On Aug. 27, The Crossroads League Council of Presidents announced that Manchester University has accepted an invitation to compete in the Crossroads League pending approval from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Should they be accepted, they will join the conference for the 2027-28 school year.

MU was previously a member of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and competed in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. President of Goshen College, Rebecca Stoltzfus, serves as the Chair of the Crossroads League Council of Presidents. Stoltzfus welcomes the expansion of the conference. “I think from the perspective of the Crossroads League, we are attracted to the idea of adding one or two new members,” President Stoltzfus said. 

The addition of MU means the conference will have nine institutions in Indiana, one in Ohio and one in Michigan. Crossroads League teams won five national titles last year alone. President Stoltzfus believes that, “Crossroads League was their first choice for two main reasons. One is that we are a very strong, competitive, highly regarded conference, and secondly, the geography is just beautiful.”

MU practices Anabaptist faith and is affiliated with the Church of the Brethren. President Stoltzfus welcomes the addition of another Anabaptist institution. “I think for me as the president of Goshen College and for us as Goshen, it’s kind of nice to have another tradition that is distinct,” she said.

Manchester’s move to the NAIA isn’t unusual. New NCAA rules regarding eligibility have caused instability within institutions at the D2 and D3 level. These rules aren’t applied at the NAIA level, making membership within the division a lucrative offer for some D2 and D3 schools. Athletic Director Dwight Gingerich attended the NAIA Athletic Directors conference in April, where he learned there are a large number of institutions in talks to move to the NAIA level. Located in North Manchester, MU is about 40 miles away from GC, the second closest institution within the Crossroads League, with Bethel University being located around 30 miles away in Mishawaka.

The Manchester University Spartans will compete with Goshen in 13 sports across the Crossroads League. Gingerich believes they will be well prepared for their debut season next year. “They’ve certainly been strong in different sports through the years, so I think they’re going to do what they need to do prepare to be in the NAIA and the Crossroads. It sounds like their president is very excited and has worked hard to prepare Manchester to make this move,” he said.

Manchester University will be the eleventh team in the Crossroads League, the first team to join since Mount Vernon Nazarene University in 2010.

The presence of multiple Crossroads League schools in the northern Indiana area means that athletic programs will have more competition when it comes to recruiting athletes. Gingerich trusts that administration will provide the resources needed to attract athletes to GC. “The administration has been very supportive of Goshen increasing its competitiveness in the realm of scholarships,” he said. “I think we just need to lean into the planning that we are already doing and continue to be responsive to the needs as they come our way.”

“We need to do the things that we’re doing, which are continuing to have coaches who are excellent, not only at coaching, but at recruiting,” President Stoltzfus said. “We need to back that up with appropriate scholarshipping strategies and we need to continue to make investments in facilities.”