Conference Carolinas to Sponsor Acrobatics and Tumbling in 2020-21 Athletic Year; Coker Joins as Affiliate Member in NCAA Emerging Sport
Conference Carolinas to Sponsor Acrobatics and Tumbling in 2020-21 Athletic Year; Coker Joins as Affiliate Member in NCAA Emerging Sport
GREENVILLE, S.C. – With the official addition of acrobatics and tumbling as an NCAA Emerging Sport on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020, Conference Carolinas has announced that it will sponsor the sport starting in the 2020-21 athletic year.
Acrobatics and tumbling will be added as an NCAA Emerging Sport officially on Aug. 1, 2020. Conference Carolinas joins the Mountain East Conference as the only NCAA conferences to presently sponsor the sport.
In addition, Conference Carolinas has added Coker University as an affiliate member in acrobatics and tumbling starting with the 2020-21 athletic year. With the addition of Coker, Conference Carolinas currently has six member institutions competing in acrobatics and tumbling in 2020-21. Those institutions are Belmont Abbey, Chowan, Coker, Converse, Erskine and King.
Conference Carolinas is now a sole sponsor of 23 sports, which is among the most in all of the NCAA. Including the collaboration with the South Atlantic Conference in men’s wrestling and field hockey, Conference Carolinas now provides its member institutions sports sponsorship in 25 different sports, which is the most in all of NCAA Division II (NE10 sponsors 24 sports).
“This is a historic day for Conference Carolinas,” Commissioner Chris Colvin said of the addition of acrobatics and tumbling. “It was important to us to continue to offer our member institutions new opportunities for their student-athletes in our continuing efforts to build champions in body, mind and soul. Acrobatics and tumbling is a growing sport and will be a tremendous addition to our conference. It’s an exciting time to be associated with Conference Carolinas.”
Colvin also knows Coker will be a strong addition to Conference Carolinas acrobatics and tumbling.
“We are truly thankful for the efforts of Dr. Lynn Griffin and everyone at Coker for joining us for what will be our inaugural season of officially sponsoring acrobatics and tumbling in the 2020-21 athletic year,” added Colvin. “Coker has a strong history with Conference Carolinas and we are excited to welcome Coker as an affiliate member.”
Coker originally added acrobatics and tumbling as a sport in January of 2019.
"We are excited to be an affiliate member," Griffin, Coker's Vice President of Athletics and Athletic Facilities, said. "When we added acrobatics and tumbling as our 24th varsity sport in 2019 it was important to us to find a conference affiliation and we have found a great partner in Conference Carolinas."
National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA) Executive Director Janell Cook knows the addition of acrobatics and tumbling by Conference Carolinas is important not just for the conference but for helping to continue to grow the sport.
"Conference Carolinas' announcement of sport sponsorship is incredible news for their members and student-athletes and another great indicator of the growth of acrobatics and tumbling," Cook said. "We are excited to partner with them to enhance existing student-athlete opportunities and to continue expansion efforts to create more opportunities in the conference and in the region."
The news of sponsoring the sport comes just over a month after Conference Carolinas announced that it would be holding an Event Championships and naming a regular season champion in the sport of acrobatics and tumbling in the spring of 2020 for the five institutions that currently sponsor the sport (Belmont Abbey, Converse, Erskine, King and Limestone).
"We are so thankful to Commissioner Colvin for his vision and appreciation for the opportunities acrobatics and tumbling can provide, as well as for all of the NCATA member athletic directors from Conference Carolinas who have added programs and helped progress the sport within the conference," Cook continued.
This is Conference Carolinas
Conference Carolinas has a rich tradition in roots that dates back to its early initial inception on Dec. 6, 1930. The NCAA Division II athletics conference presently has member schools located in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Conference Carolinas member institutions are Barton, Belmont Abbey, Chowan, Converse, Emmanuel, Erskine, King, Lees-McRae, Limestone, Mount Olive, North Greenville and Southern Wesleyan.
Conference Carolinas believes in the development and formation of the whole person in body, mind and soul. Our students are nationally recognized for their extraordinary success in the classroom, in the community and at the highest levels of NCAA competition.
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