LIU Sharks | |
---|---|
University | Long Island University |
Conference | Northeast Conference (primary) Independent (men's ice hockey) EIWA (wrestling) MAAC (women's water polo, men's lacrosse, rowing) CWPA (men's water polo) NEWHA (women's ice hockey) East Atlantic Gymnastics League (women's gymnastics) NCEA (women's equestrian) |
NCAA | Division I (FCS) |
Athletic director | Elliott Charles |
Location | Brooklyn, New York Brookville, New York |
Varsity teams | 39 |
Football stadium | Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium |
Basketball arena | Steinberg Wellness Center and Barclays Center |
Baseball stadium | LIU Baseball Stadium |
Softball stadium | LIU Softball Complex |
Soccer stadium | LIU Soccer Park |
Nickname | Sharks |
Colors | Blue and gold [1] |
Website | liuathletics |
The LIU Sharks are the athletics teams representing Long Island University's (LIU) campuses in Brooklyn and Brookville, New York. [2] The Sharks compete in NCAA Division I athletics and are members of the Northeast Conference. The LIU Sharks are the result of the July 1, 2019 unification of the athletic departments which had previously represented two separate campuses of LIU, the NCAA Division I LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and the NCAA Division II LIU Post Pioneers. [3] [4]
Following Long Island University's founding in 1927, its sports teams wore blue uniforms and became known as the Blue Devils. After the school's uniforms were changed to black in 1935, a Brooklyn Eagle reporter from the Midwest saw the new look as the basketball team dribbled up and down the court and stated that the team looked like the blackbirds from back home; the comment struck home, and a new nickname was born. During the 1930s and '40s, the basketball team was often called the "Beemen," while they were coached by the legendary Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame coach, Clair Bee. [5] LIU Post opened in 1954 as C.W. Post College and began athletic competition in 1956–57.
The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and LIU Post Pioneers combined for 23 national championships (7 team, 16 individual), 215 conference titles, and 362 All-Americans. [6]
On October 3, 2018, Long Island University announced that it was unifying the athletic programs of its two campuses into one Division I program, effective with the 2019–20 academic year. The unified LIU program continues to sponsor all varsity sports that either campus sponsored before the merger. [7] The new program's nickname of Sharks was announced on May 15, 2019. [8]
The LIU Sharks inherited the athletic legacy of the Brooklyn campus, including its membership in the Northeast Conference. [9] [10] The Division II LIU Post teams for sports that had not been sponsored by LIU Brooklyn immediately moved to Division I without the usual transition period for an institution moving to a different division. Teams for sports sponsored by both campuses were merged. LIU added two completely new women's sports effective in 2019–20. Shortly before the athletic merger was announced, LIU Brooklyn announced that it would add women's ice hockey and shortly after the merger announcement, LIU announced it would add women's water polo, placing that sport in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. [11] [12]
The university incorporated athletic facilities on both the Brooklyn and Brookville campuses with basketball, bowling, fencing, ice hockey, swimming, track and field (indoor & outdoor), volleyball, and water polo based out of the Brooklyn campus while baseball, cross country, esports, equestrian, field hockey, football, golf, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, softball, tennis, and wrestling operating from the Brookville campus. [13]
Long Island University fields 35 teams that compete in 14 men's and 20 women's sports and 1 co-ed e-sports team. [2] Most teams compete in the Northeast Conference (NEC). Affiliations outside the Northeast Conference are as follows:
Men's sports | Women's sports |
---|---|
Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Bowling |
Cross country | Cross country |
Football | Equestrian |
Golf | Fencing |
Ice hockey | Field hockey |
Lacrosse | Golf |
Soccer | Gymnastics |
Tennis | Ice hockey |
Track and field† | Lacrosse |
Volleyball | Rowing (2022–23) |
Swimming | Rugby |
Wrestling | Soccer |
Water Polo (2022–23) | Softball |
Rowing (2022–23) | Swimming |
Fencing (2023-24) | Tennis |
Track and field† | |
Volleyball | |
Water Polo | |
Co-ed sports | |
ESports | |
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor |
* Both competing as LIU Post Pioneers.
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Its current 11 full members are located in four Northeastern states: Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland. It was announced on October 23, 2023 that Sacred Heart University and Merrimack College will join the conference beginning in the 2024-25 season.
The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Participating schools are located principally in the Northeastern United States, from which the conference derives its name.
Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post in Brookville, New York, on Long Island, and LIU Brooklyn in Brooklyn, New York City. The university offers over 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential locations. LIU has an NCAA Division I athletics programs and hosts and sponsors the annual George Polk Awards in journalism.
The East Coast Conference (ECC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located primarily in the state of New York, with a single member located in the District of Columbia.
The Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. It is the only Division II collegiate ice hockey conference in the United States.
NCAA Division I independent schools are four-year institutions that compete in college athletics at the NCAA Division I level, but do not belong to an established athletic conference for a particular sport. These schools may however still compete as members of an athletic conference in other sports. A school may also be fully independent, and not belong to any athletic conference for any sport at all. The reason for independent status varies among institutions, but it is frequently because the school's primary athletic conference does not sponsor a particular sport.
The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds were the athletic teams representing Long Island University's campus in Brooklyn, New York in intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, and track; women's-only bowling, lacrosse, softball, tennis, and volleyball; and men's-only baseball. The Blackbirds competed in NCAA Division I and were members of the Northeast Conference.
Long Island University Field is a baseball, soccer, and softball venue in Brooklyn, New York, United States. It was home to the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds baseball, men's and women's soccer, women's lacrosse, and softball teams of the NCAA Division I Northeast Conference until 2019, when LIU Brooklyn merged its athletics teams with those of LIU Post into a single unit, henceforth known as the Sharks, competing in Division I. Since then, the LIU baseball, soccer, women's lacrosse, and softball teams now play at the Post campus in Brookville, east of Brooklyn. The venue, which features an artificial turf surface, has a capacity of 2,000 spectators for soccer and lacrosse and 500 spectators for baseball and softball.
The LIU Post Pioneers were the athletic teams that represented the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, located in Brookville, New York, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports through the 2018–19 school year. The Pioneers most recently competed as members of the East Coast Conference for most sports; the football team was an affiliate of the Northeast-10 Conference. LIU Post has been a member of the ECC since 1989, when the league was established as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds women's basketball team represented the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University, located in Brooklyn, New York in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They played their home games at the Steinberg Wellness Center, formerly known as the Wellness, Recreation & Athletics Center, and were members of the Northeast Conference (NEC).
The Battle of Brooklyn was the college sports rivalry between Long Island University and St. Francis College. The LIU Sharks and SFBK Terriers were both in the Northeast Conference and competed against each other in various sports. The Battle of Brooklyn was a fierce rivalry, which originated in men's basketball; while the two schools are rivals in all sports that both schools sponsor, the "Battle of Brooklyn" name is currently applied only to matchups in men's and women's basketball and men's soccer. The intensity of the rivalry was augmented by the proximity of the two universities, located less than a half-mile apart in Downtown Brooklyn. The name of the rivalry is in reference to the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Brooklyn.
The following is a list of NCAA women's collegiate ice hockey teams, and conferences they compete in, that compete for berths in the annual NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Tournament. The championship has existed since the 2000–2001 season and conferences include the university teams of Divisions I and II of the NCAA.
The 2018–19 LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball team represented LIU Brooklyn during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blackbirds were led by second-year head coach Derek Kellogg, and played their home games at the Steinberg Wellness Center, with two home games at the Barclays Center, as members of the Northeast Conference (NEC). They finished the season 16–16 overall, 9–9 in NEC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 6 seed in the NEC tournament, they advanced to the semifinals, where they were defeated by Saint Francis (PA).
The LIU Sharks men's basketball team represents Long Island University in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They play their home games at their Brooklyn Campus in the Steinberg Wellness Center and Barclays Center, formerly known as the Wellness, Recreation & Athletics Center, and are members of the Northeast Conference. Their current head coach is Rod Strickland who was hired in June 2022.
The LIU Sharks football program represents Long Island University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level. The Sharks are members of the Northeast Conference and play their home games in the 6,000 seat Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium.
The LIU Sharks women's ice hockey team represents Long Island University in NCAA Division I ice hockey competition as a member of the New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA). They play their home games at Islanders Iceworks in Syosset, New York and Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, New York.
The LIU Sharks women's basketball team represents Long Island University in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They play their home games at their Brooklyn Campus in the Steinberg Wellness Center and are members of the Northeast Conference. Their current head coach is Rene Haynes, who was hired in April 2019.