Siena Heights Approved For MSFA Membership
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FINDLAY, OHIO - Siena Heights University, located in Adrian, Mich., was accepted as the 18th member of the Mid-States Football Association Tuesday at the organization's regular spring meeting held at Olivet Nazarene University in Kankakee, Ill.
The Siena Heights Board of Trustees approved adding football to its athletic venue last weekend. The Saints will begin playing a junior varsity scheduled in 2011 and then enter play as a member of the MSFA's Mideast League in 2012. Veteran coach Jim Lyall, who spent 20 years at nearby Adrian College, has been charged with developing the gridiron program.Siena Heights become the second NAIA institution in Michigan to join the MSFA after Concordia College in Ann Arbor was approved for membership last January. The Cardinals, under the direction of first-year coach Nathan Robbins, will begin playing a full varsity schedule in 2011, also as a MSFA Mideast League member.
The NAIA-affiliated MSFA currently features 16 teams. The Mideast League teams aligned for the 2010 season include Malone University and Walsh University, both located in Canton, Ohio; Marian University in Indianapolis, Ind.; the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Ind.; Taylor University in Upland, Ind.; and Saint Xavier University in Chicago; Olivet Nazarene; and Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill. The Midwest League in 2010 will include Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa; Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa; McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill.; Quincy University in Quincy, Ill.; St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa; University of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill.; Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa; and William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
The champion of the Mideast League and the Midwest League receive automatic berths into the NAIA playoffs.
Malone, Olivet Nazarene, Saint Xavier, Taylor and Trinity International were among 11 charter members of the MSFA when the organization was formed in April 1993. The MSFA began its first season of competition in 1994.
Saint Xavier University will kick off the 2010 season for MSFA teams against Bethel (Tenn.) on August 26. Grand View University travels to the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill. for the first Midwest League contest of the season. The Mideast League part of the schedule begins on October 2.
