The Mississippi University for Women announced Friday it has been accepted into the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA).
The move is another step in The W’s progress toward the return of intercollegiate athletics to its Columbus campus.
“This gives our student-athletes the chance to recognized locally and nationally as we go through the NCAA process,” The W Director of Athletics Jason Trufant said. “It allows us to do special things.”
The USCAA, which is based in Norfolk, Virginia, is a national organization of more than 80 small colleges, community colleges, and junior colleges. It provides opportunities for athletic competition and recognition at the regional and national levels.
The W’s membership will begin July 1. Its women’s volleyball, men’s soccer, baseball, and softball programs will be eligible for USCAA National Championship events in 2017-18.
The W also is pursuing membership in NCAA Division III athletics.
The school’s exploratory phase of membership will begin Sept. 1. Dual membership in the USCAA and the NCAA is permitted.
“This is a great testament to the hard work our athletic staff has done in building a new program at The W, and it is an honor to be a member of a national organization whose emphasis, like ours, is on the development of the whole student,” The W President Jim Borsig said in a statement released by the school.
The women’s volleyball and men’s soccer teams will open their seasons Sept. 1. The intercollegiate action will be the first at the school since 2003, when its athletic program was discontinued.
According to the USCAA press release, The W will add men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s golf, and women’s soccer in 2018-19. The press release also said the school will add men’s and women’s basketball and women’s lacrosse in its third year to complete the rollout of the school’s new athletics program.
Trufant said a majority of the members of the USCAA also are members of the NCAA. He said the USCAA is “geared toward small colleges and universities” and that it will give The W an “extra advantage” to offer opportunities to its student-athletes.
Trufant said The W had to go through an application process, which included a site visit by the USCAA. He said the USCAA board of directors reviewed the report and approved The W’s membership earlier this week at its convention.
“This now puts a face to the name of the program,” Trufant said. “It allows us to strive and achieve for a common goal and pursue our NCAA destination at the same time. It doesn’t stop. If anything (membership in the USCAA) helps us become more of an established athletic program while trying to maintain the right path. It is a win-win for university and a win-win for the USCAA.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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