At its regular meeting Dec. 9, 2012, the Bob Jones University Board of Trustees approved the addition of two sports—men and women’s golf and men and women’s cross country—to the University’s intercollegiate sports program.
The University plans to begin competition in both sports in the fall semester 2013.
“I am thrilled with the Board’s decision,” says athletic director Neal Ring. “In addition to showing the Board’s strong support for BJU intercollegiate competition, the additional sports significantly strengthen our total athletic offering and will bring additional students to BJU who desire to participate in these specific sports.”
According to Coach Ring, BJU immediately will initiate a national search for coaches for the new sports and begin recruiting students for the new teams. Tryouts for current BJU students will be available at a later date.
While competition schedules have yet to be determined, BJU anticipates competing against many of the same colleges it competes against in intercollegiate soccer and basketball.
Approximately six cross country competitions will be scheduled for the fall semester, and the BJU team will have the opportunity to qualify for the NCCAA national tournament at Cedarville University in Ohio held annually toward the end of the first academic semester.
Golf teams will compete in both the fall and spring semesters, utilizing a local country club course as their home base. BJU players will have opportunity to qualify individually and as teams for the fall semester NCCAA national tournament.
In recommending additional sports to the Board, BJU’s Athletic Department selected two sports which do not require BJU to build additional facilities, have relatively low start-up costs and generate high interest from both current and prospective students. These sports offer the added benefit of competition primarily on Friday and Saturday, helping students accommodate the competitions in their academic schedules.
Published December 14, 2012