ACC selects new sites for events moved from NC

The ACC has selected sites for eight of the championships it will move from North Carolina because of a law that restricts the rights of LGBT people, moving four events to Georgia, the league announced.

Three more championships are headed to South Carolina and another – baseball – is set for Kentucky. Norfolk had been considering a run at getting the baseball tournament at Harbor Park, since the Tides are on the road during that time.

The moves were made in response to a North Carolina law that excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from local and statewide antidiscrimination protections. It also requires transgender people to use restrooms at schools and government buildings corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates.

Four ACC events are headed to Georgia: women’s and men’s swimming and diving (Atlanta) and women’s and men’s tennis (Rome). South Carolina gets women’s soccer (Charleston), women’s golf (Pawley’s Island) and men’s golf (Clinton). The baseball tournament is moving from Durham to Louisville, KY.

In response to the law, the NCAA pulled several championship events from the state last month, including the first- and second-round men’s basketball tournament games scheduled for Greensboro. The ACC followed suit days later.

The ACC had said it would move 10 neutral-site championships out of North Carolina because of the law.

Last week, the league awarded this season’s football championship game, which was scheduled to be held in Charlotte, to Orlando. The latest announcement addresses every sport affected by the relocation decision except women’s basketball.

League spokesman Steve Phillips says that site has not yet been determined.- The Virginian – Pilot (Norfolk, VA)