ACU Athletics taking over club sports program
10/28/2016 2:00:00 PM | General
ABILENE, Texas – Abilene Christian University director of athletics Lee De León announced Friday that ACU Athletics will take over the university's nationally competitive club sports program in January with the hopes of driving enrollment and adding more club sports in the future.
ACU currently has club sports in men's lacrosse, men's rugby, men's soccer and co-ed golf. All four of those programs will move under the direction of ACU Athletics in January and will be overseen by a Director of Club Sports. That person – who has yet to be hired – will oversee the budgets of each team, hire part-time coaches for each team, work on scheduling competitions/tournaments, and manage the operations of club sports in general. This person will also recruit high school athletes to come to ACU and participate in club sports.
"ACU is continually looking for ways to enhance student activities and reassigning these club sports to the athletics department will provide some additional opportunities for support," said De León, who will announce the Director of Club Sports in late December or early January. "We want to revamp the program, give it the support of ACU Athletics and use it as a method to drive enrollment for the university."
The Director of Club Sports will report directly to Chris Ballard, assistant director of athletics for academics, who put together the plan for club sports to move under the direction of ACU Athletics. High school students interested in participating in club sports can contact Ballard at chris.ballard@acu.edu until the Director of Club Sports starts in January.
"We are excited to bring club sports under the athletics department," Ballard said. "This move will allow us the opportunity to enhance the experience of the students who play clubs sports on campus. We believe there is some natural synergy between the two that will allow for the clubs to attract students and be more competitive in the future."
ACU currently has club sports in men's lacrosse, men's rugby, men's soccer and co-ed golf. All four of those programs will move under the direction of ACU Athletics in January and will be overseen by a Director of Club Sports. That person – who has yet to be hired – will oversee the budgets of each team, hire part-time coaches for each team, work on scheduling competitions/tournaments, and manage the operations of club sports in general. This person will also recruit high school athletes to come to ACU and participate in club sports.
"ACU is continually looking for ways to enhance student activities and reassigning these club sports to the athletics department will provide some additional opportunities for support," said De León, who will announce the Director of Club Sports in late December or early January. "We want to revamp the program, give it the support of ACU Athletics and use it as a method to drive enrollment for the university."
The Director of Club Sports will report directly to Chris Ballard, assistant director of athletics for academics, who put together the plan for club sports to move under the direction of ACU Athletics. High school students interested in participating in club sports can contact Ballard at chris.ballard@acu.edu until the Director of Club Sports starts in January.
"We are excited to bring club sports under the athletics department," Ballard said. "This move will allow us the opportunity to enhance the experience of the students who play clubs sports on campus. We believe there is some natural synergy between the two that will allow for the clubs to attract students and be more competitive in the future."
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