Air Force To Join ECAC Lacrosse League
7/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
July 9, 2008
Cape Cod, Mass. - The Air Force lacrosse team is one of five teams set to join the ECAC Lacrosse League beginning in the 2009-10 season, as announced by ECAC Commissioner Rudy Keeling on Wednesday. Along with the Falcons, Bellarmine, Denver, Ohio State and Quinnipiac will join existing members Fairfield, Hobart and Loyola.
The move is a result of a national realignment of lacrosse leagues, spurred by the new sponsorship of men's lacrosse by both the BIG EAST Conference and the Northeast Conference. All five of the teams which will be making the move to the ECAC Lacrosse League are currently members of the Great Western Lacrosse League. The sixth GWLL program, Notre Dame, will compete in the BIG EAST. Current ECAC members Georgetown, Rutgers and St. John's will also play in the BIG EAST, while UMass and Penn State will make a move to the Colonial Athletic Association.
"The lacrosse world is going through a metamorphosis and the ECAC Lacrosse League has emerged stronger than ever," said Keeling. "The combination of the teams from the ECAC and the Great Western Lacrosse League will make us one of the power lacrosse conferences in the country."
"Overall, we feel it is going to continue to be a highly competitive league and we are excited for 2010," continued Keeling. "The game of lacrosse is growing rapidly across the nation, and we are excited to bring some of the western teams into the East and for those eastern teams to have a chance to play out West. It will only accelerate the growth of the sport across the country."
The ECAC is the nation's largest athletic conference with 321 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities from Maine to North Carolina. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors more than 100 championships in 37 men's and women's sports. The ECAC assigns more than 4,400 officials in 12 sports. The Conference, located on Cape Cod, administers eight affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues, including the ECAC Lacrosse League.
