Earlham to Join Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2009 

RICHMOND, Ind. — The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) announced today that it has approved the application of Earlham College to join the Conference. Currently a member of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), Earlham will join HCAC at the beginning of the 2010-11 academic year.

“We are very pleased to have Earlham College join the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference,” says Heartland Conference Commissioner Christopher Ragsdale. “Earlham College shares a similar vision with current HCAC members who value the intercollegiate experience as an integral part of the overall educational experience for their student-athletes.”

“Earlham’s relationship with NCAC is more than 20 years old,” says Frank Carr, athletic director, “so this change was not one that was entered into nonchalantly. However, we are ecstatic that we have been invited to join the Heartland Conference. This change is one that I believe will be exceptionally good for Earlham athletics.”

President Douglas C. Bennett is equally enthusiastic. “By joining HCAC, we are renewing formal relationships with schools that we deeply respect and which have been friends and competitors for nearly as long as Earlham has had organized athletics.”

The College is not expecting a significant change in athletic competition. Over the years, Earlham has played many members of the Heartland Conference, both as a part of the Hoosier Conference, the Hoosier-Buckeye Conference and the College Athletic Conference as well as in non-conference play. HCAC schools field teams in all of Earlham’s current sports, except field hockey. Carr says that field hockey will remain a varsity sport at Earlham and is exploring non-conference options for the program. Earlham expects to be competitive in its new conference, and may have slightly improved prospects for winning in some sports. 

Carr also points out that by joining HCAC, Earlham is aligning itself with institutions which are more like it in both size of athletic programs and overall enrollment.

“Earlham is the second smallest school in NCAC. It’s been tough to keep up with them,” says Carr. “However, in terms of enrollment, we will be the third largest school in HCAC, most of which also have coaching staffs of a size comparable to ours and which devote similar institutional resources to athletics.”

Additionally, says Carr, by joining HCAC, Earlham will be playing against teams that are geographically closer than many in the North Coast conference, saving the College a significant amount of money in travel and time away from campus.

“Earlham is truly located at the heart of the Heartland conference. Next year our longest trip will be less than three hours,” he says. “Currently, only three NCAC schools are within that distance. We expect costs for fuel, lodging, vehicle maintenance and meals to be dramatically reduced. Also, with shorter amounts of time devoted to away games, our student-athletes can use this extra time to devote to academics.”

The geographic proximity of conference competitors in the Heartland conference also means that more faculty, students, alumni and parents of student-athletes, many of whom come from Indiana and western Ohio, may be able to attend more away games.

Currently, there are nine members of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference: Anderson University, Bluffton University, Defiance College, Franklin College, Hanover College, Manchester College, College of Mount St. Joseph, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Transylvania University. The conference will expand to 10 members when Earlham joins in 2010.

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Contact:
Don Tincher, sports information director
765/983-1795 — E-Mail Don