CHICO, Calif. – The CCAA announces that Allen Hardison has been selected to lead the 12-member California Collegiate Athletic Association. Hardison was chosen from a national pool of individuals that vied for the position. He is set to begin on July 1, 2023.
 
The CCAA has been the nation's most successful Division II intercollegiate athletic conference since its establishment in December 1938. The league is home to some of the country's finest NCAA Division II athletic programs in Cal Poly Humboldt, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State East Bay, Cal State LA, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State San Marcos, Chico State, San Francisco State, Sonoma State, and Stanislaus State.
 
CCAA members have won 155 NCAA Championships (103 men, 52 women) all time, far and away the most of any Division II conference. Since 2000, CCAA institutions have earned 23 national championships in 10 sports.
   
"It is an absolute honor to be named the Commissioner of the California Collegiate Athletic Association," said new CCAA Commissioner Allen Hardison. "I cherished every minute of my time as a student-athlete, and I am so thankful to be in a position where I can make a positive impact on the lives of these outstanding young women and men. To me, the CCAA has always been the premier Division II conference in the nation, and we look forward to continuing that tradition on and off the playing surface."
 
Tom Jackson, the Chair for the CCAA Board of Presidents, states, "Strengthening the student-athlete experience throughout the CCAA is critically important. That, along with Allen's ability to articulate his ideas on how to elevate the conference nationally while building strong relationships will help make him a great leader for the CCAA today. There is no question that his experiences with World Team Tennis will guide him as we move forward as a conference."
 
Allen is the current Chief Operating Officer at World Team Tennis (WTT), a professional league co-founded by Billie Jean King in 1974. As COO, Hardison currently manages all day-to-day business operations for the league. His management responsibilities include media rights, sponsorship, marketing, staff and franchise supervision, financials, the athlete experience, championships, ticket sales, rules and compliance, expansion teams, events, venues, league growth, and equality. In his first year as COO in 2021, Hardison was able to secure deals with Tennis Channel and NBC Sports Network, which combined to feature 67 percent of WTT's matches on linear TV that year. Seven new league sponsors have also been added since 2021.
 
From 2018 to 2020, Hardison served as the Vice President of Operations for WTT. In 2020, WTT broke the league's all-time single-match viewership record as 556,000 fans tuned into the final. Prior to his time in the league office, Hardison served as General Manager of the Orange County Breakers and Austin Aces. As a GM, his teams appeared in three finals and took home the WTT title in 2017. Hardison also spent time in the Los Angeles Angels front office before making the jump to tennis late in 2013.
 
Hardison was a multi-sport student-athlete, playing football and soccer for two years for the UNLV Rebels before finishing out his final two seasons of eligibility playing football for the Nevada Wolf Pack. He has a Master's Degree in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco and earned his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Nevada, Reno. Hardison, who was born and raised in Southern California, resides in Aliso Viejo with his wife and two children.
 
"I would like to thank the CCAA Board of Presidents, the Athletic Directors, the Search Committee, Dr. Kurt Patberg and Mammoth Sports Consulting, and the amazing student-athletes that make up this conference for giving me this opportunity," said Hardison. "I look forward to coming in and listening, learning, and finding ways in which we can collectively strengthen all areas of this conference. While it may seem like an uncertain time for intercollegiate athletics, I know our conference and member institutions will be proactive in our approach so we can continue to be at the forefront of today's rapidly changing landscape."

Hardison will replace current CCAA Commissioner Mitch Cox, who will retire on June 30.