Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Formed
7/10/2007 3:13:00 PM | Swimming and Diving
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Southern Conference along with the Atlantic Sun, Big South and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conferences announced today the formation of a new Division I swimming and diving conference ? named the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) ? beginning competition this fall.
The CCSA was established through the cooperative efforts of the coaches, administrators and commissioners of the four member conferences and has received approval from the NCAA for membership as a Division I conference.
“The best thing about the formation of the conference is that it is very deep, which will bring a lot of exposure to both the conference and Georgia Southern swimming & diving,” said GSU head swimming & diving coach Nathan Kellogg.
“We get to swim with teams that are already within the SoCon, like Charleston and Davidson, that are big regional contenders, and that will surely reinforce rivalries between the programs,” added Kellogg. “We always swim well against one another, so we expect it will produce nothing but good things.”
The CCSA has 12 total members ? 12 women's swimming & diving teams and six men's swimming and diving programs. The charter members of the CCSA in women's swimming are Campbell (A-Sun), College of Charleston (SoCon), Davidson (SoCon), Florida A&M (MEAC), Florida Gulf Coast (A-Sun), Gardner-Webb (A-Sun), Georgia Southern (SoCon), Howard (MEAC), North Carolina A&T (MEAC), North Florida (A-Sun), Radford (Big South) and VMI (Big South). The six schools that comprise the CCSA men's swimming members are College of Charleston, Davidson, Florida A&M, Gardner-Webb, Howard and VMI. The CCSA will host its inaugural Conference Championship on Feb. 21-23, 2008.
“The process of building this new conference has been an extremely cooperative effort among all of the coaches and administrators, and we look forward to our inaugural championship meet this coming year,” said Atlantic Sun Commissioner Ted Gumbart, Executive Director of the CCSA. “The main focus in establishing the CCSA has been the student-athletes, and we are excited that the swimmers and divers in each of our leagues now have a conference home and honors for which to compete.”
CCSA administrative duties will be divided among the four Leagues. Also planned are the selection of a senior woman administrator and the formation of a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. The CCSA's official website is under development and will be launched when completed.
