The Online Reflector

Beginning in 2012, the University of Indianapolis will join the newly-formed Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) as a charter member.

According to the school’s athletics’ site, UIndy will join the conference after playing 13 seasons in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC).

“It was a total athletic department decision. I think it’s a great thing,” said head coach Bob Bartolomeo.

The conference has yet to determine the full list of teams will claim membership. Meetings will be held in St. Louis May 24-26. Currently, the conference has the minimum number of schools required for the conference to officially sponsor the sport. The six institutions include: Indianapolis, Kentucky Wesleyan College, William Jewell College, Saint Joseph’s College, Missouri S&T and Quincy University.

“Since we only have six members in the GLVC, we wanted to get the word out there that the GLVC is going to have football in 2012,” said Athletic Director Dr. Sue Willey. “If we could start in 2012 with ten schools, that would be phenomenal.”

Coach Bartolomeo looks for the number of participating schools to increase.
“I think the conference will grow, that’s the intent of announcing it,” he said.

Timing of this promulgation will help spread the possibility of parity.
“We’re going to have a football conference where schools are similar, significantly different than what’s in the GLIAC,” Dr. Willey said. “To play them [Grand Valley State] year in and year out…having a new conference, you win your conference and you compete against them in the regional game. I think it gives our student-athletes a better chance at success.”

Reasons for the conference change are economic as well.

“We’re an associate member. We’re bringing just football [to the GLIAC] so they consider us Lake Superior State [a full member of the GLIAC that doesn’t have football]. Consequently, even though we’re the southern-most school, they placed us in the northern division.”

Willey also feels disrepected by conference brass.

“As an associate member, I don’t feel like we’ve gleaned much respect because the scheduling committee, for these next two years, has us passing Hillsdale for every game. Our closest rival, and we aren’t playing them,” Willey said.

Coach Bartolomeo anticipates the results that will accompany a conference switch.

“I think it makes a lot of sense with the direction we’re headed: creating rivalries, which we don’t have in the GLIAC, and making it a better fit for us as a university,” Bartolomeo said. “We look forward to being an original member. We look forward to taking control of this league, leading the way and making it a very strong and competitive Division II football league.”
The move was made with postseason success in mind.

“We’re fired up as a staff and as a football team,” Bartolomeo said. “The whole key is that we want to get to the playoffs in a consistent manner.”