{"id":4061,"date":"2016-03-03T16:20:28","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T21:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=4061"},"modified":"2016-03-03T16:20:28","modified_gmt":"2016-03-03T21:20:28","slug":"4061","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/","title":{"rendered":"SoCon, Now in Its 96th Year, Returns to Asheville this Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

The Southern Conference returns to Asheville and the ExploreAsheville.com<\/a> Arena at the U.S. Cellular Center for the 2016 Southern Conference Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Basketball Championships presented by General Shale. The tournaments are scheduled for March 3\u20137 at the 6,300-seat venue. The oldest league tournament in the nation, the first SoCon men\u2019s tournament was held in 1921, and 2016 marks the 96th<\/sup> year of the postseason classic.<\/p>\n

Several special events surround this year\u2019s tournaments. March 3\u20134 will serve as education days, as an estimated 3,000 local elementary school students will attend the morning sessions.<\/p>\n

SoCon mascots and spirit group members will visit Mission Children\u2019s Hospital on March 4, and the morning of March 5 will see hundreds of children pack Pack Square for the Downtown Dribble and KidsFest. Hosted by the Southern Conference, Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission and the YMCA of Western North Carolina, KidsFest will feature games, activities, bands, cheerleaders, and mascots, as well as healthy lifestyle exhibits and interactives for children. The fourth annual Downtown Dribble\u2014a dribble parade from Pack Square to the U.S. Cellular Center\u2014will follow.<\/p>\n

SoCon Overtime will be in full swing each night of the tournament, as participating local bars, restaurants, and breweries will offer musical entertainment and drink and food specials throughout the week.<\/p>\n

The Southern Conference, Asheville-Buncombe Regional Sports Commission, and the Southern Conference Asheville Local Organizing Committee will host a pregame indoor tailgate party prior to the men\u2019s title game on Monday, March 7. The event, named Basketball, BBQ & Beer, will run from 5:30\u20137:45 p.m. and will take place in the concourse area of the U.S. Cellular Center. The event will give patrons an opportunity to sample fare from various Asheville-area barbecue restaurants and breweries.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the tournament are available by contacting any member institution ticket office. For more information, visit soconsports.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The Southern Conference returns to Asheville and the ExploreAsheville.com Arena at the U.S. Cellular Center for the 2016 Southern Conference Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Basketball Championships presented by General Shale. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":4062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,59,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-entertainmentandmusic","category-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"\nSoCon, Now in Its 96th Year, Returns to Asheville this Month<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Southern Conference returns to Asheville at the U.S. Cellular Center for the 2016 Southern Conference Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Basketball Championships.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SoCon, Now in Its 96th Year, Returns to Asheville this Month\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Southern Conference returns to Asheville at the U.S. Cellular Center for the 2016 Southern Conference Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Basketball Championships.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Laurel of Asheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thelaurelofasheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-03T21:20:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/SoCon-SCWGS20-8500-copy_F.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"417\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scott Hove\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AshevilleLaurel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AshevilleLaurel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott Hove\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Scott Hove\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1\"},\"headline\":\"SoCon, Now in Its 96th Year, Returns to Asheville this Month\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-03T21:20:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":318,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/SoCon-SCWGS20-8500-copy_F.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Archives\",\"Entertainment and Music\",\"Lifestyle\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/\",\"name\":\"SoCon, Now in Its 96th Year, Returns to Asheville this Month\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/SoCon-SCWGS20-8500-copy_F.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-03T21:20:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1\"},\"description\":\"The Southern Conference returns to Asheville at the U.S. Cellular Center for the 2016 Southern Conference Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Basketball Championships.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/SoCon-SCWGS20-8500-copy_F.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/SoCon-SCWGS20-8500-copy_F.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":417,\"caption\":\"8 March 2015: The Southern Conference hosted their 2015 basketball championship, Sunday in Asheville, North Carolina. Wafered 67, Furman 64. Credit: Todd Drexler\\\/SoConPhotos.com\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/4061\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"SoCon, Now in Its 96th Year, Returns to Asheville this Month\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Laurel of Asheville\",\"description\":\"The Arts and Culture of Communities Across the Mountains\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1\",\"name\":\"Scott Hove\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Scott Hove\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"SoCon, Now in Its 96th Year, Returns to Asheville this Month","description":"The Southern Conference returns to Asheville at the U.S. Cellular Center for the 2016 Southern Conference Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Basketball Championships.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"SoCon, Now in Its 96th Year, Returns to Asheville this Month","og_description":"The Southern Conference returns to Asheville at the U.S. Cellular Center for the 2016 Southern Conference Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Basketball Championships.","og_url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/","og_site_name":"The Laurel of Asheville","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thelaurelofasheville","article_published_time":"2016-03-03T21:20:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":417,"url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/SoCon-SCWGS20-8500-copy_F.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Scott Hove","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AshevilleLaurel","twitter_site":"@AshevilleLaurel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scott Hove","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/"},"author":{"name":"Scott Hove","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#\/schema\/person\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1"},"headline":"SoCon, Now in Its 96th Year, Returns to Asheville this Month","datePublished":"2016-03-03T21:20:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/"},"wordCount":318,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/SoCon-SCWGS20-8500-copy_F.jpg","articleSection":["Archives","Entertainment and Music","Lifestyle"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/","url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/","name":"SoCon, Now in Its 96th Year, Returns to Asheville this Month","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/SoCon-SCWGS20-8500-copy_F.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-03T21:20:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#\/schema\/person\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1"},"description":"The Southern Conference returns to Asheville at the U.S. Cellular Center for the 2016 Southern Conference Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Basketball Championships.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/SoCon-SCWGS20-8500-copy_F.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/SoCon-SCWGS20-8500-copy_F.jpg","width":800,"height":417,"caption":"8 March 2015: The Southern Conference hosted their 2015 basketball championship, Sunday in Asheville, North Carolina. Wafered 67, Furman 64. Credit: Todd Drexler\/SoConPhotos.com"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/4061\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"SoCon, Now in Its 96th Year, Returns to Asheville this Month"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/","name":"The Laurel of Asheville","description":"The Arts and Culture of Communities Across the Mountains","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#\/schema\/person\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1","name":"Scott Hove","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Scott Hove"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4061"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4063,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4061\/revisions\/4063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}