AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Peach Belt Conference and commissioner David Brunk are pleased to announce that the conference will add men’s lacrosse as the league’s 16^th championship sport beginning in the spring of 2021. Four teams will comprise the inaugural season with the field expanding to six for the 2022 campaign. The first four teams will be the University of Alabama-Huntsville, Lander University, the University of Montevallo and Shorter University. Flagler College and Young Harris College will join the following year, bringing the total to six and allowing the PBC to have an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament.

“Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in our region and we are very excited about beginning our own championship,” said commissioner Brunk. “It gives the schools coming in more regionalized competition, a solid conference structure and provides the student-athletes with an outstanding championship experience. We feel this is a sport that will continue to grow and now we are in a great position to grow with it.”

The inaugural season will begin in February with teams playing a double round-robin conference schedule starting in mid-March. The PBC will hold its first tournament April 30 and May 2, 2021, with all four teams in competition.

“We are very excited that the Peach Belt has decided to add Men’s Lacrosse as a sponsored sport,” said Lander athletic director Brian Reese. “This is huge for Lander University, its student-athletes, coaches, alumni, and fans. I truly believe that the Peach Belt has an excellent chance to be one of the best lacrosse conferences in our region in a very short amount of time.”

Lacrosse will be the first new NCAA championship sport added by the Peach Belt since men’s and women’s outdoor track & field in 2013. The PBC began its own Esports championships in 2017. UAH, Lander and Montevallo had been playing lacrosse in the Great Lakes Valley Conference while Shorter was independent.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced two of its sports have achieved a new status at the conclusion of the NAIA National Administrative Council (NAC) virtual meetings, held this week. On Thursday, the association announced that women’s lacrosse will become the 27^th championship sport while beach volleyball will move from ‘emerging’ to ‘invitational’ status immediately for the 2020-21 season.

Women’s lacrosse has been one of the fastest growing sports in the NAIA over the course of the last three years. Now, as the numbers of institutions that sponsor the sport as a varsity program has eclipsed the necessary 40 mark, the NAC has voted to grant it full championship status.

“Women’s lacrosse has experienced rapid growth since becoming an NAIA-sponsored sport in 2015-16,” said Jim Carr, NAIA President and CEO. “It’s exciting to witness the program coming full circle and we look forward to crowning the first NAIA lacrosse national champion in the spring.”

The first NAIA Women’s Lacrosse National Champion is slated to be crowned on May 8, 2021 at Memorial Stadium in Savannah, Ga.

Beach volleyball has also shown significant growth and will now move from the designation of ‘emerging’ to ‘invitational’ status. This change will put the sport on the cusp of full championship status if it continues to see similar growth over the next several years.

“It is exciting to see so many NAIA schools recognizing the potential of beach volleyball,” said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. “The team-sport format adds participants to schools and drama to competitions. And, college beach courts are magnets for students seeking recreation. The combination is a low cost, high engagement sport that adds value to the NAIA experience.”

Currently 25 NAIA institutions sponsor beach volleyball as a full varsity sport. The NAIA requires that at least 25 institutions sponsor a sport at the varsity level before receiving consideration for invitational status.

The NAIA will begin a bid process for potential hosts of the NAIA Beach Volleyball Invitational this summer. More information will be released over the course of the next few months.

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Located in Babson Park, Fla., Webber International was approved for affiliate membership by the AAC Council of Presidents at its spring meeting at the end of May.

“We are pleased to welcome Webber International’s new men’s lacrosse team to the AAC,” said AAC Commissioner John Sullivan. “We anticipate that as the Warriors build their new program, they will benefit from the high level of competition found here in the AAC. This is an exciting sport that continues to grow not only in our league but across the nation. We are proud to be competitive leaders in the sport not only on the men’s side but also the women’s.”

Webber International is the first institution from the state of Florida to be a part of the AAC.

With the addition of Webber International, the AAC will have eight teams competing in men’s lacrosse and 10 in women’s lacrosse. Participating in men’s lacrosse will be Cumberlands, Montreat, Point, Reinhardt, SCAD Savannah, St. Andrews, and Tennessee Wesleyan.

The 2020-21 season is the inaugural campaign for the Warriors.

“Joining the AAC for men’s lacrosse is the perfect fit for Webber as we kick off our first season next Spring,” said Webber International Athletic Director Darren Richie. “Thank you to AAC Commissioner John Sullivan for supporting our growth and making this a smooth transition.”

Currently, Webber International sponsors 23 intercollegiate athletic programs and competes primarily as a member of The Sun Conference.

The AAC now has 16 full members and five affiliate members. The conference membership is spread out over eight states with the full members being Allen (S.C.), Bluefield (Va.), Brenau (Ga.), Bryan (Tenn.), Columbia (S.C.), Columbia International (S.C.), Kentucky Christian, Milligan (Tenn.), Montreat (N.C.), Point (Ga.), Reinhardt (Ga.), SCAD Atlanta (Ga.), St. Andrews (N.C.), Tennessee Wesleyan, Truett McConnell (Ga.), and Union (Ky.). Webber joins Asbury (Ky.), Cumberlands (Ky.), SCAD Savannah (Ga.), and West Virginia Tech.

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