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The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference. Of its 14 member schools, all but one are located in Virginia; the other full member is in North Carolina. The conference also has four associate members in Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Along with the American Southwest Conference (ASC) and Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), it is the largest all-sports conference in Division III. The only larger D-III conference is the league for cross-country operated by the Middle Atlantic Conferences,〔The Middle Atlantic Conferences have a total of 18 members. However, the MAC operates as three separate groups under one administrative structure—the Commonwealth Conference, Freedom Conference, and the Middle Atlantic Conference. The last of these is generally used to form a single conference in sports that have only a few MAC members participating; the only sport operated by this group with more than 11 participating schools is cross-country for both men and women, in which 17 of the 18 total members participate.〕 with 17 members (for both men and women). ==History== The conference was founded in 1975 as the Virginia College Conference. On January 1, 1976, the name was changed to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The 1976–77 season was the first in which championships were offered. In 1982–83, women's sports were added. In 1981, Catholic University joined the conference after leaving Division I's Colonial Athletic Association. In 1988, Virginia Wesleyan was added as a member, and, in 1990, Guilford became the first member located outside D.C. and Virginia. Maryville College was an all-sports member in the 1980s. In 1989 Catholic left the conference to became a charter member of the Capital Athletic Conference, returning in 1999 as a football-only member.〔(D3 football Catholic returns to ODAC July 7, 1999 )〕 The next school to leave the conference was Mary Baldwin College, which left in 1999 to join the Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference. In 2010 the ODAC announced the addition of Shenandoah University to its full-time membership, with its first full year of involvement during the 2012-13 academic year.〔(Lynchburg College Sports Information Office September 29, 2010 )〕 The league office moved its physical location from Salem, Virginia, to Forest, Virginia, just outside of centrally located Lynchburg, and contracted with Jim Ward Design for its new marks.〔(ODAC news oct 13, 2010 )〕 On March 3, 2015, Sweet Briar College announced it was to close (cease operations) at the end of the 2015 summer session. However, on June 20, 2015, the Virginia Attorney General announced a mediation agreement that will keep Sweet Briar College open for the 2015–16 academic year. Sweet Briar reactivated its sports teams in the 2015-16 season and remained a full member of the ODAC. On September 29, 2015, it was announced that Catholic University would withdraw in 2017 as associate member to join the new football league at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=NEWMAC Adds Eighth Football Member Catholic University )〕 The conference hosts the Division III championships in football and men's basketball, both of which are held in Salem, Virginia. DIII softball has called Salem home along with Division III women's lacrosse and volleyball. Since 1993 - the conference and city have hosted over 50 Division III national championships. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Old Dominion Athletic Conference」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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