Great Lakes Valley Conference Turns Thirty
Conference initially set up exclusively for basketball expands to include fourteen sports
Keli Keener
Issue date: 6/19/02 Section: Sports
The formation of the Great Lakes Valley Conference can be traced back three decades to 1972, making 2002 the 30th anniversary of its initial drafting.
Athletic directors of the three institutions of Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky., and Indiana State University at Evansville, now the University of Southern Indiana, were initially holding discussions about forming a conference for basketball.
Four years later, in 1976, the University of Indianapolis and Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., expressed interest in joining the league.
On July 7, 1978, those schools, along with Ashland University of Ashland, Ohio united to become the six-school GLVC.
Richard F. Scharf, athletic director and former tri-athlete at Saint. Joseph's College from 1961 to 1982, helped to establish the GLVC.
Scharf had a hand in drawing up the league's bylaws and regulations. He later served as the conference's commissioner from 1982 to 1991.
The GLVC's newest members, along with the hiring of its first full-time commissioner and associate commissioner, have moved the conference into the forefront of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II.
The conference expanded to include women's basketball in the 1983-84 season and established a doubleheader format in league play in order to ensure maximum exposure for both the men's and women's teams.
Since forming the conference, seven more schools have joined the league.
Lewis University of Romeoville joined in 1980. Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne came along in 1984, then dropped out to move up to Division I status in 2001.
Northern Kentucky University of Highland Heights joined in 1985, and Kentucky State University came along in 1989.
Quincy University, SIUE and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha joined in 1994 and the University of Missouri-St. Louis joined in 1995.
Ashland and Kentucky State left the conference after the 1994 season.
With the addition of SIUE, Quincy, UWP and UMSL, the GLVC became an immediate national powerhouse in several sports such as men's and women's soccer, softball and tennis.
Today, the GLVC consists of 11 schools that contend in the NCAA Division II.
The conference sponsors the nine sports of baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, track and field, tennis, softball and volleyball.
The GLVC plays host to 14 championships, men's and women's, with 11 schools from five states.
SIUE has won 16 NCAA National Championships, including one in Division I soccer in 1979.
Athletic directors of the three institutions of Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky., and Indiana State University at Evansville, now the University of Southern Indiana, were initially holding discussions about forming a conference for basketball.
Four years later, in 1976, the University of Indianapolis and Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., expressed interest in joining the league.
On July 7, 1978, those schools, along with Ashland University of Ashland, Ohio united to become the six-school GLVC.
Richard F. Scharf, athletic director and former tri-athlete at Saint. Joseph's College from 1961 to 1982, helped to establish the GLVC.
Scharf had a hand in drawing up the league's bylaws and regulations. He later served as the conference's commissioner from 1982 to 1991.
The GLVC's newest members, along with the hiring of its first full-time commissioner and associate commissioner, have moved the conference into the forefront of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II.
The conference expanded to include women's basketball in the 1983-84 season and established a doubleheader format in league play in order to ensure maximum exposure for both the men's and women's teams.
Since forming the conference, seven more schools have joined the league.
Lewis University of Romeoville joined in 1980. Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne came along in 1984, then dropped out to move up to Division I status in 2001.
Northern Kentucky University of Highland Heights joined in 1985, and Kentucky State University came along in 1989.
Quincy University, SIUE and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha joined in 1994 and the University of Missouri-St. Louis joined in 1995.
Ashland and Kentucky State left the conference after the 1994 season.
With the addition of SIUE, Quincy, UWP and UMSL, the GLVC became an immediate national powerhouse in several sports such as men's and women's soccer, softball and tennis.
Today, the GLVC consists of 11 schools that contend in the NCAA Division II.
The conference sponsors the nine sports of baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, track and field, tennis, softball and volleyball.
The GLVC plays host to 14 championships, men's and women's, with 11 schools from five states.
SIUE has won 16 NCAA National Championships, including one in Division I soccer in 1979.
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