CCC adding football as a championship sport in 2017
The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) will begin to oversee football as a championship sport beginning in 2017-2018, assuming operation of a renamed New England Football Conference (NEFC). Six institutions – including Salve Regina – are expected to compete for the CCC championship and the right to earn automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III championship.
“The CCC football teams have witnessed great success through the years within the classroom and on the field,” said Kelly Scafariello, acting director of athletics. “The strength and past successes of our CCC football programs will continue to bring regional and national recognition to our institutions and positively enhance the brand of the Commonwealth Coast Conference.”
In addition to Salve Regina, current CCC institutions offering football include Curry College, Endicott College, Nichols College and Western New England University. Those institutions will welcome fellow CCC member University of New England as the conference’s sixth football program when UNE begins playing a full varsity schedule in 2018.
“The NEFC was a conference that was extremely competitive, and it is exciting to see the core of the conference will be transferring over to the CCC,” said Kevin Gilmartin, head football coach. “This tells us that the CCC will be an exciting conference to watch year in and year out.”
The five current CCC football-playing institutions have combined to make nine NCAA Division III football postseason appearances. Curry tops all CCC football programs with six NCAA tournament appearances. Endicott has advanced to NCAA championship play twice, while Western New England has earned one NCAA postseason berth.
