KANSAS CITY, Mo. - William Woods University (WWU) has accepted an invitation to become a full member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference (Heart), beginning with the 2025-26 academic year, President Dr. Jeremy Moreland announced today. The historic move to a new conference officially ends a 31-year association for The Woods with the American Midwest Conference (AMC).

"Today we embark upon a new era for William Woods University: our athletic department and most importantly, our student-athletes, with our move to the Heart of America Conference,"said Dr. Jeremy Moreland, President of William Woods University. "In these exciting times of growth for our university, both academically and athletically, it was imperative that we carefully assessed our conference affiliation to ensure that it was the right fit for William Woods. The Heart of America Conference is just that – competitively, financially, and logistically a strong fit– and we could not be more excited to become a new member."

The Heart awards conference championships for all 22 of the NAIA sports currently sponsored by William Woods, as well as championships for Football and Competitive Dance. In 10 of the sports sponsored by the conference, the Heart is guaranteed two automatic bids for NAIA National Championship competition, with the addition of WWU to the conference adding a second automatic qualifier bid for both Competitive Dance and Men's Golf for the 2025-26 season. And while Flag Football is currently not sponsored by the Heart, Woods will join three other schools - Baker, Graceland, Missouri Valley - fielding a team as the emerging sport continues to grow. After competing as an affiliate member of the Heart in Women's Wrestling in 2023-24, the Owls will debut as full members of the conference for Football and Women's Wrestling in 2024-25.
 
"This is an exciting day for William Woods University Athletics, and we believe that the future is bright with a lot of opportunity in front of us in the Heart of America Athletic Conference," said Director of Athletics Steve Wilson. "The American Midwest Conference has been a terrific home for our intercollegiate programs over many decades, yet the growth we've recently experienced and will continue to drive required that we evaluate our conference affiliation. As we reviewed the mission and vision of each member institution, it became evident that affiliation in the Heart was the right next step for The Woods. Our institutional tradition is rich, with a history of successful athletic programs, and we will continue to honor that history by competing proudly as a member of the AMC through the 2024-25 season, while preparing for our future in the Heart in 2025-26."
 
William Woods, which celebrates its 50th year of intercollegiate athletics during the 2024-25 academic year, has been a member of the American Midwest Conference since 1993-94. The Owls originally joined the AMC to compete in Women's Basketball, adding Softball for the 1995-96 academic year followed by Volleyball in 1996-97 and Women's Soccer in 1997-98. WWU has earned a total of 81 AMC regular season and tournament championships to date, including the 2023 Men's Cross Country AMC Championship and a berth to the NAIA Cross Country National Championship meet.
 
The geographic representation of the Heart is similar to that of the AMC, with 15 member institutions across four states (Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri) with the bulk of the footprint concentrated in Missouri. Several of WWU's new conference rivalries will be familiar to Owls fans as regular non-conference opponents across several sports, with the Owls also able to rekindle the rivalry with former AMC foe Park University.
 
In addition to the benefits offered by a similar physical footprint, following road contests within the Heart will become much easier for WWU fans, as the Heart boasts one of the premier streaming platforms in the NAIA with The Heart Conference Network powered by Hudl TV. Leveraging the same technology as William Woods currently uses for home broadcasts, all contests within the Heart will be streamed to a central destination with dedicated smartphone and smart TV apps.

"This move to the Heart of America Conference parallels our continuing efforts to examine, refine, and improve the student experience at The Woods as we continue to grow," said Ted Blashak, Chief Student Experience Officer and Senior Vice President. "Our student-athletes deserve the best, inside and outside the classroom, as we grow. This move helps us facilitate that responsibility."

Founded in 1971, the Heart of America Athletic Conference marked its 50th year during the 2020-21 season, and currently sponsors 25 sports under the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics umbrella. Three of the Heart's charter schools have maintained membership in the conference throughout its 53-year history - Baker University, Graceland University and Missouri Valley College - with Central Methodist University returning to the conference after a brief hiatus. For the 2025-26 academic year, the Heart will have 15 member institutions - Baker, Benedictine College, Central Methodist University, Clarke University, Culver-Stockton College, Graceland, Grand View University, MidAmerica Nazarene University, Missouri Baptist University, Missouri Valley, Mount Mercy University, Park University, Peru State College, William Penn University and William Woods University.