NAIA Conference Expansion…and the future. -  PART I

9-4-12www.theseniorreports.com  - Part 1 in a series of articles

 

THE SENIOR REPORTS asked NAIA conferences the following –

Would you be able to give us a statement from your conference on expansion and the future?

 

Below are the replies to our request –

 

Added 9-24-12NAIA Reply from Kay Hawes National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, Director of Marketing and Public Relations 

The NAIA conference structure has been progressively gaining strength in recent years. The NAIA conference commissioners, both through their conferences and through the Conference Commissioners Association, now have a more important role than ever before. While it’s up to the NAIA presidents, and more formally the Council of Presidents, to lead the Association, the presidents realize that strong conferences led by active commissioners are good for the NAIA as a whole.

The Sun Conference  FROM: Mark A. Pope - Commissioner

The Sun Conference includes 12 strong members: 9 in Florida, 2 in Georgia and 1 in South Carolina.  At our June Athletic Directors’ meetings, we decided to focus on improving the quality of our member institutions.  However, if the opportunity for quality members presents itself, we would consider expansion. 

We are currently working on Associate Membership for Football; 2 Sun Conference members currently sponsor the sport, one is adding it next year and others may add it later.  If we can obtain 6 schools, we will include Football as an Associate Membership Sport.

Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference FROM: Scott Crawford, Ph.D. - Commissioner

 

The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference is comprised of 10 member institutions - all in the state of Kansas.  We envision expanding to at least 12 members, but no more than 16 members.  With that being said, we are not currently pursuing any active campaign for conference membership expansion.  

One of the key components of any expansion is finding potential members that meet our criteria for membership.  This would include, but not limited to, being a private not-for-profit institution and having the required conference sports as stipulated in our constitution and bylaws.  Of particular note, having a football program is non-negotiable - any potential member must have a football program to be considered for membership.  A broad-based athletic program with many sport offerings is necessary for conference membership as well. Currently, we offer 18 conference championships and are looking to add championships in Women's Golf and Competitive Dance.  Every KCAC school offers at least 14 championship sports with several member schools delivering every championship sport recognized by the conference.

 

Without going into too many other details, I would share with you that the KCAC's focus is currently on internal sport program growth and not on new-member expansion. Member schools are looking at Wrestling, Bowling, and other sports to add to their institutional offerings as well as the possibility of additional conference championships in the near future. 

 

Midlands Collegiate Conference  FROM: Al Waller– Commissioner

 

The Midlands Collegiate Conference hopes to add a couple more teams in the next couple of years so we can go to a north-south format.

WHAC  FROM: Rob Miller Commissioner

The WHAC is 12 members and we feel strong in our membership.  12 is a good number and our first goal would be internal growth in sports like tennis and non NAIA sports (at present) like bowling and lacrosse.  We will consider others who meet our mission and location but we are not active in membership growth but working with developing programs as they might make a good match in the near future.

TranSouth Athletic Conference FROM: Charlie SmithCommissioner

The TranSouth Athletic Conference welcomes Life University of Marietta, Georgia as our newest member. We continue our mission to seek other members.

California Pacific Conference FROM: Don OttCommissioner

The Cal Pac has added three new members in 2012 and is actively pursuing its growth to ten members in 2013.  This successful expansion has rejuvenated our membership and enlarged our conference footprint from northern California into southern California and Arizona. This reverses a trend of schools moving away from the NAIA and, in fact, the Cal Pac is partnering with the NAIA to recruit new members from unaffiliated institutions in the West.

 

Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference FROM: Bill Melton – Commissioner

 

The Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC), is comprised of 12 member schools in parts  of six states.  We are currently talking with one school which is planning to apply for membership for the 2013-2014 year and two schools which are considering making applications.  If and when we add more members, we will be considering the feasibility of going to divisional play.  This fall we added Point Park and Carlow Universities in Pittsburgh, PA.

 

The Senior Reports NAIA site – www.theseniorreports.com/naia.htm