The National Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a defunct national organization of men's

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

- and

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

-level

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

programs in the United States. The NCHA used to be known as the

Collegiate Ice Hockey Association The Collegiate Ice Hockey Association or CIHA was a national organization of non-NCAA, men's college and university level ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with ...

(CIHA) and the

National Association of Intercollegiate Hockey The National Association of Intercollegiate Hockey (NAIH) was a national organization of non-NCAA, men's college and university level ice hockey programs. Membership in the NAIH consisted of private and public colleges and universities throughou ...

(NAIH). The association was primarily composed of American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division III teams from the Northeast.

History

The NAIH was formed in 2011 as an alternative to the ACHA for hockey teams that wanted a lower cost for membership and a high level of competition. However, many teams in the NCHA were also members of the ACHA. In the spring of 2013, the NAIH changed its name to the CIHA and after the 2013-14 season changed its name to the NCHA. In July 2014, the NCHA was sanctioned by the

United Hockey Union The United Hockey Union (UHU), founded in 2012, is a group of ice hockey leagues in North America. The UHU is overseen and insured by the Amateur Athletic Union. Neither body is recognized by USA Hockey, Hockey Canada, or the International Ice Hoc ...

, a branch of

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

Teams

For the 2015–16 season, the NCHA had four conferences: North Eastern (New York), South Eastern (Pennsylvania/West Virginia), South Western (California) and the Independent Conference. The champion of each conference receives an automatic bid to Nationals. North Eastern Conference *''East Division'' :*

Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (formerly Albany College of Pharmacy) is a private, independent college with campuses in Albany, New York and Colchester, Vermont. ACPHS was named the #1 Value-Added college or university in the cou ...

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

Le Moyne College Le Moyne College is a private Jesuit college in DeWitt, New York.http://www.ongov.net/planning/haz/documents/Section9.7-TownofDeWitt.pdf It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1946 and named after Jesuit missionary Simon Le Moyne. At its fo ...

:* Union College *''West Division'' :* D'Youville College :* Medaille College :*

St. John Fisher College St. John Fisher University is a private liberal arts college in Pittsford, New York. It is named after John Fisher, an English Catholic cardinal and saint. It was named St. John Fisher College until July 1, 2022. History St. John Fisher Univers ...

:* SUNY Brockport :*

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

South Eastern Conference * California University of Pennsylvania *

Community College of Allegheny County Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is a public community college in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. With four campuses and four centers, the college offers associate degrees, certificates, and diplomas. History The Pennsylvania legis ...

Penn State Altoona Penn State Altoona is a commonwealth campus of The Pennsylvania State University located in Logan Township, Pennsylvania. It is one of four full-fledged four year institutions in the Commonwealth Campus network. The full-time student count was ...

University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg (Pitt-Greensburg or UPG) is a state-related liberal arts college in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. It is a baccalaureate degree-granting regional campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Opened in 1963, Pitt ...

* West Virginia University South Western Conference * Cal Lutheran * Chapman *

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

* Ventura College Independent Conference *

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

* Otterbein University *

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries t ...

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ...

Founders Cup Champions

The 2012–13 season was the first year the NAIH held a national tournament. The national championship trophy was dubbed the Founders Cup.

References

External links

NCHA official website
{Dead link, date=April 2020 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
@NCHAicehockey

United Hockey Union official website
College ice hockey in the United States Ice hockey governing bodies in the United States College club sports associations in the United States

History

Teams

Founders Cup Champions

See also

References

External links