The Sunshine State Conference is a

college athletic conference In college athletics in the United States, institutions typically join in conferences for regular play under different governing bodies. Varsity sports There are several national and regional associations governing the varsity teams of colleges ...

affiliated with the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its member institutions are located in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, which is popularly known as the Sunshine State. The conference was originally formed in 1975 as a men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

conference. It has since expanded to sponsor championships in 18 sports, including men's and women's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, men's and women's

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

, women's

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

, men's and women's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, men's and women's

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, men's and women's

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. SSC institutions have won a total of 111 NCAA national team championships, including a conference record seven in the 2014–15 and 2018–19 academic years. The conference has also claimed a total of 90 national runner-up trophies.

History

The conference was preceded by the Florida Intercollegiate Conference, which was disbanded in the mid-1960s. The Sunshine State Conference was founded in 1975 by

Saint Leo University Saint Leo University is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts university in St. Leo, Florida. It was established in 1889. The university is associated with the Holy Name Monastery, a Benedictine convent, and Saint Leo Abbey, a Benedictine mon ...

(then Saint Leo 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 The Florida Sports Hall of Fame (FSHOF) is an association dedicated to honoring athletes with outstanding achievement in sports in Florida. It has expanded its goals to include encouraging physical fitness among Florida's citizens through the examp ...

in 1985. The six charter Conference members were: Biscayne College (now St. Thomas University),

Florida Technological University The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University S ...

(now University of Central Florida),

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a private liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega Bay. Because of its location, Eckerd is considered a "beach school" and has its own student ...

Florida Southern College Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...

Rollins College Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution. History Rollins Colle ...

, and

Saint Leo College Saint Leo University is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts university in St. Leo, Florida. It was established in 1889. The university is associated with the Holy Name Monastery, a Benedictine convent, and Saint Leo Abbey, a Benedictine monast ...

. The Conference has seen dozens of athletes go on to have successful professional careers. Some examples include: Current PGA Tour players

Lee Janzen Lee McLeod Janzen (born August 28, 1964) is an American professional golfer who is best known for winning the U.S. Open twice in 1993 and 1998. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions, and was an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour. Early y ...

and

Rocco Mediate Rocco Anthony Mediate (born December 17, 1962) is an American professional golfer who has won List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, six times on the PGA Tour and three times on the PGA Tour Champions. In the 2008 U.S. Open (golf), 2008 U.S. Ope ...

went to Florida Southern. Janzen won golf's U.S. Open in 1993 & 1998; on the baseball side are

Tino Martinez Constantino "Tino" Martinez (born December 7, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1990 t ...

(Tampa),

Tim Wakefield Timothy Stephen Wakefield (born August 2, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Wakefield began his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but is most remembered for his 17-yea ...

(Florida Tech),

Ryan Hanigan Ryan Michael Hanigan (born August 16, 1980) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, and Colorado Rockies. After graduating from Andov ...

(Rollins),

Bob Tewksbury Robert Alan Tewksbury (born November 30, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and current Mental Skills Coordinator for the Chicago Cubs. He played professionally for the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, ...

(Saint Leo), and J. D. Martinez (Nova Southeastern). Wakefield tied a career high of 17 wins pitching for the 2007 World Series Champion

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

and Tewksbury was third in balloting for the National League

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...

while going 16–5 for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in 1992.

Chronological timeline

* March 2, 1975 – Basketball conference exploration meeting is held at

in Lakeland. Main purpose of meeting is to discuss formation of an NCAA Division II mid-Florida basketball conference. * March 16, 1975 – Second exploration meeting is held at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. The name "Sunshine State Conference" is suggested by Dr. Calvin C. Miller and is adopted for league use. Norm Kaye of Saint Leo is named Interim Commissioner. Dr. Thomas B. Southard, president of Saint Leo College, is named as first conference president. * June 1975 – Conference constitution adopted. * October 8, 1975 – First meeting of the SSC is held in Orlando. Basketball regulations and league bylaws are revised and approved. * December 3, 1975 – Florida Southern defeats Eckerd, 96–84, in first SSC basketball game played in Saint Petersburg. * April 8, 1976 – Dick Pace is named league commissioner. NCAA approves automatic bid for SSC basketball champion. Golf and Tennis are added to league for 1976–77, baseball and soccer are added for 1977–78. * May 18, 1977 – First

Sunshine State Conference men's basketball tournament The Sunshine State Conference men's basketball tournament is the annual conference basketball championship tournament for the NCAA NCAA Division II, Division II Sunshine State Conference. The tournament has been held annually since 1978. It is a ...

held * February 1, 1981 – Norm Kaye of Saint Leo is appointed as executive of SSC. Executive Committee is formed, consisting of league athletic directors. * July 1, 1981 –

Florida Institute of Technology The Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. Appr ...

joins the Sunshine State Conference. * September 2, 1981 – The

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...

joins the Sunshine State Conference. * April 15, 1982 – League adopts women's competition in basketball, cross country, slow-pitch softball, tennis, and volleyball. * May 1, 1984 – University of Central Florida (formerly Florida Technological University) withdraws from the conference. Women's fast-pitch softball is adopted for league play in 1985. * February 2, 1986 – Bob Vanatta, athletic director at Louisiana Tech University, is named as league's first full-time commissioner. * June 13, 1988 –

Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is within the territory of the Archdiocese of Miami ...

joins the conference. * November 1990 – Conference signs a two-year contract with the Sunshine Network for seven events. * February 11, 1991 –

University of North Florida The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...

joins the conference, effective July 1, 1992. * July 1, 1994 – Don Landry is named conference commissioner and conference relocates to Orlando. * November 22, 1994 – Conference announces three-year deal to have postseason basketball tournament at The Lakeland Center. The SSC will serve as host in 1996 and 1997. * December 1, 1994 – Sunshine Network announces nine-event television package for school year. * June 9, 1995 – Inaugural SSC Awards Luncheon held in Orlando. * February 29, 1996 – Inaugural SSC Hall of Fame/Honors banquet held in Lakeland. * September 30, 1996 – University of North Florida withdraws from the Sunshine State Conference, effective June 30, 1997. * October 15, 1996 – Women's crew added to Sunshine State Conference sponsored sports. * December 18, 1996 –

Lynn University Lynn University is a private university in Boca Raton, Florida. Founded in 1962, the university awards associate, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees. It is named for the Lynn family (Christine E. and Eugene M. Lynn). It has a total ...

joins the Sunshine State Conference, effective July 1, 1997. * July 15, 1998 – League adds women's soccer and women's golf as sponsored sports. * August 24, 1999 – Saint Leo College becomes Saint Leo University and adopts new nickname ("Lions") and logo. * July 1, 2000 – 25th Anniversary of the Sunshine State Conference. * August 26, 2002 –

Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU or, informally, Nova) is a private nonprofit research university with its main campus in Davie, Florida. The university consists of 14 total colleges, centers, and schools offering over 150 programs of study. ...

joins the Sunshine State Conference as a provisional member. * May 26, 2004 – Don Landry announced retirement as SSC Commissioner, effective August 1, 2004. Landry remained acting commissioner through September 6, 2004. * July 26, 2004 – Michael J. Marcil named SSC commissioner, effective September 7, 2004. * September 14, 2009 – Jay Jones officially begins duties as the SSC commissioner, replacing Mike Marcil, who left the post June 30, 2009. * April 7, 2010 – League adds men's and women's swimming as sponsored sport. * July 1, 2013 – League adds men's lacrosse as sponsored sport. * February 3, 2014 – Ed Pasque officially begins duties as the SSC commissioner, replacing Jay Jones, who left the post December 31, 2013. * July 1, 2014 – League adds women's lacrosse as sponsored sport. –

Palm Beach Atlantic University Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) is a private Christian university in West Palm Beach, Florida. The university's nine colleges focus on the liberal arts with a select collection of professional studies. In 2019, its undergraduate enrollme ...

and

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is a private university focused on aviation and aerospace programs. Initially founded at Lunken Field in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1926, its main campuses are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott ...

join Sunshine State Conference as provisional members; effective July 1, 2015.

Member schools

Current members

The SSC currently has 11 full members, all are

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

schools: ;Notes:

Former members

The SSC had three former full members, all but one were

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

schools: ;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1975 till:2030 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:20 top:5 Colors = id:line value:black id:Full value:rgb(0.63,0.88,0.755) # all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.88,0.755,0.63) # non-football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.88,0.63,0.63) # football-only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.755,0.755,0.63) # associate PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:FullxF from:1975 till:end text: Eckerd (1975–present) bar:2 color:FullxF from:1975 till:end text:

Florida Southern Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...

(1975–present) bar:3 color:FullxF from:1975 till:end text: Rollins (1975–present) bar:4 color:FullxF from:1975 till:end text: Saint Leo (1975–present) bar:5 color:FullxF from:1975 till:1984 text:

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

(1975–1984) bar:6 color:FullxF from:1975 till:1987 text: St. Thomas (1975–1987) bar:7 color:FullxF from:1981 till:end text:

Florida Tech The Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. App ...

(1981–present) bar:8 color:FullxF from:1981 till:end text:

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

(1981–present) bar:9 color:FullxF from:1988 till:end text:

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

(1988–present) bar:10 color:AssocOS from:1992 till:1993 text:

North Florida North Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regions. It includes Jacksonville and near ...

(1992–1997) bar:10 color:FullxF from:1993 till:1997 text: bar:11 color:AssocOS from:1997 till:1998 text: Lynn (1997–present) bar:11 color:FullxF from:1998 till:end text: bar:12 color:AssocOS from:2002 till:2004 text: Nova Southeastern (2004–present) bar:12 color:FullxF from:2004 till:end text: bar:13 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2017 text: Embry–Riddle (2015–present) bar:13 color:FullxF from:2017 till:end text: bar:14 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2016 text: Palm Beach Atlantic (2015–present) bar:14 color:FullxF from:2016 till:end text: ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1975

Conference facilities

National Championships

Sunshine State Conference schools have won 114 NCAA Division II National Championships.

Championships by year

Championships by school

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. As of 2019-20 Lynn University has won 15 national championships at the Division II level, but now the NCAA recognizes only 14 of them because of the unsanctioned actions.

Mayors' Cup Champions

The Mayors' Cup was originally presented following the 1986-1987 academic year to recognize the annual SSC all-sports champion. The men's division recognizes competition in eight sports: soccer, cross country, basketball, swimming, golf, tennis, lacrosse and baseball. The Women's Mayors' Cup recognizes competition in nine sports: volleyball, soccer, cross country, basketball, swimming, golf, tennis, softball and rowing.

History

Chronological timeline

Member schools

Current members

Former members

Membership timeline

Conference facilities

National Championships

Championships by year

Championships by school

Controversy

Mayors' Cup Champions

Sports

Men's sponsored sports by school

Women's sponsored sports by school

Other sponsored sports by school

References

External links