Peach Belt Conference
Ken Gerlinger, Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Communications
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 16th 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.