Three new varsity sports added to Hiram College’s offerings

Hiram College is bringing its total of varsity sport offerings up to 26, with the recent additions of women’s lacrosse, women’s bowling, and men’s ice hockey. Women’s lacrosse existed at Hiram College from 2013 to 2020, and is making its comeback in the 2025-2026 season, at which time the two other new additions will make their debut, as well.

According to an article on Hiram College’s website, Scott Pohlman, the school’s Director of Athletics, noted that increasing the number of sports offerings at the school has been a priority. He said, “This is a historic period for Hiram Athletics and its new total of 26 varsity sports. Our academic and athletic administration have been working hard to make Hiram the ideal destination for the Division III student-athlete.”

In its previous iteration, the women’s lacrosse team was a part of the North Coast Athletic Conference and was successful, with the team scoring more than 200 goals. Now, the sport will return as part of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC), of which Hiram College will become a full time member, with voting rights, beginning on July 1.

“We felt it was a perfect time to bring women’s lacrosse back to Hiram College. The emergence of the sport and our return to the PAC made it an exciting decision to move forward with the program,” said Pohlman.

A search is underway to recruit a coach for the women’s lacrosse team.

The women’s bowling team will be coached by Brooke Davidson, who previously served as the vice president and president of the Youngstown State Bowling Club. Davidson graduated from Youngstown State University in 2022.

“I am so excited that I get to bring women’s bowling to Hiram College. Though it was at the club sport level, I know that being a student-athlete taught me a lot about leadership, teamwork and balance. I hope that my athletes will be able to take away those same lessons so that they can be successful on the lanes, in the classroom and in their future careers,” said Davidson.

The women’s bowling team does not yet have a conference for competition for the 2025-2026 season.

Men’s ice hockey will be coached by Jeffrey Curto, Ph.D., who is an assistant professor of Sport Management at Hiram College. Dr. Curto has ice hockey coaching experience, having been the associate head coach of the Eastern Kentucky University Division III ACHA hockey team. Hiram’s ice hockey team will begin practicing under Dr. Curto’s coaching in the 2024-2025 season, but it will not officially begin competing until the 2025-2026 season.

“I’m honored that Hiram College and Scott Pohlman selected me as the first head coach for the new men’s hockey program at Hiram College. Becoming the only NCAA Division III hockey program in the state of Ohio gives players from Ohio a chance to play at a high level, stay in the state and gain a tremendous education,” said Dr. Curto.

Robert Bohrer II, Ph.D., the president of Hiram College, said, “I am very pleased that we are adding these three sports to Hiram’s lineup as they represent important additional opportunities for our student-athletes.”

For more information about Hiram College, visit the school’s website.