Sunshine State Conference

Sunshine State Conference
Established	1975
Association	NCAA
Division	Division II
Members	9
Sports fielded	17 (men's: 8; women's: 9)
Region	Florida
Headquarters	Orlando, Florida
Commissioner	Jay Jones (since 2009)
Website	sunshinestateconference.com
Locations

The Sunshine State Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that was originally formed in 1975 as a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II men's basketball conference. It has since expanded to sponsor championships in 14 sports, including men's and women's basketball, baseball, men's and women's golf, women's rowing, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, and women's volleyball. SSC institutions have won a total of 83 NCAA national team championships, including two in the 2008-09 academic year.

The conference was preceded by the Florida Intercollegiate Conference,^[1] which was disbanded in the mid-1960s. The Sunshine State Conference was founded in 1975 by St. Leo University (then a college) Basketball Coach & Athletic Director Norm Kaye. Kaye served as Commissioner the first year until Dick Pace was named Commissioner in 1976. Kaye continued as Executive Director of the Conference for an additional 12 years. Pace was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.

Jay Jones became commissioner of the conference in 2009. Jones replaced Mike Marcil, who served as commissioner from 2004. Marcil had previously replaced retired SSC Hall of Famer Don Landry. Gregg Kaye (no relation to Norm Kaye) was named assistant commissioner in 2001 and promoted to associate commissioner in 2005. Kelly Harrison was originally named assistant to the commissioner in 2002 and returned to that position in 2006 after a one-year absence and remains on the conference office staff to date as an assistant commissioner and senior woman administrator.

The six charter Conference members were: Biscayne College (now called St. Thomas University), Florida Technological University (now University of Central Florida), Eckerd College, Florida Southern, Rollins College, and St. Leo College.

The Conference has had dozens of athletes go on to have successful professional careers. Some examples include: Current PGA Tour players Lee Janzen and Rocco Mediate went to Florida Southern. Janzen won golf's U.S. Open in 1993 & 1998; on the baseball side are Tim Wakefield (Florida Tech), Ryan Hanigan (Rollins) and Bob Tewksbury (St. Leo). Wakefield tied a career high of 17 wins pitching for the 2007 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox and Tewksbury was third in balloting for the National League Cy Young Award while going 16-5 for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1992.

Membership

Current members

Future members

Former members

Membership timeline

Map indicating locations of member schools

Conference facilities

National Championships

The Sunshine State Conference is often considered the conference of champions. The SSC currently has 9 members, and each institution is eligible for Championship play. Of the current 9 members, 7 of them have won national championships. The schools include; Barry University, Florida Southern College, Florida Tech, Lynn University, Nova Southeastern University, Rollins College, and University of Tampa.

Controversy

• On July 17, 2007, NCAA vacated Lynn's 2005 Women's Division II Softball Championship due to extra benefits given to two players. The NCAA found that former coach Thomas Macera gave two Lynn softball players cash payments totaling more than $3,000. Lynn was also placed on probation for two years.^[2] Lynn University originally won 9 National Championships at the Division II level, but now the NCAA only recognizes 8 of them because of the unsanctioned actions.

Mayors' Cup Champions

References

External links

• Official website

v t e NCAA Division II Atlantic Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Mountain East Conference Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Independent Bluefield State College Central Great American Conference Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Independent South Dakota School of Mines and Technology East Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference East Coast Conference Northeast-10 Conference Midwest Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Great Lakes Valley Conference Great Midwest Athletic Conference Independent Oakland City University South Gulf South Conference Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Sunshine State Conference Independent Palm Beach Atlantic University South Central Heartland Conference Lone Star Conference Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Southeast Conference Carolinas Peach Belt Conference South Atlantic Conference West California Collegiate Athletic Association Great Northwest Athletic Conference Pacific West Conference Division II Independents NCAA Conferences Institutions Baseball (Championship) Basketball (Men, Women) Cross Country (Men, Women) Field Hockey (Championship) Football (Championship) Golf (Men, Women) Lacrosse (Men, Women) Rowing (Championship) Soccer (Men, Women) Softball (Championship) Swimming & Diving (Men, Women) Tennis (Men, Women) Track & Field (Men's indoor and outdoor, Women's indoor and outdoor) Volleyball (Championship) Wrestling (Championship) Discontinued Ice Hockey (Championship)