The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) is an
intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA)
Division III. Member schools are primarily small
liberal arts colleges in the
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
states of
Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
and
Vermont
Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...
, as well as the
Mid-Atlantic state of
New York.
The conference was founded in 1996 when six colleges agreed to form the North Atlantic Women's Conference. It changed to its current name in the fall of 1999. It currently sponsors a total of 17 men's and women's sports played by teams of the 13 institutions therein.
The 17 different sports that are played in the NAC range from the fall season, throughout the winter, and to the spring season. These sports are played among both men's and women's teams.
In the fall season, there are six sports played. Among these are, men's and women's
cross country,
field hockey
Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
, men's
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
, men's and women's
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
, women's
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
, and women's
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
.
In the winter season there are two sports played, which are men's and women's
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
along with men's and women's
swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
and
diving.
In the spring time there are four sports both for men's and women's teams. The NAC has men's and women's
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...
,
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
,
softball
Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
, men's
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
, and men's and women's
outdoor track & field.
History
On June 9, 2016, Colby–Sawyer announced that it would leave the NAC following the 2017–18 school year to join the
Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).
On May 4, 2017, Castleton announced that it would leave the NAC following the 2017–18 school year to join the
Little East Conference (LEC).
On June 13, 2017, Green Mountain announced that it would leave the NAC (and the NCAA) following the 2017–18 school year to join the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...
(NAIA), which it would spend one season as an NAIA member before closing in 2019.
On July 31, 2017, New England College announced that it would leave the NAC following the 2017–18 school year to join the
New England Collegiate Conference (NECC).
The NAC announced the additions of the Maine–Presque Isle and the
State University of New York at Canton (SUNY Canton) as full members beginning in the fall of 2018. Both schools had been members of the
American Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA).
On November 30, 2018, the NAC announced that the
State University of New York at Delhi (SUNY Delhi), already an associate member in six sports (men's golf, men's lacrosse, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's track & field), would become a full member of the conference effective in the fall of 2019. At that time, five additional Delhi sports—men's and women's cross country, men's golf, men's and women's soccer, and women's volleyball—began NAC play. Three more sports—men's and women's basketball, plus softball—remained in the ACAA as its associate member until starting NAC play in 2020–21.
On August 20, 2019, the NAC announced that three schools—
Cazenovia College, the
State University of New York at Cobleskill (SUNY Cobleskill) and the
State University of New York Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly)—would become full members in July 2020.
On March 1, 2022, the NAC announced that SUNY Morrisville (formerly Morrisville State)—alongside Lesley—would join as full members in the 2023–24 season.
On January 9, 2023, the NAC announced that they would welcome
Eastern Nazarene College as a full member, also starting in the 2023–24 season.
On October 5, 2023, SUNY Canton and SUNY Morrisville accepted to join to the
State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC). A month later, on November 21, 2023, SUNY Poly followed suit to join the
Empire 8.
Eastern Nazarene announced that it would be permanently closing following the 2023–24 academic year.
On June 5, 2025, SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Delhi had accepted to join the SUNYAC, thus leaving the NAC at 8 full members (all within New England).
Chronological timeline
* 1996 – The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) was founded as the North Atlantic Women's Conference (NAWC). Charter members included
Bay Path College (now Bay Path University),
Lasell College (now Lasell University),
Lesley College (now Lesley University), the
Maine Maritime Academy, the
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy (now the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences) and
Wheelock College, beginning the 1996–97 academic year.
* 1999:
** Mass Pharmacy left the NAWC after the 1998–99 academic year.
** The NAWC was rebranded as the North Atlantic Conference, while adding men's sports in there, beginning the 1999–2000 academic year.
**
Becker College,
Elms College and
Mount Ida College joined the NAC in the 1999–2000 academic year.
* 2000 –
Simmons College (now Simmons University) and
Western New England College (now Western New England University) joined the NAC as associate members for field hockey in the 2000 fall season (2000–01 academic year).
* 2001:
**
Castleton State College (later Castleton University and now Vermont State University at Castleton) and
Johnson State College (later Northern Vermont University at Johnson and now Vermont State University at Johnson) joined the NAC in the 2001–02 academic year.
**
Husson College
Husson University is a private university in Bangor, Maine, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and as of Fall 2022 had a total enrollment of 3,065 students, including 636 graduate students in master's and doctoral ...
(now Husson University), the
University of Maine at Farmington (UMaine–Farmington) and
Thomas College joined the NAC as associate members for field hockey in the 2001 fall season (2001–02 academic year).
* 2003 – Husson, UMaine–Farmington and Thomas upgraded their NAC memberships for all sports in the 2003–04 academic year.
* 2004 – Three institutions joined the NAC as associate members, all effective in the 2005 spring season (2004–05 academic year):
**
Daniel Webster College and
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...
for men's lacrosse
** and
Saint Joseph's College of Maine for baseball
* 2007:
** Lasell and Mount Ida left the NAC to join the
Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) after the 2006–07 academic year; while both remained in the conference as associate members (Lasell for field hockey, and Mount Ida for men's lacrosse).
** Two institutions left the NAC as associate members, both effective after the 2006–07 academic year):
*** Saint Joseph's (Me.) for baseball
*** and Western New England for field hockey
* 2008:
** Bay Path, Becker, Elms, Lesley and Wheelock left the NAC to form part of the then-newly created
New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) after the 2007–08 academic year.
** Daniel Webster left the NAC as an associate member for men's lacrosse after the 2008 spring season (2007–08 academic year).
**
Green Mountain College and
Lyndon State College (later Northern Vermont University at Lyndon and now Vermont State University at Lyndon) joined the NAC in the 2008–09 academic year.
** Saint Joseph's (Me.) rejoined the NAC as an associate member (this time for field hockey and men's lacrosse) in the 2008–09 academic year.
* 2009 –
Rivier University joined the NAC as an associate member for field hockey in the 2009 fall season (2009–10 academic year).
* 2010 – Emerson, Mount Ida and Saint Joseph's (Me.) left the NAC as associate members for men's lacrosse after the 2010 spring season (2009–10 academic year).
* 2011:
**
Colby–Sawyer College and
New England College joined the NAC in the 2008–09 academic year.
**
Salem State University joined the NAC as an associate member for men's golf in the 2012 spring season (2011–12 academic year).
* 2012 – The
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) joined the NAC as an associate member for men's golf, men's lacrosse and men's & women's tennis in the 2013 spring season (2012–13 academic year).
* 2014 – Lasell, Rivier, Saint Joseph's (Me.) and Simmons left the NAC as associate members for field hockey after the 2013 fall season (2013–14 academic year).
* 2017 – The
State University of New York at Delhi (SUNY Delhi) joined the NAC as an associate member for men's and women's track & field in the 2017–18 academic year.
* 2018:
** Four institutions left the NAC to join their future respective primary home conferences, all effective after the 2017–18 academic year:
*** Castleton to join the
Little East Conference (LEC)
*** Colby–Sawyer to join the GNAC
*** Green Mountain to join the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...
(NAIA) as an
Independent within the Association of Independent Institutions (AII)
*** and New England (N.H.) to join the NECC
** The
State University of New York at Canton (SUNY Canton) and the
University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMaine–Presque Isle or UMPI) joined the NAC in the 2018–19 academic year.
** SUNY Delhi added men's golf, men's lacrosse, and men's and women's tennis into its NAC associate membership in the 2019 spring season (2019–19 academic year).
* 2019 – SUNY Delhi upgraded its NAC membership for all sports in the 2019–20 academic year; although its men's and women's basketball and softball teams would later join in the 2020–21 school year.
* 2020:
** The MCLA and Salem State left the NAC as associate members for men's golf after the 2020 fall season (2019–20 academic year).
**
Cazenovia College, the
State University of New York at Cobleskill (SUNY Cobleskill) and the
State University of New York Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) joined the NAC in the 2020–21 academic year.
* 2023:
** Cazenovia left the NAC after the 2022–23 academic year; as the school ceased operations.
**
Eastern Nazarene College and the
State University of New York at Morrisville (SUNY Morrisville), with charter member Lesley rejoining, joined the NAC in the 2023–24 academic year.
* 2024 – Four institutions left the NAC to join their future respective primary home conferences, all effective after the 2023–24 academic year:
** Eastern Nazarene to discontinue its athletics program before ceasing operations on May 2025.
** SUNY Canton and SUNY Morrisville to the
State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC)
** and SUNY Poly to the
Empire 8 Athletic Conference (Empire 8)
* 2026 – SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Delhi will leave the NAC to join the SUNYAC, beginning in the 2026–27 academic year.
Member schools
Current members
The NAC currently has ten full members, all but three are
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
schools.
;Notes:
Associate member
The NAC currently has one associate member, which is also a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
school:
;Notes:
Former members
The NAC has thirteen former full members, all but one were
private schools:
;Notes:
Former associate members
The NAC had ten former associate members, all but two were
private schools. This list includes only associate members that have completely departed the NAC. Current full members that had previously housed select sports in the NAC, such as SUNY Delhi, are not included.
;Notes:
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1996 till:2030
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors =
id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote)
id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1996 till:2008 text: Bay Path (1996–2008)
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2021 text: NECC
bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:2021 till:end text: USCAA
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1996 till:2007 text: Lasell (1996–2007)
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:end text: GNAC
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1996 till:2008 text: Lesley (1996–2008)
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2023 text: NECC
bar:3 color:FullxF from:2023 till:end text:(2023–present)
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1996 till:end text: Maine Maritime (1996–present)
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1996 till:1999 text: Mass Pharmacy (1996–1999, then dropped athletics)
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1996 till:2008 text: Wheelock (1996–2008)
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2018 text: NECC, then acquired
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2008 text: Becker (1999–2008)
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2021 text: NECC, then closed
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2008 text: Elms (1999–2008)
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:end text: NECC
bar:8 color:OtherC2 from:2021 till:end text: GNAC
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2007 text: Mount Ida (1999–2007)
bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2018 text: GNAC, then closed
bar:10 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2018 text: Castleton (2001–2018)
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2018 till:end text: Little East
bar:11 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2023 text: Northern Vermont–Johnson (2001–2023)
bar:11 color:FullxF from:2023 till:end text: Vermont State–Johnson (2023–present)
bar:12 color:FullxF from:2003 till:end text: Husson (2003–present)
bar:13 color:FullxF from:2003 till:end text: Maine–Farmington (2003–present)
bar:14 color:FullxF from:2003 till:end text: Thomas (Me.) (2003–present)
bar:15 color:FullxF from:2008 till:2018 text: Green Mountain (2008–2018)
bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2018 till:2019 text:NAIA, then closed
bar:16 color:FullxF from:2008 till:2023 text: Northern Vermont–Lyndon (2008–2023)
bar:16 color:FullxF from:2023 till:end text: Vermont State–Lyndon (2023–present)
bar:17 color:FullxF from:2011 till:2018 text: Colby–Sawyer (2011–2018)
bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:2018 till:end text: GNAC
bar:18 color:FullxF from:2011 till:2018 text: New England College (2011–2018)
bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2018 till:2023 text: NECC
bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text: GNAC
bar:19 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text: Maine–Presque Isle (2018–present)
bar:20 color:FullxF from:2018 till:2024 text: SUNY Canton (2018–2024)
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: SUNYAC
bar:21 color:FullxF from:2019 till:2026 text: SUNY Delhi (2019–2026)
bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text: SUNYAC
bar:22 color:FullxF from:2020 till:2023 text: Cazenovia (2020–2023, then closed)
bar:23 color:FullxF from:2020 till:2026 text: SUNY Cobleskill (2020–2026)
bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text: SUNYAC
bar:24 color:FullxF from:2020 till:2024 text: SUNY Poly (2020–2024)
bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: Empire 8
bar:25 color:FullxF from:2023 till:2024 text: Eastern Nazarene (2023–2024)
bar:26 shift:(-120) color:FullxF from:2023 till:2024 text: SUNY Morrisville (2023–2024)
bar:26 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: SUNYAC
bar:N color:green from:1996 till:1999 text:NWAC
bar:N color:blue from:1999 till:end text:NAC
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1996
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pos:(370,30) # tabs:(0-center)
text:"North Atlantic Conference membership history"
Sports
Championships
The NAC holds championships in the following sports:
*Fall season: men's and women's
cross country,
field hockey
Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
,
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
, men's and women's
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
, women's
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
, women's
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
*Winter season: men's and women's
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
*Spring season:
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
, men's
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...
,
softball
Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
, men's
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
References
External links
*
{{NCAA Division III conference navbox
Articles which contain graphical timelines