The growth of HBCU sports continues, this time at Virginia State University (VSU).
Earlier this week, the university announced they were adding both men’s and women’s soccer and lacrosse. Women’s soccer and men’s and women’s lacrosse will be added effective immediately, while men’s soccer will be added in the spring of 2023.
The investment in, and the expansion of sports programs for, HBCU institutions went into overdrive in 2021 and early 2022.
From NFL talents like Eddie George and Hue Jackson taking head coaching jobs at Tennessee State and Grambling, Morgan State reviving their men’s wrestling program and Bluefield State adding women’s wrestling, to Fisk University adding women’s gymnastics and Tennessee St. partnering with the Nashville Predators to raise money for a hockey program, HBCU’s have been expanding their athletic presence at a rate we haven’t witnessed before.
And let’s not forget about Deion Sanders’ impact on Jackson State and bringing a more financially focused thought process to HBCU football.
Now VSU adds two women’s teams and two men’s teams to its seventeen existing athletic teams, and it’s something they were preparing for.
The new field, which will be an NCAA regulation field for both soccer and lacrosse, was already under construction and is slated to be completed by May of this year.
These additions make VSU the second CIAA member to add women’s soccer and the first CIAA member to add men’s and women’s lacrosse. They will compete as independents with the NCAA DII Atlantic Region.
“We are excited to be in a position to provide access and opportunity along with attracting a new population for VSU,” said Associate Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, Peggy Davis. “We have great buy-in from our President, Dr. Abdullah, and the administration which was necessary from the start. I am looking forward to the recruitment benefit that will result from adding these sports for both student-athletes and the general student body.”
