EDISON, N.J. – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced on Friday that it will add field hockey as an associate sport sponsored by the conference beginning in the 2013-2014 academic year.
“The MAAC is excited about sponsoring field hockey as an associate league sport as membership expansion provides added branding opportunities for the conference,” commented MAAC Commissioner Richard J. Ensor in a statement released by the conference today. “As the MAAC athletic administrators reviewed the needs of the member institutions it became apparent that having a core of five schools sponsoring the sport made the addition of field hockey to the MAAC Strategic Plan an obvious next step for the conference to meet the expectations of the student-athletes for a consistent championship experience.”
Four member institutions – Monmouth University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University and Siena College – will begin play this fall, while Fairfield University will join the league starting in the 2015-16 academic year, becoming the 25th sport within the conference. The MAAC will look to invite schools that sponsor field hockey within the region to join as associate members for the 2013 season.
Monmouth, which finished its 16th season of Division I play last fall, has enjoyed success both on and off the field. The Hawks have participated in post season play nine times during its tenure as a Northeast Conference member. Under sixth-year head coach Carli Figlio, the 2010 NEC Coach of the Year, the Blue and White have reached the league title game four-straight seasons. In its history, Monmouth has been the home to 56 All-Northeast Conference honorees, two Northeast Conference Player of Year recipients and has been represented on the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All Mid-Atlantic teams eight times by six different players.
The Hawks have achieved academic excellence in the classroom as well. Monmouth has been represented 138 times on the NFHCA National Academic Squad, while Figlio's 2011 team boasted the third-best GPA amongst Division I teams in the country.
Monmouth, which accepted membership into the MAAC in December, is a private, mid-sized, coeducational, comprehensive University founded in 1933. It serves residential and commuter students in eight schools and is less than a mile from the Atlantic Ocean on the Jersey Shore in West Long Branch, New Jersey. The 156-acre campus features 54 buildings, including historic landmarks and state-of-the-art facilities.
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