STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CELEBRATING
47 YEARS OF ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
(1958-2005)

Throughout the 1950's, collegiate athletic directors from a number of New York State institutions discussed the idea of forming an athletic conference. On a Sunday afternoon in Albany, May 1958, representatives from eight schools met for an organizational meeting and ratified a constitution. The second meeting was held at Cortland State Teachers College on September 19, 1958. This meeting marked the start of the New York State Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NYSIAC), which later was redesignated the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) in 1963.

Originally the league sought, among other things, to serve as a model for public school athletic organizations and to help strengthen the physical education programs of member institutions. By 1974-75, the SUNYAC voted to focus on its role of providing a program of intercollegiate athletic competition among its member schools. The governing body consisted of the athletic directors from each institution. In August, 1979 Commissioner Dr. Patrick R. Damore was appointed to administer the conference. He is starting his 27th year as commissioner (2005-06).

The conference governing body was composed of the athletic directors until 1983 when the women's teams joined the conference. The governing body is now composed of the athletic directors and senior women administrators. In the beginning, the NYSIAC was open to any Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) member in New York State. Currently the SUNYAC has limited its membership to four-year colleges and universities in the State University of New York system.

The charter members in 1958 included Albany, Brockport, Buffalo State, Cortland, New Paltz, Oneonta, Oswego, Plattsburgh and Potsdam. The following year, Geneseo and Fredonia joined the league. In 1973-74 Binghamton, 1978-79 SUNY Buffalo and 1991 SUNY Utica/Rome joined the conference. Over the years, a few member schools have withdrawn for limited periods of time from the conference. Today, 11 institutions excluding Albany, SUNY Buffalo and Binghamton, continue to compete in the SUNYAC.

One of the nation's strongest NCAA Division III conferences, the SUNYAC extended its athletic prowess in 1983 when the institutions women's programs became part of the SUNYAC. The conference administrative organization was changed to include a women's division and a men's division with the governing body composed of representatives from each institution. In 2003 the conference reorganized the governing structure and eliminated the men's and women's division to become one administrative group. The executive committee has the President, President-Elect, the Past President, the conference Senior Women's Administrator, a member of the governing body at large and the commissioner as an ex-officio member.

Presently, the conference members compete in 20 sports: nine for men and eleven for women. In 2005-06, the SUNYAC will crown men's team champions in baseball, basketball, cross country, ice hockey, indoor & outdoor track, lacrosse, soccer and swimming/diving. During the year, the league will also offer women's championships in basketball, cross country, field hockey, indoor & outdoor track, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming/diving, tennis and volleyball.

No strangers to NCAA post season tournaments, the SUNYAC membership boasts a number of national championship teams and countless All-Americans. In 1955, Brockport brought the SUNYAC its first NCAA championship in men's soccer. In 1973, Cortland brought the next championship in men's lacrosse and won the title again in 1975. In 1974, Brockport captured the NCAA men's soccer championship and the school's wrestling dynasty produced NCAA titles in 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1992, while SUNY Buffalo captured the title in 1978. The Potsdam men's basketball team won the national championship in 1981 and 1986. The SUNYAC ice hockey program provided two NCAA Division III finalists in 1987 when Plattsburgh defeated Oswego. Plattsburgh won the title in 1992 and in 2001. Meanwhile, the Cortland outdoor track squad in 1985 gave the SUNYAC its first women's national championship team. The Cortland women's cross country team produced seven more titles between 1989 and 1997. Cortland women's indoor track also captured the NCAA title in 1991, followed by women's soccer team in 1992 and women's field hockey team in 1993, 1994 and 2001. The Oneonta women's soccer team won the NCAA title in 2003, and most recently the Geneseo women's cross country team captured the national title in 2005.

One of the oldest small college conferences in the nation, the SUNYAC embarks upon its fifth decade with the same commitment to athletic and academic excellence that has remained the league's guiding light since its formation 47 years ago.

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