Columbia College Adds Five New Sports

COLUMBIA, Mo., Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting in the fall of 2012, Columbia College will double its NAIA sports teams adding women's soccer, men's and women's cross country and men's and women's golf. These teams join the college's highly successful men's soccer, men's and women's basketball and women's softball and volleyball teams.

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"This is an exciting time for Cougar athletics," said Bob Burchard, director of Athletics and head men's basketball coach. "The steady growth of the college combined with continued support from the community made this an easy decision. We can't wait to carry on our winning tradition with five new teams."

Women's soccer and the cross country teams will join the fall lineup while the golf teams will play in the spring — golf is the first men's spring sport offered at the college. The soccer team will use existing facilities on campus while the golf and cross country teams will hold competitions at local golf courses. The college is currently filling necessary coaching positions and plans to aggressively recruit student-athletes throughout the year.

Columbia College is part of the American Midwest Conference (AMC). In the past 18 years, the Cougars have been to 55 NAIA National Championship Tournaments, winning three national titles and placing in the top five on 16 occasions.

Columbia College, a private, nonprofit institution founded in 1851 in Columbia, Mo., educates more than 29,000 students each year and has more than 67,000 alumni worldwide. For more information, visit www.ccis.edu.

SOURCE Columbia College