Henrico to host CIAA women’s softball championship May 6-7

Henrico County will host its first collegiate title event when the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Women’s Softball Championship semifinals and finals are played May 6-7 at RF&P Park in Glen Allen. The tournament is expected to bring several hundred athletes, family members, team staff and others to the county. Henrico worked with Richmond Region Tourism to attract the event.

“This prestigious tournament, which will return in 2023 and 2024, adds a new dimension – collegiate sports – to our sports tourism résumé,” said Dennis Bickmeier, executive director of the Henrico Sports and Entertainment Authority, which oversees the county’s sports tourism program. “We thank the CIAA, one of our nation’s most historic athletic conferences, for choosing Henrico.”

The CIAA is composed of private and public colleges and universities ranging from 750 to more than 8,000 students. Its member institutions are located between Pennsylvania and South Carolina and include Virginia State University and Virginia Union University locally.

The eight teams qualifying for the tournament will play quarterfinal games beginning May 3 on the campuses of the higher seeds. The four advancing teams will travel to RF&P Park for practice May 5, ahead of the semifinal games May 6 and finals May 7, weather permitting. The tournament will follow a double-elimination format.

The quarterfinal matchups are: Claflin (1) vs. Johnson C. Smith (8); Virginia State (2) vs. Virginia Union (7); Bowie State (3) vs. Elizabeth City State (6); and Winston-Salem State (4) vs. Fayetteville State (5).

All games will be free, open to the public and broadcast on the CIAA Sports Network.