EDISON, NJ (Feb. 22, 2022) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) today announced a joint partnership with Inspirus Sports Management to host the 2022 MAAC/ASUN Dublin Basketball Challenge. The 2022 MAAC/ASUN Dublin Basketball Challenge will be held inside of the National Basketball Arena in Dublin, Ireland on November 18 and 19.
The MAAC/ASUN Challenge, for one year only, will move to Dublin, Ireland featuring men’s and women’s teams from both Division I leagues. The field will include eight total teams, comprised of two men’s teams and two women’s teams from each conference.
“We at the MAAC are very excited, along with our colleagues ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart and his staff, to be taking the MAAC/ASUN Challenge concept to a new level with an international audience with our partners at Inspirus Sports,” said MAAC Commissioner, Rich Ensor. “The MAAC staff contributed to the great success of the Belfast Basketball Classics in 2017 and 2018 and as we continue to grow the MAAC schools’ brands internationally and are very much looking forward to giving Irish basketball fans a taste of collegiate basketball in Dublin.”
“The ASUN and the MAAC have a great track record in partnering to provide outstanding student-athlete experiences. We appreciate the leadership of MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor and his staff as they built the option of taking the MAAC/ASUN Challenge overseas. Our teams are excited about the prospect of playing in Dublin, Ireland, and we look forward to an outstanding debut on the Emerald Isle,” said ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart.
“Inspirus Sports is very proud to announce that we are launching this partnership with the MAAC and ASUN as we kick start our event series bringing US Collegiate D1 basketball to a global audience,” said Inspirus Sports CEO, Scott McCarthy. “As international events begin to return as the pandemic winds down, we are thrilled to be able to host this great event with our partners in Dublin,” McCarthy continued.
The MAAC first partnered with Sport Changes Life and Inspirus Sports in 2017 and 2018 for the Belfast Basketball Classic. The original events held in Belfast made sporting history in bringing the first Division I college four team and eight team tournaments to Europe.
“We are so excited to welcome the opportunity to host this event in Dublin with the great addition of bringing division I female basketball to the island. We recognized in 2018, with our Hall of Famer Ambassador Katie Smith, we had so much more work to do bringing equality to our event properties. The ambition and talent of Irish women in our sport of basketball deserve equal recognition and we hope our event will continue to help and make a significant impact to this objective growing the female game,” said Marc Mulholland, Executive Director.
Gareth Maguire, Chairman & Founder of Inspirus Sports added, “We are so very proud to continue to build on the great work that the Sports Changes Life Foundation has delivered with the Belfast Events and together with our partners at the MAAC and ASUN and the team at Inspirus Sports as we plan to show that we have a unique business model, with a clear emphasis on social responsibility that will not only help the sport of basketball grow on a global stage but address vital messaging around our work with international study abroad. This is just the beginning of a global strategy, that was halted by the pandemic, as we reconnect the world through sport and education.”
Participating teams will be announced at a later date.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 41st year of competition during the 2021-22 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.
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ASUN Conference, Atlanta, Ga. -
the only DI conference headquartered in the ATL, our footprint's primary media, sports, business, transportation and cultural hub
The ASUN, a Division I conference member of the NCAA, boasts a membership of institutions that share visionary leadership, bold ambition and creative innovation. As a nimble adaptive conference, unafraid to blaze a national pathway for better service to our student-athletes, teams, and institutions, the ASUN has a proud history of firsts, national academic and athletic achievements and a conference culture that walks the walk with its four ASUN Beams. Students First! Rise. Connect. Impact.
#ASUNBuilt by Bellarmine (Louisville), Central Arkansas (Conway), Eastern Kentucky (Richmond), FGCU (Fort Myers), Jacksonville (Fla.), Jacksonville State (Jacksonville, Ala.), Kennesaw State (Ga.), Liberty (Lynchburg, Va.), Lipscomb (Nashville), North Alabama (Florence), North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), and Stetson (DeLand, Fla.). Austin Peay, based in Clarksville, Tenn., is set to join the league in the 2022-23 academic year.
About Inspirus Sports Management: Inspirus Sports Management, creating premium inspirational live sporting events for a global audience.
Inspirus Sports has been created to build on the success of the first ever NCAA Collegiate basketball Tournament in Europe, the “Basketball Hall of Fame Basketball Classic” 2017 & 2018 in conjunction with the Sport Changes Life Foundation. Inspirus has one clear mission, to bring this event series to a global audience to inspire communities through the power of sport.
About Sport Changes Life Foundation: The primary goal of SCL is to provide an opportunity for raising the aspiration of young people on both sides of the Atlantic so that they can live out their dreams and guide them as sport changes their lives. We are a sports foundation built on inspiration, hope and victory. SCL works in disadvantaged communities to help young people find a path to a brighter future with the help of our international student athletes, the Victory Scholars. Sport Changes Life continues to help change the lives of young people on the island of Ireland and beyond through the support of the Inspirus Sports events.
http://sportchangeslife.com/