USCAA Announces Approval of Eastern States Athletic Conference
PITTSBURGH, PA – The United States Collegiate Athletic Association and its Board of Directors have unanimously voted to accept the application of the Eastern States Athletic Conference (ESAC), making them an official conference of the USCAA. The ESAC joins the Penn State University Athletic Conference, Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Yankee Small College Conference, and Eastern Metro Athletic Conference as the five official USCAA conferences.
The Eastern States Athletic Conference is comprised of four current USCAA member institutions. The founding members are Williamson College of the Trades located in Media, PA; Manor College located in Jenkintown, PA; Central Penn College located in Summerdale, PA; and Bucks County Community College located in Newtown, PA.
“The USCAA welcomes the Eastern States Athletic Conference as an official conference and applauds the Athletic Directors and Senior Administration for their hard work and dedication to make this endeavor possible,” said USCAA Special Advisor to the Board, Matt Simms. “We believe this is the first step towards a robust conference in which student-athletes will benefit by way of more opportunity for recognition, championship play, and regular scheduling opportunities with other USCAA members.”
Athletic Directors from the ESAC consist of Matt Cipriano from Bucks County Community College, Kasey Hicks from Central Penn College, Dale Plummer from Williamson College of the Trades, and John Dempster from Manor College. They have selected Justin Burroughs, Assistant Athletic Director from Bucks County Community College, to be the ESAC Conference President.
“What started out as a conversation between friends has, a year later and after much hard work behind the scenes, morphed into a wonderful new conference that will be a blessing to all our member colleges and student-athletes,” said Williamson Director of Athletics, Dale Plummer. “Williamson could not be more excited to be a charter member in the new Eastern States Athletic Conference and we could not be more thankful for those who partnered with us to make this dream become a reality.”
Although a minimum of six participating member institutions is required to receive an automatic qualifier to USCAA National Championships, the ESAC is excited about the growth potential that exists and is looking forward to increasing its membership in the future.
“Central Penn College is beyond excited to take this next step in Athletics by joining the Eastern States Athletic Conference,” said Athletics Director, Kasey Hicks. “Becoming a member of the ESAC contributes to our mission and our future goals for not only the Athletic Department and student-athletes, but for our campus community as a whole. It offers countless opportunities to our students through competition and enhances their opportunity for recognition and growth.”
The newly formed conference will continue to sponsor the following sports – Men’s & Women’s Basketball, Men’s & Women’s Soccer, Women’s Volleyball, Baseball, Softball, and Men’s & Women’s Cross Country. The ESAC will hold conference championships for all sports, besides Women’s Volleyball and Softball, which will implement championship games once a third team is added to each.
"I am so excited that the ESAC is here. I love that we did this together and the right way,” said Manor College Athletics Director, John Dempster. “This conference was made by a team of AD's for the betterment of our athletic teams. Now we have guaranteed games and our athletes can play for something bigger than just wins, we get to play for a championship and eventually a bid to the USCAA National Tournament. "