CAA votes to move golf tourney from Brunswick Co. if HB2 not repealed

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A college golf tournament could be moved out of Brunswick County if state leaders do not repeal the controversial HB2, but another event will go on as planned in Wilmington.

The Colonial Athletic Association Council of Presidents and Athletic Directors of its full member institutions met via conference call this week to discuss conference’s position on CAA Championships that are scheduled to be held in the state of North Carolina during the 2016-17. The CAA includes UNC Wilmington.

According to a news release, the conference will send a letter to Gov. Pat McCrory “expressing its strong opposition to the discriminatory principles of the law adopted by HB2 and calling for its immediate repeal.”

If the law is not repealed or voided before Jan. 10, 2017, the CAA says it has voted for a plan to move the 2017 CAA Women’s Golf Championship out of Brunswick County. The tournament is scheduled for April 14-16 at St. James Plantation. The conference says the move is “(t)o show support for the strong diversity and inclusion values held by all of its full members.”

While planning to move the golf tournament from the state, the CAA says it reaffirmed its decision to allow the 2016 CAA Volleyball Championship to be held at UNCW November 18-20. Under CAA championship hosting policies, the school earned the right to host the championship by winning the conference title a year ago. Conference leaders also agreed that based on the policies for the 2016 CAA Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships,  that Elon University or UNCW would be allowed to host any rounds of the championships on their respective campuses should their teams earn that right based on their regular-season finish. According to the news release, the leadership of the Conference noted that this action was in line with recent decisions that had been made by the NCAA and other Division I Conferences.

UNCW sent a statement to WWAY about the decision to keep the CAA Volleyball Champsionship in NC.  “Given our long-standing commitment to inclusion and non-discriminatory practices, we are very pleased that the CAA continues to support a volleyball championship on our campus,” it reads. “From the beginning, we have believed these events should remain in NC.”

The conference decided at this time not to take formal action on other on-campus championships scheduled in the spring of 2017. Elon is scheduled to host the CAA Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships from April 20-23, and UNCW is slated to host the CAA Baseball Championship from May 24-27.

The conference says it will continue to monitor what happens with HB2 and will revisit its position on the women’s golf championship and all scheduled on-campus championships in North Carolina during a Jan. 10, 2017, meeting of the CAA Council of Presidents.