEST RUGBY CAREER *Tests 58 *Starts: 50 *Tries: 5 *Debut : V England (Melbourne, June 2006) *Last Test: V England (Sydney, June 2016) World Cups: 3 (2007, 2011, 2015). 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Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. ORLANDO, Fla. -- A study of the racial and gender makeup of leadership and decision-making positions among the 128 Football Bowl Subdivision schools remain overwhelmingly white and male dominated.The report released Monday by the Institution for Diversity and Ethics in Sports (TIDES) of University of Central Florida found white men hold the vast majority of president, athletic directors and faculty athletic representative positions at FBS schools for the 2016-17 academic year.As somebody who has worked at an institution of higher education for 45 years I always hope that we provide wisdom and leadership for the country, particularly in difficult times, said TIDES director Dr. Richard Lapchick, the primary author of the report. When the leadership in college sports and college presidents dont reflect who the American people are visually then their ability to make sound judgments are not going to be as good as they would be if there were a diverse pool of athletic directors and others.Whites comprised 88.3 percent of the presidents, 85.9 percent of the athletic director jobs, 89.4 percent of the faculty representative positions and 100 percent of the FBS conference commissioner jobs at the beginning of the 2016-17 academic year. White males make up 75.8 percent of the presidents, 78.9 percent of the athletic directors and 90 percent of the faculty representatives. When Judy MacLeod was named as the Conference USA commissioner in 2015 she became the first woman to lead any of the 11 FBS conferences.The decision makers are responsible for hiring coaches where the diversity numbers have always lagged. Of the 128 FBS schools, 87.5 perceent of the head football coaches are also white males.ddddddddddddThats actually why we started doing this leadership study is because had the coaching ranks stayed so stagnant for so long then it declined in basketball where they use to be pretty good, Lapchick said. Thats when I decided to look at who is making the decisions.The report also showed there was a slight decrease by 0.4 of percentage point from a year ago in women who hold any of the 388 campus leadership positions at the highest level of collegiate sports. The number of people of color holding campus leadership roles actually increased, but only by 0.7 of a percentage point from the 2015 report.To address the poor hiring numbers, the NCAA adopted The Pledge and Commitment to Promoting Diversity and Gender Equity in Intercollegiate Athletics last September. But the pledge, which was signed by several college presidents, has been widely criticized because its scene as non-binding and offers no sanctions for not improving the hiring record of university athletic departments.Lapchick has championed the NCAA adopting a hiring practice similar to the Rooney Rule used by the NFL, which requires that teams interview a diverse pool of candidates. He believes it should be called the Eddie Robinson Rule, named after the former Grambling coach and second all-time winningest coach in college football history.It would require a pool of candidates that is diverse so that the presidents and athletic directors would include people of color, Lapchick said. ' ' '