Wilberforce University May Bring Back Football

The nation’s oldest personal HBCU, Wilberforce College, could deliver again soccer after a decades-long hiatus.

The establishment has introduced plans to conduct a feasibility examine to discover the potential for reviving a sport that has not been performed on the Ohio college because the Thirties. The surge in pupil enrollment has sparked curiosity in establishing a soccer staff to enhance Wilberforce’s different athletic applications.

“As Wilberforce prepares to surpass 1,000 college students in enrollment by 2026, it’s time to revisit the legacy and potential of our soccer program,” stated Dr. Vann R. Newkirk, the college’s president, stated in a written assertion. “Rising enrollment is prompting this examine, and we consider soccer might be a robust catalyst for pupil engagement, college pleasure, and institutional visibility.” 

The college presently has males’s groups in baseball, basketball, observe and subject, and cross-country. On the ladies’s facet, Wilberforce has groups that take part in basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, in addition to observe and subject and cross-country.

Final yr, Wilberforce grew to become the primary HBCU to be sponsored by AND1.

The Inexperienced Wave was as soon as a powerhouse in Black school soccer. The staff, in 1931, guided by head coach Harry C. Graves (no relation to BLACK ENTERPRISE founder Earl G. Graves, Sr.), went 8-0 and was topped the Black School Nationwide Champion. Throughout that season, the Inexperienced Wave defeated Tuskegee College, ending the college’s 35-game unbeaten streak.

The feasibility examine will assist the college work out what is required to reintroduce soccer by assessing infrastructure wants, funding sources, staffing necessities, and pupil curiosity.  It is going to additionally decide the alternatives to companion with native organizations and alumni to help this system’s potential relaunch. 

“This isn’t nearly soccer,” Newkirk stated. “It’s about reclaiming a legacy, energizing our campus, and displaying the world that Wilberforce is able to lead once more—on and off the sphere.” 

If the examine receives approval for the game to return, soccer may begin as early as fall 2027.

RELATED CONTENT: ELEVATING YOUR EXCELLENCE: Jamauri Bogan Evokes As The Youngest Black Neighborhood Developer In Western Michigan