Release provided by C2csports.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mount Mary's membership league, the Capital Athletic Conference, now has a new name: The Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C).

The C2C reveal its new name, visual identity and brand, concluding a collaboration between the conference office and the team at Skye Design Studios (SDS). 

"I am excited with the new C2C identity and offer a sincere thank you to Skye Dillon for his leadership, creativity and professionalism throughout the process," said C2C Commissioner Chris Roekle. "I would also like to thank the rebranding committee, whose insight helped us in reaching our modern design which will serve our nationwide membership well for years to come."

Mount Mary Director of Atlethics Natalie Balleto took part in the C2C rebranding committee. "It was such a great experience to work on the rebranding committee, a meeting I truly looked forward to every week!" Balleto said. "Skye provided a welcoming and collaborative environment for all of us in an effort to reach our goals for the rebrand. Our conference is so unique at the Division 3 level—we wanted to be sure every aspect of our rebrand celebrated our diversity and distinctive opportunities for our student-athletes."

Four of the six Blue Angels Athletics programs will receive an invitation to compete in the newly-fashioned Coast-To-Coast Conference: Basketball, Soccer, Softball, and Volleyball. 

The C2C model provides a coast-to-coast, destination-based conference championship experience for its student-athletes, culminating with access to NCAA Championships. Those who raise the C2C trophy will display the excellence to compete on the national stage. 

The C2C is diverse and welcomes all newcomers, representing a league without boundaries and full of opportunity. These stories and more can be told through the new brand.

The identity is built upon three key brand positioning strategies:

Coast-To-Coast - The C2C is the only collegiate conference to feature a 'sea-to-sea' geographic footprint, with membership spanning from the Atlantic to Pacific coasts. This distinguishing trait is clearly communicated through the league name, with the moniker 'C2C' providing an abbreviated expression of this same concept. The logos themselves further leverage this trait by framing each title within a stylized depiction of the continental United States.

Daring - With aspirations to redefine the traditional collegiate conference construct, this descriptor sets the tone of the entire identity, expressing the ethos of the league and inspiring the futuristic look and feel of the logos themselves. The slogan 'Dare To Prepare' was created to function as a call to action for those within the league as well as an invitation to prospective members. 

Championship Experience - Nationwide membership provides the opportunity for destination-based championships each season, following the same model as that of the NCAA. Likewise, the C2C championship logos and support graphics highlight the host sites for each event and celebrate the chance for student-athletes to travel abroad.

"What Chris and his colleagues are embarking on with this conference is unprecedented," said Skye Dillon, Founder of SDS. "The C2C story is all about fearlessly looking toward the future and doing so with a national perspective. The imagination, excitement, and sheer boldness of this vision served as our benchmark when creating the identity."

Although membership resides in seven states across the country, each C2C institution possesses the commonalities of both a sunrise and sunset as well as bodies of water, uniting the conference as one. Likewise, bright orange and aqua were selected as the conference colors.

In addition to its primary and secondary marks, the updated visual identity also includes a suite of sport-specific logos, complete with corresponding championship marks for each sport.

The C2C consists of 11 full-time members for the 2020-21 academic year: University of California-Santa Cruz, Christopher Newport University (Va.), Finlandia University (Mich.), University of Mary Washington (Va.), Mills College (Calif.), Mount Mary University (Wis.), Pine Manor College (Mass.), Pratt Institute (N.Y.), St. Mary's College (Md.), Salisbury University (Md.) and Southern Virginia University.  

View the official C2C Launch Page here: https://spark.adobe.com/page/nW4Mx4xKczGm4/