Wallace College adding new sports to athletic program

NATHANIEL FRAZIER
For the Eagle

Wallace Community College announced the addition of four new sports to its athletic program during a Wednesday morning press conference at the school.

The school is adding men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s cross country, with all four sports set to begin competition in the fall of 2025.

And what’s more – the college may not be done adding sports to its athletic department, with administration hinting more announcements will follow.

Wallace athletic director Ryan Spry said this is a big day for the college.

”There was a motto that I recited often in college that said, ‘Progress shall mark our every step,’” Spry said. “Know we are making progress today, but we are not done. We will continue to build on the rich foundation that has been laid and anticipate even greater things to come as we embark on a new era at the college and within our athletic department.”

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Wallace interim president Keith Phillips echoed Spry’s comment, adding this will bring even more attention to Southeast Alabama’s largest community college.

“This expansion represents the first growth that our athletic department has seen in quite some time,” Phillips said. “We couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities this will create for our students.”

Phillips said, “Athletics is an essential part of the student experience, promoting personal development, leadership, and team work. We’ve heard from students and families in the Wiregrass.

“We’ve noticed that some talented students that might have chosen to come to Wallace College chose to go to other colleges because we didn’t offer additional athletic opportunities, so we’re making changes to that effective today.

“Adding these teams will improve campus life. It will promote a sense of community and school spirit. Sports bring people together. It’s going to create more opportunity for students, faculty, staff and community to experience the Wallace experience.”

The addition of the four new sports has the potential to add 36 scholarship athletes to the program. Men’s and women’s golf can each have eight scholarship players, while cross country can have 10 student-athletes per team.

Spry said the school isn’t just adding sports for the sake of adding sports.

“Our goal, regardless of sport, is to compete for championships and accolades on and off the playing surface.” Spry said. “Just like we do with our existing sports, we will be recruiting high caliber student-athletes and coaches.”

To that end, the process of hiring coaches will begin soon, as the job postings should be coming out within the next few weeks. For those student-athletes interested in joining one of these new programs, you can immediately contact Spry at (334) 556-2587 or email him at rspry@wallace.edu for additional information.

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