Editing Merced, California (section)

==Sports==
[[UC Merced Golden Bobcats|UC Merced]] is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and competes in the California Pacific (Cal Pac) Conference. It offers men's and women's basketball, volleyball, soccer, water polo, cross country and track. In July 2024, it was announced that in 2026-2027, UC Merced will begin NCAA Division II competition in the 2025-26 academic year and will be fully eligible for postseason in 2026-27.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-11 |title=It's Official: UC Merced to Compete in NCAA Division II Athletics |url=https://ucmercedbobcats.com/news/2024/7/11/all-sports-uc-merced-accepted-into-ncaa-division-ii.aspx |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=University of California, Merced |language=en}}</ref>

[[Merced High School]] and [[Golden Valley High School (Merced)|Golden Valley High School]] sponsor athletics as well.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.muhsd.k12.ca.us/Domain/48/ |title=Merced High School / Homepage |access-date=October 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007005215/http://www.muhsd.k12.ca.us/Domain/48 |archive-date=October 7, 2013  }}</ref>

Merced has a history of minor league [[baseball]] including the [[California League]] [[Merced Bears]] (1940s)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1941 Merced Bears Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=February 14, 2019}}</ref> and [[Atwater Angels]] (1970s) in nearby [[Atwater, California]]. There were the defunct [[Merced Black Bears]] of the [[Horizon Air Summer Series]] and the current [[Atwater Aviators]] of the [[Golden State Collegiate Baseball League]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pointstreaksites.com/view/goldenstatecollegiatebaseballleague/teams-397/atwater-aviators|title = Pointstreak Sites}}</ref>