Posted with permission, article and pictures, courtesy of Chaminade University
HONOLULU – Chaminade University Director of Athletics Dr. Tom Buning announced Monday the addition of baseball and beach volleyball for the 2023-24 academic year.
“This Chaminade University of Honolulu initiative reinforces the co-curricular value of our Silversword athletics to the campus experience,” Dr. Buning said. “This decision aligns with the university’s mission to serve and educate the local community which has an abundant source of talented interscholastic athletes who deserve the opportunity to compete at the collegiate level while earning a degree and staying close to home.”
Baseball is actually a revival of the sport after an over 40-year absence. The Silverswords first fielded intercollegiate baseball in 1980. In their inaugural season, the ‘Swords finished 20-6 and earned a berth in the NAIA District 2 Playoffs. However, due to budgetary restrictions, the program dropped to club level status in 1981 before disbanding altogether the following year.
Chaminade – along with the addition of Westmont College – will bring the number of baseball-playing members in the Pacific West Conference to 11.
Chaminade has fielded beach volleyball as an exhibition sport since spring 2013, playing various Division I schools which have visited the islands over the years including Nebraska, USC and Cal.
The Silverswords will join Concordia University Irvine as the only schools in the PacWest and one of three Division II institutions in the West Region to field teams in beach volleyball. Because the conference does not sponsor the sport and the NCAA does not separate beach volleyball into its traditional divisions (I, II, III), Chaminade will compete as an independent and be eligible for national championships at the same level as other high profile programs.
The last time the university added sports was in 2006-07 with men’s and women’s soccer and women’s basketball.
Both baseball and beach volleyball will begin competition in the spring of 2024, raising the number of intercollegiate programs at Chaminade to 12.
Current women’s volleyball indoor coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke will serve as the head coach of beach volleyball. The search for a baseball head coach is currently underway.
