About the Cal Pac
The California Pacific Conference enters a pivotal moment in its 30-year history, with a core membership competing together as one of the most geographically diverse conferences in the NAIA. In 2026-27 the league has 8 full-time and affiliate members competing in the men's and women's sports of Basketball, Cross Country, Soccer, Volleyball and Track. Since 2010, the Cal Pac has brought 15 institutions into the Association, more than any other league. Overall, 30 different institutions have called the Cal Pac home since it launched in 1995.
A perennial Five Star Conference of Character since the program's inception in 2009, in 2017 and 2018 the Cal Pac was the only conference in the nation with ALL of its members designated as Character Institutions. The league also set a national record by having nine institutions reach the elusive NAIA Gold standard for Champions of Character in 2018.
Conference members come from across the wild West, from various religious affiliations, and liberal arts colleges and feature wide-ranging educational opportunities. The conference spans the state of California, from just south of the Oregon border, to the Bay Area, to Central California, to Southern California and New Mexico. The conference touches major metropolitan areas and nationally revered scenic sites. These current members make up the current full time conference membership.:
Pacific Union College (Angwin, CA)
Northern New Mexico College (Espanola, NM)
Simpson University (Redding, CA)
Stanton University (Anaheim, CA)
Westcliff University (Irvine, CA)
Dakota State (South Dakota), Fisher (Massachusetts) and Walla Walla University (Washington) are affiliate members, adding strength to women's soccer (Dakota State) and men's volleyball (Fisher & Walla Walla).
The conference was chartered in May 24, 1995, by seven Bay Area institutions: Bethany, Cal Maritime, Dominican College, Holy Names, Pacific Union, Patten College and Simpson.
The first conference action took place 1996-1997 with seven of the eight charter members playing a league basketball schedule. The Cal Pac was created during a time period in which many NAIA schools in the West were leaving for NCAA Division II or III conferences. As recently as 1992, there were only two NAIA schools in Northern California. The implementation of the Cal Pac allowed for a reverse trend as it attracted eight new members into the NAIA, including five that had been long-time NCAA schools.
A foundation existed for the formation of an NAIA-affiliated conference in Northern California when two Oakland schools, Patten (1993) and Holy Names (1994) joined Bethany and Dominican in the NAIA, with Pacific Union joining in 1995. Bill Fusco, then-Dominican athletic director, spearheaded the idea of pulling more teams into the Association with the goal of creating an affiliated conference.
Since Dr. Don Ott began serving as the league's commissioner in 2007, 15 institutions joined the NAIA through the Cal Pac's efforts. He became the conference's first full-time commissioner in 2017. Ott has worked in intercollegiate athletics for over 40 years, starting as a student assistant at Washington State University, and including stops with the Pacific-10 Conference, Athletes In Action's world touring team, Oral Roberts University, a 16-year stint as the associate commissioner of the West Coast Conference of NCAA DI, and 16 years on the pastoral staff of Castro Valley First Baptist Church. He completed work on a Doctorate in Religious Studies through Trinity Seminary in 2020. Ott is also part the NAIA's National Administrative Committee, the primary decision-making body for the Association, and serves as the chair of the NAIA women's soccer selection committee.
Andre Harrell, a former Cal Pac SID at Antelope Valley, oversees sports information and web administration.
Patsy Livingston, honored by the NAIA as the national "Administrator of the Year" in 2020-21, is the Cal Pac's Eligibility Chair. Patsy has the rare distinction of overseeing eligibility in two conferences (GSAC as well), so is in charge of 25 NAIA institution's eligibility processes.
CONTACT
Physical Address: 3740 Redwood Road, Suite A-7, Castro Valley, CA 94546
Shipping Address: 4612 Lawrence Drive, Castro Valley, CA 94546
Commissioner Dr. Donald (Don) L. Ott: (510) 432-7699
SID Andre Harrell: (661) 468-6984
Eligibility Chair Patsy Livingston: (775) 223-7729
eligibility@calpacathletics.com
ALL-TIME CONFERENCE MEMBERS
Antelope Valley
Benedictine-Mesa
Bethany
Cal State East Bay
Cal State Maritime Academy
Cal State Monterey Bay
Central Christian
Dakota State
Dominican
Embry-Riddle AZ
Fisher
Holy Names
La Sierra
Marymount California
Menlo
Mills
Northern New Mexico
Notre Dame da Namur
Pacific Union
Park-Gilbert
Patton
Providence Christian
Saint Katherine
Simpson
Soka University of America
Stanton
UC Merced
UC Santa Cruz
William Jessup
Walla Walla
Westcliff