Baseball and men’s soccer are making a return to Lincoln University. Women’s soccer will be making its debut.
The sports will begin operation this fall and will begin playing opponents in the 2024-25 school year, coinciding with the school joining the Great Lakes Valley Conference — which was also announced Thursday in a press conference at Jason Hall.
“I sat down in June with the Board of Curators and we talked about what we could do to expand the offerings that we have here at Lincoln,” Lincoln president John Moseley said. “That conversation began in June as I shared my vision for the institution, and not just athletically but wholeheartedly, as we make moves to put our students and this university in the best position to be successful.”
The Blue Tigers had a baseball program from 1970-2016, but it was discontinued due to a lack of resources and funds.
Lincoln now believes it can support the program in a way it can be successful.
“For me personally, today is a lot different than nearly seven years ago when I stood in a classroom at the end of the hallway in this same building and I delivered the news to those young baseball student-athletes that we were canceling their program, Moseley said. “I don’t regret that decision. I wholeheartedly believe that with where things were at that point that it was the best decision for this institution. And I’m proud to say that we are in a position now to support that program in a much different way than they were supported.”
While the baseball program played on campus last time, the Blue Tigers will play at Vivion Field this time — a decision that impressed the GLVC in its bid to join the conference.
“With Jefferson City High School constructing a new facility across the street from where we stand, it opened up a beautiful facility for us,” Moseley said. “The GLVC team had a chance to see that when they were in town and were excited about that move and that facility. And personally, I think it’s an upgrade from what our student-athletes had the last time Lincoln University had baseball on this campus.”
The Blue Tigers also had a men’s soccer program from 1991-2001 while they were without a football team.
Lincoln’s plan is for soccer to play games at Dwight T. Reed Stadium, while other options such as the ROTC field on campus and 179 Soccer Park are also being explored.
The addition of the soccer program will help diversify the university even more, something the Blue Tigers take great pride in.
“Adding these sports, especially the sport of soccer, will allow us not only to recruit nationally but internationally to continue to grow the diversity that we celebrate here at Lincoln University,” Moseley said.
Better support for its athletic programs has been on the rise in recent years at Lincoln.
For many years the Blue Tigers have offered scholarship totals that were less than their MIAA Conference peers and it affected the product on the field. Now, Lincoln has made an effort to at least align with the league average.
“The message I have been delivering is about how roster size affects your enrollment,” Moseley said. “This concept isn’t something that’s new, it’s been incorporated by institutions around the country. … All of our sports now are supported from a scholarship standpoint at the league average. For instance in football this year, Division II allowed 36 scholarships and the MIAA averaged 33, so our football team competed with 33 scholarships which was a 16 scholarship increase than what they had in previous years.”
There has been a significant rise in student-athletes during the past school year, as the rosters have grown with the school implementing roster minimums alongside the increase in scholarship dollars.
Adding three sports will significantly increase the number of student-athletes.
“This move will allow us to add an additional 117 student-athletes,” Moseley said. “I challenged these coaches this year that we would support as a university additional scholarship dollars if they would help us grow their rosters. So we put roster minimums in place, and I’m happy to report that every single coach here agreed to do so.”
The search for a baseball coach and a director of soccer, who will serve as both the men’s and women’s head coach, will begin in the coming weeks with the expectation to have both positions filled by June 1.
The focus will be on finding the best fit for the school, whether that is locally or not.
“We have no idea where interested individuals may come from,” Moseley said. “We are going to look for the absolute best fit for Lincoln and for the future we are trying to provide for our student-athletes.”
While the addition of the three sports programs helped with the bid to join the GLVC, the move was likely to come either way.
“The move to add sports was already underway,” Moseley said. “We could have been here today just to announce that. … I have been very public about my desire to add back baseball and men’s and women’s soccer as they are growing sports.”