Two conferences will expand sponsorship of four sports and enhance championship opportunities through a partnership in which each of the leagues will gain associate members.

The North Eastern Athletic Conference will gain associate members in baseball and women’s tennis – all teams that currently compete in the North Atlantic Conference – while the NAC will add NEAC programs as associate members in men’s tennis and women’s lacrosse.

The partnership, which begins in spring 2010, puts the NAC on track to gain automatic qualification to Division III championships in men’s tennis and women’s lacrosse in 2012. The NEAC currently automatically qualifies for championships in baseball and women’s tennis.

“The North Atlantic Conference is committed to providing equitable opportunities for our student-athletes in all sports,” said Castleton State President Dave Wolk, chair of the NAC Presidents Council. “This partnership will help us meet this goal in sports where conference sponsorship is limited. Both conferences support the Division III philosophy, and we welcome the opportunity to join with like-minded institutions to ensure the best possible experiences for all student-athletes.”

NEAC Presidents Council Chair Joseph G. Burke of Keuka pointed to another “great opportunity” the partnership will offer schools in the two leagues that span states from Pennsylvania to Maine.

“We increase our regional exposure and our student-athletes have the opportunity to play against teams that they would not normally have the opportunity to play,” he said.

The partnership will result in creation of East and West divisions for NEAC baseball and women’s tennis and similar lineups for NAC men’s tennis and women’s lacrosse. Division champions will be determined, and those teams will play for the league title.

In baseball, NAC members Castleton State, Husson, Lyndon State, Maine-Farmington and Thomas will form the NEAC’s East division, while the seven NEAC schools that sponsor the sport will play in the West. Division champions will play a best-of-three series to determine the NEAC champion.

In women’s lacrosse, four current NAC members will form the East division, while NEAC members Cazenovia, St. Elizabeth, Keuka, Penn State-Abington, Wells and Wilson will join with Medaille (an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference member that currently is an associate NEAC member in lacrosse) to form the West.

Men’s and women’s tennis will have similar divisional structures in the respective leagues. In men’s play, five NAC members will play in the East and six NEAC members -- including Cobleskill State, Penn State-Berks, Penn State-Harrisburg and current associate member Oneonta State from the State University of New York Athletic Conference -- will form the West. In women’s play, eight NEAC members will play in the West and five NAC members will form the East.

Both conferences recently have added associate members in other sports to expand championship opportunities.

Last year, the NEAC added four associate members, including independent Dallas (men’s and women’s basketball and men’s golf) and New Jersey Athletic Conference member Rutgers-Camden (men’s golf), in addition to Medaille and Oneonta State.

Counting the upcoming partnership with the NEAC, the NAC has added associate members in six sports, including football, which the league will sponsor for the first time this fall.