Victoria Gonzalez | Vaquero Radio
UTRGV Athletics announced Tuesday its acceptance to join the Southland Conference as its 11th full-time member beginning July 1 after being part of the Western Athletic Conference for 11 years.
UTRGV President Guy Bailey said partnering with SLC represents a transformative moment for the university.
“I’m confident that this decision not only will elevate our athletics program, but serve as a catalyst for the advancement and success of our entire university community,” Bailey said.
Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque said UTRGV chose to accept the conference’s invitation because of the student-athletes’ well-being.
“It’s about their experience,” Conque said. “It’s about finding a partnership with a tradition-rich conference, and it’s about regional Division I competition.”
Conque added being a part of the SLC significantly reduces travel time, calculating student-athletes would miss 30 fewer class days.
Commissioner of the SLC Chris Grant said conversations between Conque and himself began in December regarding UTRGV’s membership.
“Our board, as I mentioned, really wanted this to happen and truly wanted to expand to the valley,” Grant said. “It was a no brainer once we knew we had the opportunity to do this.”
Athletic programs such as baseball, cross country, football, golf, indoor and outdoor track & field, tennis, women’s soccer, women’s and men’s basketball, as well as volleyball, will compete in the SLC.
Information about men’s soccer and women’s swimming & diving program memberships are in the works.
Other schools in the SLC are Houston Christian University, University of the Incarnate Word, Lamar University, McNeese State University, Nicholls State University, New Orleans University, Northwestern State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, Texas A&M University-Commerce and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
This is Victoria Gonzalez for Vaquero Radio.
