The Sunshine State Conference will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Title IX by highlighting influential people and moments in the league's history. Title IX, a landmark federal law, was passed in 1972. It prohibits gender discrimination in educational programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
The Sunshine State Conference first adopted competition in women's sports on April 15, 1982, adding basketball, cross county, softball, tennis, and volleyball. Women's crew became the SSC's seventh women's sport in 1996, while women's soccer and women's golf started league-wide in 1998. League administrators added swimming as the SSC's ninth women's sport in 2010, and lacrosse was the most recent addition in 2014. Barry University won the SSC's first women's NCAA Division II team national championship in soccer during the 1989 season. Since then, women's teams in the SSC have won 47 team national titles across six sports.
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About Title IX
Title IX is part of the Education Amendments of 1972 and was signed into law on June 23. It states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
About the Sunshine State Conference
Established in 1975, the Sunshine State Conference has risen from a single sport organization to the NCAA Division II "Conference of National Champions." Since its inception, the conference has grown steadily in sports played, membership, and national prominence. SSC members have won 117 NCAA national championships across 12 sports. SSC student-athletes achieved an 88-percent Academic Success Rate (ASR) for 2020-21, breaking a 10-Year streak of 86-percent Academic Success Rates. The SSC ranks second among NCAA Division II conferences in 2020-21 ASR and has never fallen below that mark in the metric's 16-year history.
The SSC consists of 11 member institutions, all within the state of Florida: Barry University (Miami Shores), Eckerd College (St. Petersburg), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach), Florida Institute of Technology (Melbourne), Florida Southern College (Lakeland), Lynn University (Boca Raton), Nova Southeastern University (Ft. Lauderdale), Palm Beach Atlantic University (West Palm Beach), Rollins College (Winter Park), Saint Leo University (Saint Leo), and the University of Tampa.