NEW ORLEANS – Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson announce today that the University of Central Arkansas will join the league as an associate member in men's soccer beginning with the 2019-20 academic year.
 
Central Arkansas will become the Sun Belt's sixth member in men's soccer, joining Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and associate member Howard.
 
"The Sun Belt is excited to have Central Arkansas and its men's soccer program join our conference as an associate member," said Benson. "The program's growth and success on the field and in the classroom was evident as we embarked on this process and that led to our Presidents and Chancellors to make the unanimous decision to welcome the Bears into the Sun Belt family."
 
Central Arkansas' men's soccer program is currently in its ninth season as an associate member of the Missouri Valley Conference. During that span, the Bears have one MVC Tournament title and one NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship appearance, both in 2017, to their credit. Central Arkansas has amassed several conference and national honors over the past eight seasons, including one MVC Coaching Staff of the Year award, one MVC Player of the Year award, one Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-America selection and four Academic All-District selections.
 
"We certainly appreciate our years in the Missouri Valley Conference, but we are very excited to join the Sun Belt Conference," said Central Arkansas Director of Athletics Dr. Brad Teague. "The members are very competitive in men's soccer and we aim to be a valuable addition to the league. We are thankful to the Sun Belt office, Presidents and Chancellors and Athletics Directors for welcoming us."
 
"Being a part of the Missouri Valley Conference was a huge honor for this program, " said Central Arkansas men's soccer head coach Ross Duncan. "We enjoyed our time competing against some of the top teams in the region and will maintain good relationships with those programs as we make this transition. The opportunity to join the Sun Belt is exciting. The southeast is known for its soccer and we will be pitted against championship-caliber teams in the Sun Belt every season."
 
The Sun Belt is in its 26th season sponsoring men's soccer as a NCAA Division I varsity sport (1976-77 to 1996-97, 2014-15 to present). The conference's men's soccer RPI has improved 10 spots since reinstating the sport – 2014 (24th), 2015 (24th), 2016 (17th) and 2017 (14th). The conference's representative in the NCAA Championship has won games in each of the past two seasons – Coastal Carolina in 2016 and 2017. Last year, the Chanticleers pulled off a second-round upset at eighth-seeded Clemson before falling in the third round to eventual national champion and ninth-seeded Stanford. 
 
Off the field, the Sun Belt has had a men's soccer student-athlete named Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-America each of the last three seasons – Hartwick's Jack Miller in 2015, Appalachian State's Stephen Chapman in 2016 and Georgia Southern's Emil Laursen in 2017.
 
Follow the Sun Belt on Twitter and Instagram at @SunBelt, Facebook at /SunBeltConference and Snapchat at SunBeltSports.
 
#RiseAbove