WHAC To Discontinue Tennis as Conference Sport Following 2024-25 Season

The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) announced it will no longer sponsor men's and women's tennis as a championship sport after the 2024-25 season. The decision follows a careful evaluation of the sport's landscape nationally and regionally.

"This was a difficult decision for the conference," said Commissioner Eric Ward. "The pressure on our sponsoring institutions to make tennis work from a financial perspective has become increasingly difficult. Dwindling participation in the conference, struggling to fill rosters, and challenges with indoor facility availability and affordability have all conspired to make the sport untenable for many of our schools. After consulting with administrators within the WHAC, we determined this was the best path forward."

Currently, seven WHAC members sponsor women's tennis, and six sponsor men's tennis. With Concordia University-Ann Arbor discontinuing its athletics programs after this season, men's tennis will fall below the six-school threshold required for an automatic qualifier to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Championship. Several other WHAC members are considering whether to continue to sponsor the sport beyond 2024-25.

A WHAC institution sponsoring tennis beyond the spring 2025 season may continue to compete as a NAIA independent, apply to join another NAIA conference as a per-sport member for tennis, or join a grouping of other unaffiliated/independent NAIA tennis programs to compete in a postseason qualifying tournament.

The WHAC sponsored men's and women's tennis from 1993 to 2001. Tennis was reinstated as a conference sport in 2011 after a ten-year hiatus.