Longwood Athletics

Access and use

Location of collection:
Longwood University
Archives and Special Collections
Greenwood Library
Longwood University
401 Redford Street
Farmville, VA 23909
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (434) 395-2432
Fax: (434) 395-2453
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions to access or use for research purposes

Summary

Extent:
8.6 Linear Feet 16 half legal size banker boxes
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

This is a collection of print materials such as: schedules, game/player stats, weekly game reports/announcements, rosters, promotional materials, job announcements, recruitment announcements, athletic department announcements, and season programs. These document all athletics-related activities and events from 1976-1977 through 2016-2017.

Biographical / historical:

The materials in this collection are related to the Athletic Department at Longwood University. Overall the collection highlights the fourteen National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognized sports we have at Longwood as well as the staff that have contributed to the Athletic Department. These fourteen sports include: men's & women's basketball, baseball, softball, men's & women's tennis, lacrosse, field hockey, men's & women's golf, men's & women's soccer, men's & women's cross country. In addition to the fourteen NCAA sports, the collection also holds records on other sports such as cheerleading, rugby, fencing, archery, wrestling, gymnastics, riding team, and volleyball.

Longwood's applied to be a part of NCAA division III athletics on November 18, 1977. After going coeducational in 1976 Longwood, applied for division III athletics which allow Longwood to provide the best athletic opportunity for men and women. On January 25, 1978 Longwood college was accepted into division III athletics, and added the following sports: men's basketball, men's golf, men's soccer, fencing, and baseball. A year later on October 15, 1979 President Henry Willett Jr. applied for division II athletics. At this time, men's sports included basketball, baseball, golf, wrestling, and soccer while women's sports included basketball, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, tennis, riding, and volleyball. However, to meet division II requirements basketball must schedule at least half of their games against division II schools for the 1980-1981 season, and the college must offer six sports teams for men. On June 10, 1980 Longwood was accepted into division II athletics.

Joining division II allowed Longwood to offer scholarships for men's & women's basketball, golf, field hockey, and gymnastics. In addition to scholarships new teams which were added included a men's tennis team, and women's softball team. In 2000, Patricia Comier and Rick Mazzuto aimed to reclassify Longwood University as division I athletics. To meet requirements wrestling was dropped and men's & women's cross country were added to the roster of athletic teams at Longwood. The university went through a four-year process starting in 2003 and ending in 2007 to be reclassified as a division I university, thus on July 17, 2007 Longwood was officially recognized as a division I school. On July 1, 2012 Longwood University became the twelfth member of the Big South Conference under President Patrick Finnegan and Director of Athletics Troy Austin. Sports sponsored by this conference would include: baseball, lacrosse, softball, men's & women's basketball, cross country, soccer, golf, and tennis (field hockey would continue to be sponsored by NorPac). In this conference at the time Longwood would compete against the following schools: Liberty, Radford, VMI, Campbell, Gardner-Webb, Highpoint, UNC Asheville, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian, and Winthrop.

Custodial history:

It is unknown when this collection was aquired by the Greenwood Library Archives.

Processing information:

Since it is unknown when this collection was donated to the archives, the documents were organized to best suit the usability of the collection and documents may not be in their original order.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into two series, Athletic Department Information and Athletic Teams.

The athletic department information is broken down into five sub-series and is arranged chronologically by school year: Athletic Department Information

1. Awards and Recognitions

2. Longwood Professional Athletes

3. Special events and milestones

4. NCAA documents

5. Press Releases and News

The athletic team's series is arranged alphabetically and then chronologically by academic year.