National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association

National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (NCRHA)

Current season, competition or edition: 2012–13 NCRHA season
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Sport	Inline hockey
Founded	August 1, 2003
Inaugural season	2003–04
Director	Brennan Edwards
Country	United States
Headquarters	Torrance, California, United States
Continent	North America
Related competitions	Division I Division II Division III Junior College Division B Division
Official website	NCRHA.org

The National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (NCRHA) is an "incorporated not-for-profit corporation" which operates a national collegiate inline hockey league consisting of five divisions of competition (Division I, Division II, Division III, Junior College Division and B Division). Headquartered in Torrance, California, the NCRHA is the national governing body of college inline hockey. The National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships is held annually to determine the national champions at the end of each season.

The league was organized on August 1, 2003, after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the Collegiate Roller Hockey League (CRHL), which had been founded 1998. The NCRHA draws many highly skilled players from all over the United States. The NCRHA is not affiliated with the governing body of most college athletics, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

History

The origins of the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association can be traced 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, Cal Poly Pomona became the first league champion that year. The other two teams participating were USC and UCLA. 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 UC Santa Barbara in the spring of 1995. By the fall of 1995, Cal Poly, Ventura College, Pepperdine, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and UNLV all joined the still young league.

By the spring of 1996, even more teams were joining the league as Pierce College and Loyola Marymount 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 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 UNLV 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. Missouri-St. Louis would defeat Cal Poly 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 nationwide, 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 nationwide 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 would defeat UC Santa Barbara 5-4 in the Division I championship game on a goal scored by captain Mike Mackert. 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 repeated as Division I champion defeating Colorado State 5-4 in the championship on a goal scored with 3.9 seconds left by Ed Kruschka. St. Charles Community College defeated Elgin Community College 12-5 for the D-III 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, Michigan State, Ohio State and 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.

Organizational structure

Executives

• Executive Director: Brennan Edwards
• Director, League Operations & Officiating: Rob Coggin

Board of Directors

• ECRHA Representative: Kevin Murphy
• GPCIHL Representative: Tom Fussner
• MCRHL Representative: Jeff Nolan
• RMCRHA Representative: Derek Thede
• SCHL Representative: Jerid Nemergut
• SECRHL Representative: Edward Luther
• WCRHL Representative: Patrick Moyer

Game

Main article: Inline hockey

Each National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association game is played between two teams, 4 skaters aside, and is 36 minutes long. The game is composed of three 12–stopped clock periods with an intermission of one–minute between periods. At the end of the 36–minute regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game. If at the end of regulation time, both teams are tied with the same number of goals, the game shall go to a 3 on 3-five minute sudden death overtime. If neither team scored after the 5 minutes have elapsed, a winner shall be declared by a shootout.

Ties do not occur during tournament format (such as regional and national championship tournaments) where a winner must be declared to advance to the next round of play. In these cases, sudden-death 12–minute four-on-four periods are played until one team scores. The first team to score a goal in the overtime period shall be declared the winner and advance to the next round.

Inline hockey rink

Main article: Inline hockey rink

National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association games are played on a rectangular inline hockey rink with rounded corners surrounded by walls and Plexiglas. As nearly as possible, it measures 80 by 180 feet (24.38 by 54.86 meters) in the NCRHA, with the minimum size of 65 by 145 feet (19.81 by 44.20 meters) and a maximum of 100 by 200 feet (30.48 by 60.96 meters). The center line divides the rink in half, which divides floor into two attacking zones. Near the end of both ends of the rink, there is a thin red goal line spanning the width of the floor, which is used to judge goals.

Season structure

See also: List of NCRHA seasons and Season structure of the NCRHA

The National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association season is divided into an exhibition season (October), a regular season (from October through February), regional championships (March) and the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships. During the exhibition season, teams usually play other teams in their member organization. During the regular season, clubs play each other in a predefined schedule. The regional championships are tournaments to determine member organization champions and automatic qualifiers for the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships. The final remaining team is crowned the national champion.

In the regular season, with the current NCRHA is divided into five divisions, and again geographically split into seven member organizations. Schedules are determined by member organizations, as well as each team. Each team plays the majority of games against intra-organizational opponents. Some teams play select games against inter-organizational opponents.

The NCRHA's regular season standings are based on a point system instead of winning percentages. Points are awarded for each game, where two points are awarded for a win, one point for a tie, and zero points for a loss. At the end of the regular season, most organizations hold a regional championship to determine its champion.

Regional champions along with a set number of at-large teams qualify for the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships. Teams are grouped into pools and play a round robin with teams in their respective pool to qualify for a single elimination tournament, with the remaining team being crowned national champion.

Team alignment

The current league organization divides the teams into five divisions: Division I, Division II, Division III, Junior College Division, and B Division. Teams are also group geographically into seven Member Organizations. The current organization has roots in the 2006–07 season when the Southeastern Collegiate Roller Hockey League was formed.

Past Champions

Main article: NCRHA Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships

Division I

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-Up	Location	Semi-Finalist #1	Semi-Finalist #2
1999	Michigan State	5–4	UC Santa Barbara	Chicago, IL	Penn State
2000	Michigan State	5–4	Colorado State	Ellenton, FL	Cal Poly San Luis Obispo	Penn State Altoona
2001	RIT	10–5	Lindenwood	Upland, CA	Boston University	Truman State
2002	Lindenwood	6–4	Michigan State	St. Louis, MO	Purdue	Michigan
2003	Cal Poly Pomona	4–2	Florida	Feasterville, PA	RIT	Towson
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	Missouri-St. Louis	Colorado Springs, CO	UC Irvine	Central Florida
2009	Missouri-St. Louis	5–3	Lindenwood	Feasterville, PA	Buffalo	Michigan State
2010	Lindenwood	5–1	Arizona State	San Jose, CA	Buffalo	Missouri-St. Louis
2011	Long Beach State	4–3	Cal Poly San Luis Obispo	Middleton, WI	Lindenwood	Rowan
2012	Bethel	4–3	UNLV	Kearns, UT	Eastern Michigan	Michigan State
2013	Lindenwood	6–2	Michigan State	Ft. Myers, FL	UNLV	Neumann
2014	Lindenwood	2–1	Neumann	Aston, PA	UNLV	Hofstra
2015	Neumann	4–3	Lindenwood	Independence, MO	UNLV	Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

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	Missouri-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	Missouri-St. Louis	Morrisville, NC	SUNY Brockport	Nevada
2007	SUNY Stony Brook	4-1	Saint Louis	St. Louis, MO	Neumann	Missouri-St. Louis
2008	Neumann	6-1	West Chester	Colorado Springs, CO	UC San Diego	Cal State San Bernardino
2009	Grand Valley State	9-7	Central Michigan	Feasterville, PA	Neumann	Missouri State
2010	West Chester	7-5	Southern Illinois-Edwardsville	San Jose, CA	Rowan	Tampa
2011	Miami (FL)	4-3 (2OT)	Florida Gulf Coast	Middleton, WI	Bethel	USC
2012	Central Michigan	8-0	Pittsburgh	Kearns, UT	Northeastern	Kansas State
2013	Colorado-Colorado Springs	3-2 (OT)	Northeastern	Ft. Myers, FL	Kennesaw	Florida
2014	Cal State Fullerton	6-2	Virginia Tech	Aston, PA	Rutgers	Slippery Rock
2015	Farmingdale	10-5	Massachusetts	Independence, MO	UC San Diego	UC Irvine

Junior College Division

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-Up	Location	Semi-Finalist #1	Semi-Finalist #2
2000	St. Charles CC	12-5	Elgin CC	Ellenton, FL	St. Louis CC - Meramec	Grossmont CC
2001	St. Charles CC	7-6 (OT)	Grossmont CC	Upland, CA
2002	St. Charles CC	6-5	St. Louis CC - Meramec	St.Louis, MO	Collin College	Valencia College
2003	St. Charles CC	3-2	St. Louis CC - Meramec	Feasterville, PA	Northern Virginia CC	Suffolk CCC
2004	St. Charles CC	7-2	Suffolk CCC	Anaheim, CA	St. Louis CC - Meramec	Moorpark College
2005	St. Charles CC	6-5	Riverside CC	Fort Collins, CO	St. Louis CC - Meramec	Suffolk CCC
2006	Riverside CC	5-4	St. Louis CC - Meramec	Morrisville, NC	St. Charles CC	Suffolk CCC
2007	St. Charles CC	8-2	Broward College	St. Louis, MO	Suffolk CCC	Nassau CC
2008	Broward College	8-7 (OT)	Oakland CC	Colorado Springs, CO	St. Charles CC	St. Louis CC - Meramec
2009	Saddleback College	4-3 (OT)	St. Charles CC	Feasterville, PA	Suffolk CCC	Nassau CC
2010	St. Charles CC	8-3	Citrus College	San Jose, CA	Saddleback College	St. Louis CC
2011	St. Charles CC	3-2 (OT)	St. Louis CC	Middleton, WI	Schoolcraft CC	Santa Barbara CC
2012	St. Charles CC	3-2	Saddleback College	Kearns, UT	St. Louis CC	Santa Barbara CC
2013	St. Charles CC	4-0 (Best-of-Seven)	Saddleback College	Irvine, CA

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 San Luis Obispo	Eastern Michigan
2005	Lindenwood	3-2	Eastern Michigan	Fort Collins, CO	Cal Poly San Luis Obispo	Western Michigan
2006	Lindenwood	10-1	St. Louis CC - Meramec	Morrisville, NC	Cal Poly San Luis Obispo	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
2009	Lindenwood	8-2	Penn State	Feasterville, PA	Central Florida	Buffalo
2010	Penn State	6-2	Central Florida	San Jose, CA	Lindenwood	UC Santa Barbara
2011	Lindenwood	7-6 (OT)	West Chester	Middleton, WI	Central Florida	Michigan State
2012	Lindenwood	7-1	West Chester	Kearns, UT	Arizona State	Colorado
2013	Lindenwood	5-3	Arizona State	Ft. Myers, FL	Central Florida	Michigan State
2014	Lindenwood	4-3	Michigan State	Aston, PA	Arizona State	Slippery Rock

NCRHA Winterfest

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-Up	Location	Semi-Finalist #1	Semi-Finalist #2
2001	Michigan State		Missouri	Las Vegas, NV	Penn State 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 San Luis Obispo	RIT
2004	Michigan State	6-5 (OT)	Central Florida	Las Vegas, NV	Towson	South Florida
2005	Eastern Michigan	6-4	Michigan State	Wixom, MI	Missouri-St. Louis	Central Florida
2006	Lindenwood	8-2	St. Charles CC	St. Peters, MO	North Carolina State	Eastern Michigan
2007	Florida International	6-5 (OT)	West Point	Key West, FL	Missouri-Rolla	Colorado
2008	West Point	4-3	Missouri-Rolla	Key West, FL	Colorado	Florida International
2009	Eastern Michigan	5-4	Florida International	Key West, FL	Missouri S&T	Key West

• 2001-2004 - Event was held at NARCH Winternationals
• 2005 - Event was renamed NCRHA Winter Invitational
• 2007 - Event was renamed NCRHA Winterfest

See also

• List of NCRHA seasons
• NCRHA - Goal Scoring Champion
• NCRHA - Assist Champion
• NCRHA - Scoring Champion
• National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association Program of the Year
• National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association Player of the Year
• National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association Coach of the Year
• NCRHA Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships Most Valuable Player
• NCRHA Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships Most Valuable Goaltender
• NCRHA Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships Playmaker
• NCRHA Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships All-Tournament Teams
• NCRHA Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships All-Revision Team
• IRC National Rankings

External links

• Official Site
• Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association
• Great Plains Collegiate Inline Hockey League
• Midwest Collegiate Roller Hockey League
• Rocky Mountain Collegiate Roller Hockey Association
• Southeastern Collegiate Roller Hockey League
• Southwest Collegiate Hockey League
• Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League