FOLEY, Ala. — For the next three weeks, Foley will once again serve as the postseason home of the Sun Belt Conference, with Sun Belt fall championships in cross country, women’s soccer and volleyball set for three city venues: Graham Creek Nature Preserve, the Foley Sports Tourism Complex and the Foley Events Center.
The run begins Friday, Oct. 30, when the men’s and women’s cross country championships are held on the trails at Graham Creek. The women’s soccer tournament follows Nov. 9-14 at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex, and the volleyball tournament closes the fall schedule Nov. 19-23 at the Foley Events Center.
Foley’s role does not end with the fall. The Sun Belt Beach Volleyball Championship is scheduled for April 29 through May 1, 2027, at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex, which became the event’s home in the spring of 2025.
Sun Belt fall championships schedule in Foley
- Men’s and women’s cross country: Friday, Oct. 30, Graham Creek Nature Preserve
- Women’s soccer championship tournament: Nov. 9-14, Foley Sports Tourism Complex
- Volleyball championship tournament: Nov. 19-23, Foley Events Center
- Beach volleyball championship: April 29-May 1, 2027, Foley Sports Tourism Complex
Fans planning to attend can find ticket and schedule information through Foley Sports Tourism and the Sun Belt Conference as each event approaches. Brackets for the soccer and volleyball tournaments are set at the end of each sport’s regular season.
A partnership that began with women’s soccer
The relationship between the conference and the city dates to 2016, when the Sun Belt moved its women’s soccer tournament from member campuses to a neutral site in Foley. This year marks the 11th consecutive year the women’s soccer championship has been played in the city.
The first agreement covered five years. In 2021, the conference and the city signed a 10-year deal that brought cross country and volleyball to Foley alongside soccer, an arrangement that runs through 2030. The 2026 volleyball tournament will be the seventh straight played in Foley, and this fall’s cross country meet will be the fifth held at Graham Creek.
Foley Executive Director of Leisure Services David Thompson said much has changed over that decade, but the partnership has stayed steady.
“Formats have changed. Champions have changed. Even the stadium itself has evolved,” Thompson said. “But the relationship between Foley Sports Tourism and the Sun Belt Conference hasn’t wavered. Both organizations remain committed to giving the best possible experience to those attending these championships. Champions are crowned in Foley, but we’re more excited about the core memories every player who takes that field gets to carry home.”
Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill credited the city for helping the conference expand what it offers athletes.
“We are incredibly grateful for our long-term partnership with Foley Sports Tourism and the City of Foley,” Gill said. “Beginning with women’s soccer in 2016, this decade-long partnership has expanded over the years, enabling us to elevate the championship experiences for our student-athletes in men’s and women’s cross country, women’s soccer, volleyball and beach volleyball.”
Who competes in the Sun Belt
The Sun Belt has 14 member schools, including two from Alabama: the University of South Alabama in Mobile and Troy University. The rest of the membership is made up of Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Marshall, Old Dominion, Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe, Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech, the conference’s newest member.
Louisiana Tech joined this year as the replacement for Texas State, which left the Sun Belt for the Pac-12 Conference this summer. The league’s lineup could change again in the coming years; James Madison has announced plans to leave for the American Conference.
For South Alabama fans, the Foley championships offer a rare chance to watch the Jaguars compete for conference titles less than an hour’s drive from Mobile, across Mobile Bay in southern Baldwin County.
Cross country at Graham Creek
Graham Creek Nature Preserve, a city-owned preserve in Foley, offers wooded trails, wetlands and open fields that the city has used to host collegiate and amateur events, including archery and cross country competitions.
Appalachian State dominated last year’s cross country championships there, sweeping the men’s and women’s team titles for the second year in a row. The App State men scored 32 points to finish well ahead of Arkansas State, while the App State women edged Southern Miss.
The individual crowns went to Arkansas State’s Carlo Martinez-Jaramillo, who won the men’s 8-kilometer race in 24 minutes, 4.4 seconds, and Texas State’s Abigail Parra, who won the women’s 5-kilometer race in 16:52.1. With Texas State now gone from the conference, the women’s individual title will go to a new champion this fall.
Women’s soccer: a new champion each fall
The women’s soccer tournament has produced plenty of memorable finishes in Foley. Last November, fourth-seeded Texas State beat third-seeded ULM 1-0 in the final on Nov. 8, 2025, to win its first Sun Belt women’s soccer title. Sadie Guzman scored the only goal in the 54th minute, and Bobcats defender Victoria Meza was named the tournament’s most outstanding performer.
Because Texas State has since left the league, this year’s tournament is guaranteed to crown a different champion. The tournament winner earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The soccer matches are played at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex, which includes 16 sports fields, a championship stadium and the Foley Events Center. The complex, on East Pride Boulevard, hosts youth, amateur and collegiate tournaments throughout the year.
Volleyball: Arkansas State defends its title
Arkansas State enters the volleyball tournament as the defending champion. The Red Wolves beat James Madison 3-1 in last year’s final at the Foley Events Center, winning by set scores of 25-20, 18-25, 25-20 and 25-21. Daedrianna Cail was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, and the title was Arkansas State’s seventh Sun Belt volleyball championship and its first since 2015.
The volleyball tournament has been held in Foley every year since 2020. Like soccer, the champion earns the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
What the championships mean for Foley
Foley has invested heavily in sports tourism over the past decade, building the Foley Sports Tourism Complex and the Foley Events Center to attract tournaments that bring visiting teams, families and fans to the city. Those visitors fill hotel rooms, restaurants and shops in Foley and the nearby beach communities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.
Hosting several conference championships each year also puts Foley in front of college sports audiences from member schools stretching from Virginia to Arkansas.
For local fans, the next three weeks offer a chance to see Division I athletes compete for championships without leaving Baldwin County, starting with the cross country races at Graham Creek on Friday and wrapping up with the volleyball title match on Nov. 23.
