Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University Director of Athletics Joe Reich has announced the addition of three sports at Wingate University, coming in the 2025-26 academic year. The Bulldogs will start Women's Flag Football, Men's Club Beach Volleyball and Men's Varsity Rugby. Joe Schlager has been named the Flag Football head coach, Anne Marie Taylor will be the men's Beach coach and Frank McKinney is the Rugby head coach. The addition of the three sports gives Wingate University 29 intercollegiate programs.

"We are thrilled to be starting these new programs," Reich says. "All three head coaches will bring unique experiences to the athletic department. We are excited to get started."

Wingate University has added a plethora of sports over the past few years. After adding track & field in 2011 and women's lacrosse in 2014, there was no new sport added until 2020, when Wingate announced the addition of women's triathlon along with men's club triathlon. Field hockey was announced in 2021, while Acrobatics & Tumbling was announced in 2022. Women's beach volleyball was added in 2024, with the inaugural season getting underway last month.

Women's flag football is a fast-growing sport, with the NCAA announcing the recommendation to join NCAA Emerging sports in February of 2025. That gives NCAA Division I, II and III an opportunity to sponsor legislation to move the sport forward. As of February of 2025, at least 65 NCAA schools are sponsoring women's flag football at either the club or varsity level, with several more slated to join in 2026. Conference Carolinas will have eight teams competing in flag football, beginning in the spring of 2026.

Schlager has been the head coach at William Woods University since July of 2023. Prior to that, he was the Graduate Assistant Coach at Midland University. Schlager was a student-athlete at the University of South Dakota, where he was a running back for three years, earning Missouri Valley Football Conference Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award three straight years.

"Wingate has a rich culture and tradition of excellence - The Wingate mission and vision align with my goals for building a program for continual growth," Schlager says. "When I envision myself and collegiate flag football in the next several years, Wingate University is the place to be. The OneDog mentality is evident throughout and our goal is and will be to continue to contribute to the overall experience and success of Wingate. The NCAA is committed to the sport and the growing opportunities that it provides and Wingate's opportunity at this time is unmatched. I'm very excited to put this program into action and establish ourselves in the infancy of the sport within the NCAA landscape."

Schlager earned his Bachelor of Science degree at South Dakota, where he majored in Kinesiology and Sport Management with a minor in Business Administration. He earned his Master of Science in Learning and Talent Development from Midland University. After graduating, Schlager began his coaching career at Colorado State University, where he was the Football Operations Assistant.

Wingate is the 10th collegiate program to add men's club beach volleyball, which includes two other teams from the conference and another team from the region, with Tusculum and Lincoln Memorial joining Erskine as club teams in the area. There is also a Division III team with club men's beach (Stevenson University) in Maryland, along with four NAIA programs (Park University, Reinhardt University, Webber International and Westcliff University). In addition, Liberty University in Virginia has a collegiate club team.

Taylor has experience coaching beach and indoor volleyball at the high school, college and club levels. She was a volunteer indoor volleyball coach at Florida International in 2015, while coaching the indoor and beach programs at Cypress College from 2019 through 2021. Taylor coached indoor and beach club teams in California, while also coaching at Notre Dame Academy in Los Angeles. During her time at Notre Dame Academy, Taylor served as an Assistant Athletic Director and Physical Education Teacher, then served as the Interim Athletic Director during the summer of 2021.

"Growing up playing beach volleyball around the beaches of Southern California, it is so wonderful to see how this sport is evolving across the country," Taylor says. "These are very exciting times to now have Men's Collegiate sand doubles and I can't wait to join Wingate's volleyball program."

Taylor graduated from Loyola Marymount University, where she earned her Bachelor's degree with a major in Sociology. She earned her Masters degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University of Irvine in 2019.

Collegiate rugby has two official organizations – National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) and USA Rugby. The NCR's mission is to promote the growth and development of collegiate rugby both on and off the field, supporting teams, student-athletes, and coaches at every level. Founded in 2007 as the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO), NCR has since evolved into the world's largest collegiate rugby organization, serving programs across all divisions. In the 2024-25 academic year, NCR will welcome 50 new programs, going over 650 men's and women's clubs on the NCAA Division I, II and III level, along with NAIA.

Founded in 1975, USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby in America, and a Full Sport Member of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and World Rugby. Currently headquartered in Glendale, Colo., USA Rugby is charged with developing the game on all levels and has over 110,000 active members. USA Rugby oversees four national teams, multiple Junior national teams and an emerging Olympic development pathway for elite athletes. USA Rugby is governed by an 11-member Board of Directors, National Councils representing the membership and a professional staff headed by a CEO.

McKinney joins the Bulldogs after an impressive stint at Queens University, where he started the program. He was hired by the Royals in 2017, with the first season getting underway in the spring of 2018. He turned Queens into a national power, with the Royals wrapping up their 2024 campaign in the NCR Division I national championship game, falling against Brown University.

"I am beyond excited to be here at Wingate," McKinney says. "I look forward to this new challenge and to move the current program from club to a varsity program. I want to thank Joe Reich for giving me this opportunity. I am counting down the days until the first practice and the first game."

Queens advanced to the playoffs after winning the Rugby East South Division Title with a 5-0 record in division conference play. The title was the second for Queens in three years. The DI national championship game appearance was also the second for the Royals since transitioning to Division I men's rugby.

McKinney played key roles in player development of the student-athletes, seeing multiple players moving on to play professionally from the program through USA Rugby and the MLR Draft. Before moving to Division I, McKinney led Queens to its first-ever USA-Rugby Division II national championship, defeating the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 74-8 in the fall of 2019. Prior to his time at Queens, McKinney was the head coach of the Charlotte Tigers from 2015-2017, finishing state runner-up in 2015. Additionally, they were ranked as high as No. 17 in the nation in 2017. In 2014, he served as the head backs coach and head tactical coach at the Citadel. He was the head coach at Myers Park High School from 2006-2012, earning regional championship honors in 2012 after the team ranked No. 11 in Rugby Magazine. McKinney also coached at various levels with the North Carolina All-Stars. McKinney holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Belmont Abbey, and a MBA from the University of Michigan.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY 

Wingate University is a lab of difference-making that serves more than 3,400 students in North Carolina and offers 60 degree pathways, including 37 undergraduate majors, 10 pre-professional tracks and five dual-degree programs. Graduate students choose from seven master's and five doctoral programs. The University is home to the Cannon College of Arts and Sciences, the Levine College of Health Sciences, the Byrum School of Business, the Thayer School of Education and the School of Sport Sciences.
 
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a leader in healthcare education where nearly one in five undergraduate students is preparing to be a pharmacist, physician assistant, physical therapist, occupational therapist or nurse. Student-athletes on Wingate's 29 teams compete in NCAA Division II and have brought home the SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award the past 16 times it has been awarded. The University's motto is "Faith, Knowledge, Service." View current news and videos at www.wingate.edu.
 
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