Earlier this week six schools announced their unification to form a new lacrosse conference in affiliation with the already established Atlantic Sun Conference. The schools, Furman, High Point, Jacksonville, Mercer, VMI, and Richmond, plan to form the new conference as soon as 2014. Because the Atlantic Sun already is a multi-sport league and there are six lacrosse members, they are immediately eligible for an automatic qualifier.
Before I get into what this means for the future of the sport, it’s best to start out by giving a background on each of the teams and what they bring to the conference.
Mercer originally formed a club team in 2007, but quickly jumped to the varsity level. The Bears joined the Division I ranks in 2011, playing as an independent until now. Mercer is the only Division I private school in Georgia and the only school in Georgia with DI lacrosse. They open up their 2013 season this Sunday with a big game against Duke. Their schedule actually features some of the other future Atlantic Sun members, including High Point, VMI, and Jacksonville.
Like Mercer, Jacksonville became the first DI program in their state when they added lacrosse in 2010. The Dolphins have been playing in the MAAC as an associate member and although the MAAC is a quality conference, it didn’t make much sense geographically. A majority of the teams play in the northeast, with the exception of VMI who is also leaving with Jacksonville. Jacksonville opened up the 2013 campaign with a 21-9 loss to the Duke Blue Devils.
VMI, starting in 2004, is the oldest of all the Atlantic Sun members. The 1,500 student military institute had its best season since 2008 last year, recording four wins. They lost their season opener to fellow military school Navy by a 20-7 score.
High Point started their first season two weeks ago and has already played three games. Their first win came on the 8th when they took down Towson 9-7. High Point, a private liberal arts school in North Carolina, seems to be off to a good start.
The last two schools haven’t played a game of Division I lacrosse. Both Furman and Richmond are planning to start their programs up in 2014.
What do all of these schools have in common, that is different from what we’ve seen in the past? They are from the south and are the first group of southern schools to get together in Division I lacrosse.
This is more than just a smaller DI conference getting together. Its a geographic door, opening up new lacrosse opportunities. Now new southern schools have a conference that makes sense geographically, so they wouldn’t have a crazy budget travelling around the country. Its something people don’t often think of, but it can make a big difference to a university.
Being associated with the Atlantic Sun, it could also encourage more members of the conference to join in as well. One school that I’ve heard brought up multiple times is Kennesaw State in Georgia, in-state rival to Mercer.
When it comes down to it, this is huge for lacrosse. It is the sport spreading further into a geographic footprint. Sure, there were schools down south like North Carolina, Duke, and Virginia. But now some of the smaller schools are joining in on the fun, which is a very good sign for the future. Lacrosse in the south is growing. Get excited.
