Women’s Flag Soccer to be Added, Swimming Dropped from Sports activities Lineup

Changes are coming to the lineup of intercollegiate sports activities supplied at Guilford College as ladies’s flag soccer shall be added in 2026-27 and ladies’s swimming is being discontinued this fall. The modifications are associated to a evaluation of college-wide packages.

Flag soccer is likely one of the quickest rising sports activities within the nation. At least 65 NCAA faculties are sponsoring flag soccer at both the membership or varsity ranges this 12 months. And in keeping with the National Federation of State High School Associations, flag soccer has change into more and more widespread with about 500,000 ladies beneath the age of 17 within the U.S. taking part. Flag soccer has additionally been added as a sport for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

The seek for a ladies’s flag soccer head coach and the recruiting of student-athletes to compete subsequent 12 months at Guilford will start within the fall.  

In current years, ladies’s swimming has struggled to fulfill NCAA minimal necessities for sports activities sponsorship with restricted scholar participation. Women’s swimming has been part of the intercollegiate program since 2004. Guilford doesn’t sponsor males’s swimming.

“We are very grateful to all current and past women’s swimmers for their dedication to their sport and to the College,” stated Bill Foti, Director of Athletics. “We regret there was not more interest in women’s swimming over the years, and our goal in reallocating resources is increased athletic participation for women student-athletes at Guilford overall.”

With the modifications, Guilford will sponsor 12 ladies’s sports activities and 10 males’s sports activities, all competing on the NCAA Division III degree, with 434 college students taking part.