Old Domion Athletic Conference

Conference Story

Celebrating its 35th year of operations, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) is one of the nation's largest Division III conferences. The 14-member ODAC, including one associate member, stands as the second-largest multi-sport NCAA Division III conference in the country.

The league was formed on May 18, 1975 as the Virginia College Conference and began operations in September of 1976. (The name change to Old Dominion Athletic Conference became effective January 1, 1976). Charter members were eight colleges located in the state of Virginia: Bridgewater College, Eastern Mennonite College, Emory & Henry College, Hampden-Sydney College, Lynchburg College, Randolph-Macon College, Roanoke College and Washington and Lee University.

From its initial year of operation through the 1981-82 academic year, the ODAC sponsored competition in 10 men's varsity sports, including football, soccer, and cross country in the fall; basketball, wrestling, and indoor track and field in the winter; and baseball, golf, tennis, and outdoor track and field in the spring. Women's sports were added prior to the 1982-83 school year. Today, the ODAC has grown to sponsor championships in 22 sports (10 men and 12 women) and houses nine full-time coeducational institutions with three single-gender schools making up the current 13 full-time members.

The conference expanded in the late 1980s, early 1990s and most recently in 1999. Virginia Wesleyan became the 13th member of the conference in 1988 and began full-scale competition in the league in the 1989-90 academic year. Guilford College, voted into the conference in the spring of 1990, began competing for conference championships in the 1991-92 season. The Catholic University of America (DC) was accepted for associate membership in football on January 12, 1999.

Over the past 17 years the conference and the City of Salem, Va., have gained national attention through hosting five NCAA Division III championships in football, men's basketball, softball, baseball, women's lacrosse and volleyball. The growing list of titles passed out in Salem began in the fall of 1993 with the DIII Football Championship. Through the 2009-10 academic year, the conference and city have hosted 49 NCAA Division III Championships since the '93 Stagg Bowl. This year, the two will serve as hosts to the DIII football, men's basketball and softball championships.

Governance:

The Conference is governed by a 13-member Presidential body consisting of all of the full-time members' CEOs. Dr. Billy Greer of Virginia Wesleyan is the chair of the ODAC Presidents' Council. In addition to presidential leadership, the conference's day-to-day operations are supervised by its Board of Directors, which consists of all conference member Directors of Athletics. Eastern Mennonite Director of Athletics Dave King serves as the current Board President with Virginia Wesleyan's Joanne Renn serving as President-Elect.

Location:

The conference office is located in Forest, Virginia at 16001 Suite B  Forest Road.