National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association

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National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association


Abbreviation NCRHA
Formation August 1, 2003
Legal status Association
Headquarters Torrance, California
Region served United States of America
Membership >2,500 players
186 teams
7 member organizations
Executive Director Brennan Edwards
Website http://www.ncrha.org

The National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (NCRHA), is the national governing body of college roller hockey in the United States. In 2001, six member organizations parted from their former national governing body, the Collegiate Roller Hockey League (CRHL), and announced the creation of the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association.

Its headquarters are located in Torrance, California, and it is currently under the leadership of executive director Brennan Edwards.

The NCRHA is not affiliated with the governing body of most college athletics - the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Contents

[edit] History

The origins of the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association can be followed back to the spring of 1994 when it was developed as an in-line program to the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association, a collegiate ice hockey league in California. While the league was small with only three teams, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona became the first league champion that year. The other two teams participating were University of Southern California and University of California at Los Angeles. Only a few months later the league grew in popularity and added two new schools, El Camino College and Moorpark College. But not only did the team selection get bigger, but so did the league itself. In the 1994-95 season, the PCHA renamed itself the Collegiate Inline Hockey Association, and became reorganized.

After renaming the league, the CIHA would experience massive growth by adding two new schools, University of San Diego and University of California, Santa Barbara in the spring of 1995. By the fall of 1995, California Polytechnic State University, Ventura College, Pepperdine University, California State University, Fullerton, University of California, Irvine and University of Nevada, Las Vegas all joined the still young league.

By the spring of 1996, even more teams were joining the league as Pierce College and Marymount College signed on to play. The league also decided to once again change its appearance and name and so from after the spring of 1996, the league would now be recognized as the National Collegiate Inline Hockey Association. Not only did the name change, but so did the season layout to a single, yearly championship that would not only encompass the West Coast, but the entire nation.

The first national championships were held in Las Vegas, Nevada for the fall season of 1996. The tournament was held in unison with the National In-line Hockey Association. El Camino College defeated Purdue University 4-3 in a shootout to win the first NCIHA National Championships. In their first season of competition, Saddleback College won the 2nd NCIHA National Championships again held in Las Vegas, by defeating University of Nevada, Las Vegas 9-3. The event was hosted by USA Hockey InLine.

In 1998, the 3rd NCIHA National Championships were held once again in Las Vegas for the third straight year. University of Missouri-St. Louis would defeat California Polytechnic State University 3-0 in the championship game. The 1998 event was hosted by Roller Hockey International-Amateur.

Due to the expansion, the NCIHA had witnessed not only in the west coast but nation wide, the league decided to implement a different internal organization and so the Western Collegiate Inline Hockey League became a region of the newly formed Collegiate Roller Hockey League. The WCIHL and four other leagues nation wide would be separated to play in regional tournaments, but then meet up at the national level to determine which team would be the best in the United States. Teams would be broken into two divisions, Division I and Division III. In 1999, the CRHL National Championship Tournament I took place in Chicago, Illinois. Michigan State University would defeat University of California, Santa Barbara 5-4 in the Division I championship game. Grossmont College would earn the championship in Division III play.

In 2000, CRHL National Championship Tournament II was played in Ellenton, Florida, a census-designated place south of Tampa. Michigan State University repeated as Division I champion defeating Colorado State University 5-4 in the championship. St. Charles Community College defeated Elgin Community College 12-5 for the DIII championship.

In 2001, the CRHL expanded with a Division II division. In 2003, the league came to the decision to add a Premier Division for its more well established clubs such as Lindenwood University, Michigan State University, Ohio State University and University of Michigan. The decision proved unsuccessful.

On August 1, 2003, the Atlantic Collegiate Roller Hockey Association, Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association, Great Plains Collegiate Inline Hockey League, Southwest Collegiate Hockey League, Southeast Collegiate Roller Hockey Association and Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League parted from the national governing body, the CRHL, and announced the creation of the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association. By September 1, [[2003], the Midwest Collegiate Roller Hockey League and newly-formed Rocky Mountain Collegiate Roller Hockey Association had joined as Member Organizations of the NCRHA, bringing the total to eight. In March 2005, the ACRHA and the SCRHA merged to form a new organization the Southeastern Collegiate Roller Hockey League.

[edit] Teams and regions

The NCRHA is a collaboration of 186 (as of February 2008) collegiate inline hockey teams. These teams are divided into their respective regions where they compete for regional titles. Each region consists of Division I, Division II, Division III and B Division (junior varsity) team who compete for the right to represent their region on the national stage each April. Currently there are seven member organizations that make up the NCRHA.

The NCRHA has taken a firm hold and boasts teams with memberships exceeding a decade and holds record of 2243 participants in the league. The games are held at any one of 88 facilities. Likewise, the league has developed to a point where colleges have established strong programs and powerhouses such as Lindenwood, Neumann College, and the numerous teams out of Michigan and Florida.

At the end of each season, the NCRHA announces bids to ranked teams for a final tournament to be held at a different location around the nation each year. This stands as the tournament to announce the national champions. The 2008 tournament will be held in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

[edit] Past Champions

[edit] Division I

Year Champion Score Runner-Up Location Semi-Finalist #1 Semi-Finalist #2
1999 Michigan State 5-4 UC -Santa Barabra Chicago, IL Penn State
2000 Michigan State 5-4 Colorado State Ellenton, FL Cal Poly SLO PSU Altoona
2001 RIT 10-5 Lindenwood Upland, CA PSU Altoona Truman State
2002 Lindenwood 6-4 Michigan State St. Louis, MO Purdue Michigan
2003 Cal Poly Pomona 4-2 Florida Feasterville, PA Towson RIT
2003 Lindenwood Michigan State Feasterville, PA
2004 Lindenwood 10-3 Penn State Anaheim, CA Central Florida Florida
2005 Lindenwood 5-2 Central Florida Fort Collins, CO Michigan State Eastern Michigan
2006 Lindenwood 7-5 Michigan State Morrisville, NC Towson Eastern Michigan
2007 Lindenwood 12-2 Rhode Island St. Louis, MO RIT Eastern Michigan
2008 Lindenwood 6-3 UM-St.Louis Colorado Springs, CO UC Irvine Central Florida

[edit] Division II

Year Champion Score Runner-Up Location Semi-Finalist #1 Semi-Finalist #2
2001 Eastern Michigan Ball State Upland, CA Truman State
2002 Illinois State 2-0 Ball State St.Louis, MO SUNY Buffalo West Chester
2003 SUNY Binghamton 6-3 Neumann Feasterville, PA Maine Texas-Dallas
2004 UM - St.Louis 4-3 Neumann Anaheim, CA Maine Nevada
2005 Nevada 4-2 Neumann Fort Collins, CO Washington (STL) Saint Louis
2006 Neumann 4-3 UM - St.Louis Morrisville, NC SUNY Brockport Nevada
2007 SUNY Stony Brook 4-1 Saint Louis St. Louis, MO Neumann UM - St.Louis
2008 Neumann 6-1 West Chester Colorado Springs, CO UC San Diego CSU Bernardino

[edit] Division III

Year Champion Score Runner-Up Location Semi-Finalist #1 Semi-Finalist #2
2000 St. Charles CC 12-5 Elgin CC Ellenton, FL STL CC - Meramec Grossmont CC
2001 St. Charles CC 7-6 ot Grossmont CC Upland, CA
2002 St. Charles CC 6-5 STL CC - Meramec St.Louis, MO Collin CCC Valencia CC
2003 St. Charles CC 3-2 STL CC - Meramec Feasterville, PA Northern Virginia CC Suffolk CCC
2004 St. Charles CC 7-2 Suffolk CCC Anaheim, CA STL CC - Meramec Moorpark CC
2005 St. Charles CC 6-5 Riverside CC Fort Collins, CO STL CC - Meramec Suffolk CCC
2006 Riverside CC 5-4 STL CC - Meramec Morrisville, NC St. Charles CC Suffolk CCC
2007 St. Charles CC 8-2 Broward CC St. Louis, MO Suffolk CCC Nassau CC
2008 Broward CC 8-7 OT Oakland CC Colorado Springs, CO St. Charles CC STL CC - Meramec

[edit] B Division

Year Champion Score Runner-Up Location Semi-Finalist #1 Semi-Finalist #2
2004 Lindenwood 10-2 St. Louis CC - Meramec Anaheim, CA Cal Poly SLO Eastern Michigan
2005 Lindenwood 3-2 Eastern Michigan Fort Collins, CO Cal Poly SLO Western Michigan
2006 Lindenwood 10-1 St. Louis CC - Meramec Morrisville, NC Cal Poly SLO Eastern Michigan
2007 Lindenwood 13-2 St. Louis CC - Meramec St. Louis, MO Suffolk CC Michigan State
2008 Lindenwood 5-1 Central Florida Colorado Springs, CO UC Santa Barbara Michigan State

[edit] NCRHA Winterfest

Year Champion Score Runner-Up Location Semi-Finalist #1 Semi-Finalist #2
2001 Michigan State Missouri Las Vegas, NV PSU Altoona Colorado State
2002 Michigan State 3-2 ot Ohio State Las Vegas, NV Penn State RIT
2003 Michigan State 5-1 Central Florida Las Vegas, NV Cal Poly SLO RIT
2004 Michigan State 6-5 ot Central Florida Las Vegas, NV Towson South Florida
2005 Eastern Michigan 6-4 Michigan State Wixom, MI UM - St.Louis Central Florida
2006 Lindenwood 8-2 St. Charles CC St. Peters, MO NC State Eastern Michigan
2007 Florida International 6-5 ot Army Key West, FL Missouri-Rolla Colorado
2008 Army 4-3 Missouri-Rolla Key West, FL Colorado Florida International
  • 2001-2004 - Event was held at NARCH Winternationals
  • 2005 - Event was renamed NCRHA Winter Invitational
  • 2007 - Event was renamed NCRHA Winterfest

[edit] See also

[edit] External links