The Southeastern Conference has awarded the 2010 SEC Gymnastics Championship to Jacksonville, Fla., SEC Commissioner Mike Slive announced today. The championship will be hosted by the Gator Bowl Association.

“We are excited about the opportunity to have our gymnastics championship at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena,” said Slive. “Gymnastics has been very popular in the SEC and having our championship in such a great SEC city gives us another location where we can showcase this exciting event.”

The SEC has won 14 national championships in the sport of gymnastics since 1987, including a current streak of five consecutive by the University of Georgia.

“The Gator Bowl Association is extremely proud to host the 2010 Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championship featuring the top gymnastics teams in the nation,” said Gator Bowl Association President Rick Catlett. “The City of Jacksonville has a long history with gymnastics competition but the SEC Gymnastics Championship will take that to a whole new level.”

The SEC Gymnastics Championship was held at on-campus sites from 1981-2000. It was then moved to neutral sites and held in Birmingham, Ala. (2001-2003, ‘06), while also being held since in Duluth, Ga.(2004-05, ‘08), North Little Rock, Ark (2007) and Nashville, Tenn.(2009).

“It is great to host SEC athletics, once again, in Jacksonville,” Assistant General Manager Robin Timothy said. “On behalf of the entire SMG staff and the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, we look forward to serving the athletes and the fans during this competition.”

The 2010 SEC Gymnastics Championship will take place on Saturday, March 27. For ticket information, please visit www.SECsports.com.