IUPUC, Cera Sports Park, and Ohio Valley Sports have entered an agreement to provide facilities for IUPUC athletic programs including cross country, baseball, and softball beginning in the fall 2022. According to its Executive Director, Jim Kreutzjans, CERA Sports Park’s mission is to provide the community and surrounding communities with a year-round sports facility to promote athletics, camaraderie, practice skills, competition, teamwork, fitness, and fair play.

“We are excited to expand our facilities to be inclusive of IUPUC Athletics and the communities we serve, and look forward to working side by side with Zach McClellan and his coaches, and BJ Sigler and his staff at Ohio Valley Sports, to provide IUPUC Athletics a facility they can call home,” said Kreutzjans.

As part of the agreement, Ohio Valley Sports will make improvements to the baseball and softball facilities in order to create athletics fields that not only comply with NAIA regulations, also help to entice student athletes to join the Crimson Pride teams.

“Ohio Valley Sports is committed to providing opportunities for growth and development through baseball,” said BJ Sigler, of Ohio Valley Sports. “We are excited to grow our partnership with Ceraland and work with IUPUC on this project. This is a great addition for the city of Columbus and Central Indiana, and we look forward to seeing the IUPUC Crimson Pride take the field in 2023.”

IUPUC Athletic Director, Zach McClellan, believes the combination of Cera Sports Park and Ohio Valley Sports is a perfect fit. “Ceraland is a unique place with forward-thinking leadership. Ohio Valley Sports has a track record of putting on excellent events in the sport of baseball. It only makes sense for a startup college program like IUPUC to partner with people who have similar mindsets of growth and progress. We are thrilled to work together with these entities.”

IUPUC’s Vice Chancellor and Dean, Reinhold Hill, is also happy about the new agreement. “Cera Sports Park already has one the premiere venues in the region for cross country, and with the proposed enhancements to the baseball and softball complex, we believe IUPUC will become a destination for student athletes wanting to compete at the NAIA level,” said Hill.

In addition to securing facilities for the upcoming year, IUPUC recently launched its new athletic website at www.iupucathletics.com. The site will be the place to go to learn more about the coaches and athletes, as well as view team schedules as they roll out. Students interested in participating in cross country, baseball, or softball during the coming academic year can get more information at the website as well.