New Jersey will get its first National Collegiate Equestrian Association team as Centenary University introduces its participation in the 2024-25 academic year.
Centenary, based in Hackettstown with an equestrian center in nearby Washington Township, also will keep fielding an Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association team. NCEA, associated with the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), is limited to women riders. IHSA is co-ed.
Centenary will be the first NCEA school in the country that offers a degree program in equine studies. While NCEA’s highest profile is for its Division I schools, such as Auburn University or Texas A&M, Centenary’s category of Division III is growing within the organization. Centenary is offering NCEA only for jumping seat equitation riders.
Competition is an important part of the program at Centenary University. (Photo courtesy of Centenary)
Michael Dowling, who coaches the Centenary team with Heather Clark, said NCEA involvement, will “raise the skill sets of the riders that are coming into Centenary. We feel that by doing this, we are providing that opportunity for students who also want the kind of academic offerings we have.”
Kelly Munz, chair of the equine studies department at Centenary, pointed out, “the NCEA has been coming on strong and we’ve been thinking about it for a little while.”
At the same time, she emphasized, “We’re very devoted to IHSA, which is where we’ve been successful for so many years.”
But as she noted, “Division III schools are picking up the NCEA, and one of the things that has changed is they now offer a single-division championship at the finals for just hunt seat or just western. That has made all the difference,” Kelly continued, explaining Centenary does not have a western team and so could not participate when two disciplines were required.
Centenary offers the opportunity for students to come to a program where “they actually get ride time and a lot of opportunities to compete,” Kelly pointed out.
“Some of the bigger schools have a lot of power and money to offer students, but a student may go there and not be able to compete because they’re twentieth or twenty-fifth on the bench, and you can only compete so many. Some of the beauty of the Division III schools is that we’re offering students the opportunity to show and they will also be able to do IHSA as well as NCEA.”
“We’re seeing a lot more schools offering both,” said Michael, noting IHSA is the only option for male students, while women can rider in both NCEA and IHSA.
Division I schools offer scholarships for riding, but Division III schools cannot give athletic scholarships, though Kelly pointed out Centenary does provide academic scholarships.
So while a Division III school likely wouldn’t be competitive against Division I schools due to the financial recruiting advantage of the latter, with single division championships available for Division III schools, “we will be competing against other schools similar to ours,” said Michael.
“This is exciting news for Centenary University’s equestrian program,” said Dale Caldwell, president of the university.
“The success of the equestrian program is one of our highest priorities. We want students to excel, both in the classroom and in competition.”
Kelly pointed out 100 percent of Centenary’s pre-vet students have been accepted to veterinary schools. The university offers a Bachelor of Science in Equine Science, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Equine Studies with concentrations in equestrian media and public relations, equine-assisted services, equine business management and equine training and instruction. Centenary students may also choose the Bachelor of Science in Animal Health (the pre-veterinary track).
Students who are interested in riding for Centenary can contact Kelly at Kelly.Munz@centenaryuniversity.edu. They should also go to the NCEA website at https://collegiateequestrian.com and look for the questionnaire they can fill in.
“Once we get the name out, I think students are going to come to us,” said Kelly.
“They have the opportunity to ride on two teams and have an equine program if they want to become an equestrian professional. We’re a small school in a great location that has a lot of hands-on opportunities.”
In 2014, the NCAA was considering dropping equestrian, feeling the number of teams was not sufficient to continue the program. But Tom O’Mara, whose daughters rode on teams during college, led the way in trying to find a solution that would keep equestrian as part of NCAA. He was successful in that effort, and went on to become president of the U.S. Equestrian Federation. The NCEA now has 23 members across 14 states and has gained two programs within the last month.