George Washington Becomes the First D.C./Baltimore-Area Team to Join the MCLA
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Atlanta, GA - At its 2012 Annual Meeting, the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC), a member of the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA), voted that George Washington University (GW) be granted admission to the SELC Division I - Northwest.
Head Coach Joe Opron stated, "being admitted into the MCLA and the SELC is a huge step forward in the development of our young, but flourishing program. Having been an MCLA D-I player myself, I know what it takes for a team to succeed in this league, and I'm confident that the group of men we have on campus is up to the task. This is an exciting time to be a Colonial."
The vote also marked a significant expansion for the MCLA as GW became the first team to join the league from the Washington D.C./Baltimore area.
Opron noted, "when applying for membership, we demonstrated to the Executive Committee and the Division I coaches that we are a well-organized program that has outstanding student-athletes, great facilities, strong administrative support, and a history of success. However, perhaps our greatest selling point was our location. The SELC has done a great job of attracticting quality recruits from our area, and those efforts will be greatly bolstered by the ability to have their teams play in the players' backyard."
As a part of the Northwest Region of the SELC Division I, George Washington's in-conference rivals will be Virginia Tech, the University of Kentucky, the University of Tennessee, West Virginia University, and, for one year, the University of Richmond, who recently announced that it will be competing at the NCAA D-I level, starting in the 2013-2014 season.
The MCLA is the premier national organization of non-NCAA college lacrosse programs. It consists of over 200 teams in ten conferences and operates under a governing structure much like the NCAA, with eligibility rules, All-Americans, and conference and national tournaments.