Conference Carolinas Welcomes Wingate As Associate Member in Acrobatics & Tumbling
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Conference Carolinas has officially announced the addition of Wingate as an Associate Member in acrobatics & tumbling.
"We are excited to unveil that Wingate has continued to help us lead the way and grow the amazing sport of acrobatics & tumbling," Conference Carolinas Commissioner Chris Colvin said. "We are truly thankful that they have accepted our invitation to join our conference as an Associate Member. Wingate gives us another strong institution working with Conference Carolinas while also giving us the opportunity to continue to extend the acrobatics & tumbling footprint."
Wingate will begin its inaugural season and its first year of competition in Conference Carolinas in the 2023-24 academic year.
“We are excited to have Wingate acrobatics and tumbling competing in Conference Carolinas,” Wingate Director of Athletics Kelley Kish said. “The footprint of the conference teams and competitive level is a perfect fit as we start our program. Wingate acrobatics and tumbling student-athletes will take pride in representing our institution in fall of 2023 as part of Conference Carolinas."
Conference Carolinas will have nine programs competing in acrobatics and tumbling in the 2022-23 academic year in Belmont Abbey, Chowan, Coker, Converse, Emmanuel, King, Lander, Limestone and Mars Hill. Conference Carolinas acrobatics & tumbling will feature 11 teams in the 2023-24 academic year with Erskine relaunching its program along with the addition of Wingate.
Conference Carolinas just recently concluded its second season of acrobatics & tumbling in the 2021-22 academic year.
Four Conference Carolinas teams were nationally ranked among the top 15 over the course of the 2022 spring season with Limestone and Converse both advancing to the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) National Championship field. In addition, Belmont Abbey, Coker and Lander all had at-large qualifying scores for the national event finals.
Conference Carolinas acrobatics & tumbling captured its first-ever national championships at the national event finals inside Matthew Knight Arena at the University of Oregon. Converse collected the national championship in the six element in the acro event, while Limestone picked up the national title in the open heat in the pyramid event.
Conference Carolinas is a sole sponsor of 23 sports and collaborates with two other conferences to offer opportunities in four additional sports for a total of 27. The conference will be the sole sponsor of 24 sports (28 total including collaborations with other conferences) beginning in 2023-24.
The ability to provide its membership sports sponsorship in 28 sports is the most in all of NCAA Division II. In addition, Conference Carolinas also provides championship opportunities for its member institutions in Esports and Spirit.
This is all in addition to adding Developmental Championships for its member institutions during the 2021-22 academic year. Conference Carolinas is believed to be the first NCAA conference to offer sub-varsity championships to its members.
Conference Carolinas and the Mountain East Conference are the only NCAA conferences to presently sponsor the sport of acrobatics & tumbling.