PEMBROKE – The UNCP football team welcomed an estimated 110 student-athletes back to the football practice field on Tuesday afternoon as the Braves participate in the first of an NCAA-allotted 15 spring practice sessions at Grace P. Johnson Stadium.

The Black and Gold held the first two of an NCAA-mandated helmets-only sessions this week, hitting the practice fields behind its home stadium on Tuesday and and will practice again today at 4 p.m., while also engaging in a full pads session on Thursday at 3:45 p.m. The Braves will get the next eight days off to observe Spring Break, but will return to the practice field for the first session in full pads on March 16.

The Braves will play the first of three scrimmage games on March 27 at 8:45 a.m., with the second to be held the following Thursday (April 1) at 3:45 p.m. UNCP will hold its third annual Black and Gold Spring Game on April 8 at 6 p.m. inside Grace P. Johnson Stadium.

All practice sessions are open to the general public, but spectators are asked to stay outside the fence lines.

UNCP will return 18 of 22 starters for the 2010 campaign, including 10 on the defensive side of the ball, to a team that finished 9-2 last season and became the youngest program to qualify for the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Black and Gold concluded the season at No. 20 in the final American Football Coaches Association Top 25.