Softball Release (01-02) - Softball Added - Guilford College

  • SOFTBALL REINSTATED TO GUILFORD ATHLETICS LINEUP

Greensboro, NC (09/25/01) -- Guilford College Director of Athletics Mike Ketchum announced the reinstatement of softball to the school's varsity athletics program Tuesday. This team marks Guilford's first fast-pitch unit as the Quakers fielded a slow-pitch softball team from 1978-1990.

"Softball provides another opportunity for female student-athletes and goes hand-in-hand with the growth of the sport in our state," Ketchum said. "We look forward to attracting more of North Carolina's top student-athletes to Guilford and have begun recruiting students for the fall 2002 semester."

Ketchum said a head coach will be hired in next spring and the college's admissions office and athletics staff will assist in present recruiting efforts. The Quakers will begin varsity competition in the spring of 2003. The school will play a full Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) schedule and compete for the league title in the same year. Eight teams presently sponsor softball with the league's top six squads advancing to the ODAC Tournament. The ODAC Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Guilford will play its games on the Haworth Fields complex on the northwest corner of the campus. An existing recreational softball field will be renovated to meet National College Athletic Association (NCAA) standards. Plans also include a storage and concessions pavilion at Haworth Fields, which will also be used by Guilford's soccer and women's lacrosse teams. The new facility should be completed in 2004 or 2005.

Softball has enjoyed increased popularity in North Carolina over the past decade, according to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA). Some 335 North Carolina high schools plan to sponsor softball this year, 18 schools higher than the 2001 total. The figure represents over a 33 percent increase from 1998, when 224 institutions fielded softball teams, including 109 slow-pitch squads.

Guilford is a member of the NCAA Division III and has competed in the ODAC since 1991.