Southern Ohio Copperheads

• Location: Athens, OH
• League: Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League
• Stadium: Bob Wren Stadium at Ohio University

Team Biography

The Southern Ohio Copperheads are a Summer Collegiate Baseball team sanctioned by Major League Baseball and the National Alliance of Summer Collegiate Baseball. The Copperheads, who play their home games at Bob Wren Stadium in Athens, OH, joined the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League in 2002.

The Southern Ohio Copperheads are designed and dedicated to provide the nation's collegiate players the opportunity to compete at a higher level and prepare for entering professional baseball. The Copperheads operate in a similar manner to a Minor League team: playing nightly in stadiums before fans, using wood bats and minor league specification equipment and experiencing road trips between games. Southern Ohio Copperheads players are unpaid in order to maintain their NCAA eligibility, but unlike most other summer collegiate teams, players do not live with host families. All players are housed at the University Courtyard Apartments complex, in exchange for promotional consideration with the Copperheads.

Southern Ohio is set apart from many of their Summer Collegiate Baseball contemporaries by their close involvement with Ohio University. A great deal of the infrastructure and administration of the Copperheads organization is run through internship programs from OU's Center for Sports Administration and College of Business. From the very beginning, the team and the University have been closely linked. In addition to community leaders, the team's board of directors heavily includes members of the Ohio University faculty. Even the 157-page business plan included in the team's petition to join the GLSCL was drafted by OU Business students.

Home Games are broadcast on WXTQ 105.5FM

2015 Coaching Staff

• Head Coach: Jonathan Nichols
• Pitching Coach: Austin Dunfee
• Assistant Coach: Buddy Walker
• Assistant Coach: Kyle Dean

Naming the Team

Continuing the team's philosophies in support of education, the task of naming the team fell upon the shoulders of area students. Named for one of the only poisonous snakes found in Ohio, which are prevalent in the South Eastern portion of the state. The Southern Ohio Copperheads were named by two local elementary school students, who received season tickets, and the opportunity to be batboy for Copperheads home games.

Organizational Goals

• Provide a venue for family entertainment in southern Ohio
• Provide a great opportunity for collegiate players to develop and improve their skill levels
• Create a laboratory learning environment for sports administration students at Ohio University

Related Links

• Southern Ohio Copperheads Home Page
• Southern Ohio Copperheads Facebook Page
• Southern Ohio Copperheads Wikipedia Page
• Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League Home Page
• National Association of Collegiate Summer Baseball Home Page