Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission partnering with GCAC to host championship events

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - The Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission has announced a three-year partnership with the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference to host championship events in Shreveport!

From 2023 to 2025, Lee Hedges Stadium will be the home of these games.

“This is about community and when you think about partnerships, we talk about how we’re going to build and community is important,” said Dr. Kiki Baker-Barnes, commissioner of the GCAC and a Minden native.

The GCAC is comprised entirely of historically Black colleges and universities in Ala., Ark., Fla., La., and Miss.

“The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference recently celebrated its 40th year as a member of the National Association of Collegiate Athletics. The GCAC is one of only five conferences comprised of eight members representing historically Black colleges and universities in the United States.”

Those eight schools include: Dillard University, Fisk University, Oakwood University, Philander Smith College, Rust College, Southern University, Tougaloo College and Wiley College.

This April, teams from these colleges will participate in a track and field championship in Shreveport. Officials say the event will bring in over $1 million to the ArkLaTex.

“Here is my commitment to you: we will work hand-in-hand with this community to help expose high schools in the ArkLaTex to the illustrious, as they like to say, institutions that we have and opportunities for education, as well as being a part of the economic impact and bringing people to this area,” said Baker-Barnes.

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