Valparaiso University athletic teams will begin competition in the Horizon League effective with the 2007-2008 academic year. The move will give the Horizon League seven men's teams and eight women's squads. The Mid-Con will fall to six teams - Centenary, IUPUI, Oakland, and Western Illinois are full members while Eastern Illinois and South Dakota State compete as affilliate members.

Announcement of the new conference affiliation for the University’s NCAA Division I athletics program was made by Valparaiso President Dr. Alan Harre at a news conference on campus Wednesday afternoon. The University has been a member of the Mid-Continent Conference since its founding in 1982.

President Harre said the University’s decision to leave the Mid-Continent Conference for the Horizon League was based on the welfare of the University’s student-athletes, especially as it relates to travel.

The eight-team Mid-Continent Conference has schools ranging from Michigan to Oklahoma and from Utah to Louisiana. The Horizon League is composed of nine teams in five Midwestern states.

"Concerns about the demands of extensive travel in a conference of such great geographic breadth and the negative impact of such travel on academic performance have been expressed regularly by our student-athletes and their families, our faculty and our coaches,” President Harre said. "Institutions in the Horizon League are much more geographically centralized than the institutions within the Mid-Continent Conference.

"The transition to the Horizon League means less time will be needed by our student-athletes as they travel to and from competition, and it means they will miss fewer classes. Shorter travel also means less fatigue and increased concentration in the classroom.”

President Harre also noted that Valparaiso has a high concentration of alumni in the states where Horizon League schools are located.

"Sixty-one percent of all Valparaiso alumni reside in the five states encompassed by the Horizon League. Seventy-one percent of our students come from these five states. In addition, many of the alumni in these states are in metropolitan areas not served by our current conference affiliation, so a greater number now will have an opportunity to watch the performances of student-athletes representing their alma mater.”

The Indianapolis-based Horizon League was founded in 1979 as the Midwestern Collegiate Conference and sponsors championships in 19 sports for men and women. League members and Valparaiso have a long history of competition.

Horizon League members Cleveland State University, University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay were charter members along with Valparaiso of what is now the Mid-Continent Conference. Three other Horizon League members – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wright State University and Youngstown State University – also are former members of the Mid-Continent Conference.

Also reunited in the Horizon League are Valparaiso and Butler University, both members of the Pioneer Football League and once members of the Indiana Collegiate Conference. The other two Horizon League Schools, Loyola University Chicago and University of Detroit Mercy, also frequently compete against Valparaiso teams.

"The addition of Valparaiso University as our 10th member marks a very exciting time for the Horizon League,” LeCrone said. “As the fourth private school member, Valpo is an extraordinary fit for the League. They share our core values of academic achievement, community service and personal responsibility, and their location in the middle of our League’s Midwest footprint, in addition to their highly competitive athletics program, enhances the profile of the Horizon League.

“The decision to add Valparaiso to the Horizon League was enthusiastically and unanimously approved by our Board of Directors. This promises to be a long and successful relationship.”

The Horizon League sponsors competition in baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis and indoor and outdoor track and field for men and in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and indoor and outdoor track and field for women. Valparaiso competes in all sports except golf.

Valparaiso will continue to compete in the Mid-Continent Conference during the 2006-2007 academic year. Not affected by the pending conference switch is Valparaiso’s participation in the Pioneer Football League.