Alfred State to Join AMCC
The Alfred State athletic department will join the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) as a full member at the start of the 2019-20 school year. It was announced just last week, that the college had became a full member of Division III of the NCAA.
"We congratulate the Pioneers on their successful completion of the NCAA Division III membership process, and we are pleased that they have accepted our invitation to join the AMCC," announced Commissioner Donna Ledwin. "It cements an established relationship with Alfred State, as they have already proven themselves to be solid citizens of the conference as affiliate members in the sports of swimming and diving, men's lacrosse and baseball."
Director of Athletics Jason Doviak is excited about the affiliation with the AMCC. "I would like to thank Commissioner Ledwin, the AMCC Directors of Athletics, and the AMCC President's for their support throughout this process. This is a tremendous opportunity for our student-athletes and coaches to compete against like institutions on a regular basis. We will now have the ability to stabilize our team travel to provide our student-athletes a true Division III experience including a regular season conference schedule which we have lacked since we made our decision to join the NCAA. The AMCC is a perfect fit for Alfred State and we look forward to competing against and working with the other conference members."
"Alfred State College is excited to be joining the AMCC," commented college president Dr. Skip Sullivan. "We have so many special relationships with the conference colleges and over the years have developed numerous healthy rivalries. Our student-athletes will benefit from membership in the AMCC. I certainly share their excitement."
The AMCC is an alliance of NCAA Division III institutions whose mission is to provide student-athletes with an intercollegiate athletics program that advances their educational experience in a way that is safe, equitable, respectful, rewarding and balanced.
Alfred State will become the 11th member of the conference and will join D'Youville (Buffalo, NY), Franciscan (Steubenville, OH), Hilbert (Hamburg, NY), La Roche (Pittsburg, PA), Medaille (Buffalo, NY), Mount Aloysius (Cresson, PA), Penn State Behrend (Erie, PA), Pitt-Bradford (Bradford, PA), Pitt-Greensburg (Greensburg, PA), and Penn State Altoona (Altoona, PA). The AMCC hosts championship events in 16 sports and Pioneer athletes will compete in 11 of those (baseball, men's & women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming & diving, and women's volleyball). Alfred State will also play a AMCC schedule in men's lacrosse.
The AMCC was initially formed by a group of six colleges and universities and the conference began play in the 1997-98 academic year for men's and women's sports. The conference is now comprised of eleven members located in Western Pennsylvania, Western New York and Eastern Ohio, and include both private and public institutions. All are required to be active or provisional members of NCAA Division III.
Alfred State, a long time member of the NJCAA, began the process of becoming a member of the NCAA in 2013. The Pioneers have competed versus NCAA DIII opponents including all members of the AMCC during the last five years and is currently a member of the American Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA). Two years ago, Alfred State became an affiliate member of the AMCC in the sports of baseball, lacrosse, and men's and women's swimming & diving. The lacrosse team and the swimming & diving teams have competed in the AMCC the past two school years while the baseball team played their first AMCC conference schedule this past year.
During the transisition to full NCAA membership, student-athletes have also competed in the USCAA and the ECAC. The department will continue their membership with the ECAC.
The Alfred State football team will continue to be a member of the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) while the wrestling team will return to the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference (ECWC) in 2018-19.
For more information on the AMCC visit the league website at: http://amccsports.org
