The Warner Royals are the athletic teams for

Warner University Warner University is a private Christian university in Lake Wales, Florida. It is affiliated with the Church of God. History Warner Southern College was founded in 1968 by the Southeastern Association of the Church of God in Anderson, Ind ...

Lake Wales, Florida Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida. The population was 14,225 at the 2010 census. , the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 16,759. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lake Wales i ...

, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA), primarily competing in the

Sun Conference The Sun Conference (TSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Seven of the ten full member institutions are located in Florida, with three in Georgia. The Sun Conference ...

(formerly known as the Florida Sun Conference (FSC) until after the 2007–08 school year) for most of its sports since the 1990–91 academic year; while its men's volleyball team competes in the

Mid-South Conference The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. The league is headquartered in Lo ...

(MSC). They are also a member of the

National Christian College Athletic Association The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) is an association of Christian universities, colleges, and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada whose mission is "the promotion and enhancement of intercollegiate athleti ...

(NCCAA), primarily competing as an independent in the South Region of the Division I level.

Varsity teams

Warner competes in 21 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, tennis, track & field and volleyball; women's sports include basketball, beach volleyball, cheerleading, cross country, dance, flag football, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include clay target. Former sports included men's & women's golf.

Football

The university added football for the 2013 season. The team initially played as an NAIA Independent program with a mixed schedule of NAIA,

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

and

NCAA Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

competition. The Royals left independent status after the inaugural season when The Sun Conference announced football as a conference sport starting in the 2014 season. After two seasons, the conference announced a football merger with the

in 2016. Warner and the other conference rivals became affiliate members in the Mid-South, participating in the Sun Division for football. Their football team gained national recognition after losing 98-0 to Stephen F. Austin on September 24, 2022.

Men's volleyball

Warner University was the first college/university to offer a varsity men's volleyball program in the state of Florida. The men's volleyball program participates in the

. The program initially competed in the Mid-America Men's Volleyball Intercollegiate Conference (MAMVIC). The program made back-to-back appearances in the NAIA Men's Volleyball National Invitational Tournament in 2011 and 2012.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 27.8263, -81.6022, display=title Sports in Polk County, Florida