SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford College director of athletics Richard Johnson announced on Thursday that the school will introduce women's lacrosse as a varsity sport beginning in the 2017-18 school year.
 
"Wofford College is excited to be bringing women's lacrosse to campus," said Johnson. "Our goal is to hire a head coach in the next couple of months to begin the recruiting process necessary to field teams by the 2018 spring season."
 
Women's lacrosse is played in the spring and games are expected to be played at Gibbs Stadium, while locker room facilities will be in the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The first incoming class of recruits will enroll in the fall of 2016, with the second recruiting class entering in the fall of 2017. The first season of NCAA competition will be in the spring of 2018.
 
"It's very exciting for Wofford College to field a women's team in lacrosse, arguably the fastest-growing sport in the NCAA," Wofford President Nayef H. Samhat said. "We know we will see more and more of our Terrier fans enjoying this exhilarating and fast-paced sport, and we can't wait to see the team compete on a national level."
 
The addition of women's lacrosse will give Wofford a total of 19 varsity intercollegiate sports, comprising nine women's programs, nine men's programs and one co-ed program.  Wofford has been an NCAA Division I member since 1995 and a member of the Southern Conference since 1997.
 
NCAA Division I women's lacrosse currently features more than 100 programs. Lacrosse is the fastest growing women's sport both at the high school and collegiate level. According to the US Lacrosse Participation Survey, the number of women's lacrosse teams at the NCAA level increased 38.9 percent between 2009 and 2014, and the number of high school girls' teams increased 31.2 percent.
 
Wofford will compete in the Atlantic Sun conference, as the SoCon currently only sponsors men's lacrosse. Other members of the Atlantic Sun for women's lacrosse include Furman, Mercer, Jacksonville, Old Dominion, Kennesaw State, Howard, Stetson, Central Michigan, Delaware State (2017) and Detroit.