Saint Louis University has accepted an offer
to join the Atlantic 10 conference and will begin play in
the 2005-06 season, according to a press release released
by the Atlantic 10 Wednesday.
Saint Louis was a member of Conference-USA in all sports
except field hockey, where they participated in the NorPac
Field Hockey Conference. The NorPac now is left with seven
members, including Appalachian State University.
Saint Louis was a member of the East Division of NorPac,
along with ASU, Davidson College and Radford University.
The West Division remains intact, including Southwest Missouri
State University, Stanford University, University of California
at Berkeley and the University of the Pacific.
Saint Louis joined the conference in 1998, along with David
& Elkins College and SMSU. Appalachian State and Davidson
joined the conference in 2000, after David & Elkins discontinued
their field hockey program.
According to the NCAA list of sponsoring institutions, 76
colleges and universities sponsor Division I Field Hockey.
Georgetown University is the only institution that is currently
recognized as an independent in field hockey. The NorPac
is the only field hockey conference in Division I. All others
are multi-sport conferences.
“Hopefully [NorPac Commissioner Carla Konet] will get
in touch with all the universities and come up with a solution,”
ASU Director of Athletics Roachel Laney said.
Konet was unavailable for comment.
This is the first time the realignment process centering
on Division I-A Football has affected ASU.
“We knew there would be a trickle-down effect, this
was an expected thing,” Laney said. “We’ll
assess the situation and decide if we can afford to compete.”
Laney said there would be no opportunities for ASU to leave
the NorPac and join another conference as solely a field
hockey member.
“We were an independent for 20 plus years, the NorPac
is the first conference we ever joined,” Laney said.
“To lose the opportunity for the athlete to play for
a conference title and [the possibility of the NCAA field
hockey tournament] is not the way, ultimately, you would
like.”
Saint Louis joins the Atlantic 10 conference with the University
of North Carolina at Charlotte. Both are significant for
the Atlantic 10 as far as television markets. According to
the A.C. Nielsen rating service, Saint Louis is located in
the 21st largest market in the United States and Charlotte
is 28th.
The Atlantic 10 now has a member institution in 19.75 percent
of TV households in the USA.
The A-10 will crown champions in 21 sports this year: baseball,
men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and
women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s golf,
women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s indoor
and outdoor track & field, women’s rowing, men’s
and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s
swimming and diving, men’s and women’s tennis
and women’s volleyball.
|
