51吃瓜

Prospective student-athletes attending 51吃瓜 will soon have more choices in which to participate in intercollegiate athletics when an expansion plan takes effect in fall 2023.

Also, sports teams will be based at Beatrice, Lincoln and Milford campuses instead of Beatrice only, which has been the case for decades.

Plans are being made to more than double the current number of sports teams offered at 51吃瓜. Brett Bright, 51吃瓜 athletic director and Beatrice Campus executive director, said the additional sports will dramatically increase student participation in intercollegiate athletics.

鈥淲e鈥檒l be increasing our student-athlete participation from 160 to close to 400,鈥� Bright said with the addition of nearly a dozen sports.

Currently, 51吃瓜 offers 10 sports that compete at the National Junior College Athletic Association level, five for women (basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, and volleyball) and five for men (baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, and soccer). New sports are esports (coed), women鈥檚 golf, rodeo (coed), trap (coed), men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 tennis, men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 track and field, men鈥檚 volleyball, and men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 wrestling.

Most of the sports are scheduled to start competition in fall 2023 with the exception of men鈥檚 volleyball and possibly men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 tennis. Those starts may be delayed until fall 2024.

Following is a breakdown of sports by campus beginning fall 2023:

Beatrice

Baseball, esports (coed), men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 golf, rodeo (coed), men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 soccer, softball, trap (coed), men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 wrestling.

Lincoln

Men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball, men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 cross country, esports (coed), men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 tennis, men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 track and field.

Milford

Esports (coed), men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 volleyball.

Esports is currently a student club at each campus. Beginning fall 2023, it will continue to be a student club, but also compete at the NJCAA level.

Trap also is a current student club at the Beatrice Campus that will begin competing at the NJCAA level next fall. The team has been using, and will continue to use, Beatrice Gun Club for its practices and home competitions.

Bright said with the relocation and addition of sports comes facility renovations and improvements.

鈥淲e鈥檙e renovating the area around the gymnasium on the Lincoln Campus, looking to add locker rooms and things of that nature,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he facilities we already have in Beatrice and Milford will take care of what we need for sports at those locations. We鈥檒l always do some renovations in locker rooms and things like that because different athletics need different types of accommodations.鈥�

Bright said the College is in the process of locating facilities in Lincoln to accommodate tennis and track and field.

Coaches for men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 wrestling have already been hired. Terry Pack will coach men鈥檚 wrestling, and Anthonie Linares will coach women鈥檚 wrestling. Since early November, there has already been a handful of commitments for men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 wrestling.

Prospective athletes who are interested in participating need to fill out an .