New England Collegiate Conference
 | |
| Association | NCAA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2007 |
| Commissioner | Jacob VanRyn (since 2019) |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division III |
| No. of teams | 9 men's volleyball (8 in 2025), 27 Esports |
| Headquarters | Mansfield, Massachusetts |
| Region | New England |
| Official website | neccathletics.com |
| Locations | |
 | |
The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) is an NCAA Division III men's volleyball and esports college athletic conference based in the Northeastern United States. The NECC was formerly an all-sports conference from 2008 to 2023.
History
In June 2007, nine colleges from New England announced the creation of a new athletic conference under the same NECC name.
The conference, which began operations July 1, 2008, in Division III, currently includes Lesley University (Cambridge), Mitchell College (New London, Connecticut), Eastern Nazarene College (Quincy) and New England College (Henniker, New Hampshire) as members. Their indicated locations are in Massachusetts unless otherwise noted.
Southern Vermont and Newbury both announced they would cease operations after the 2018–19 academic year,[1][2] and founding member Becker College announced the same after the 2020–21 school year.[3] Elms College joined the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, where it had competed as a swimming and diving affiliate since 2008, in the 2021-22 academic year.[4] In July 2021, original member Bay Path was admitted to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA),[5] implicitly leaving the conference and the NCAA.
Within the past year, there have been changes. Bard College joined the NECC for men's volleyball as an associate member beginning the spring of 2023.[6] Lesley received and accepted an invitation to join the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), while Mitchell and New England College both accepted an invitation to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), all beginning the 2023-24 season.[7] In 2023 it was announced that Eastern Nazarene College would also be joining the NAC. [8]
The NECC may remain in operation for men's volleyball and the non-NCAA sport of esports. The conference has nine men's volleyball members in the current 2023 season, and the NCAA's official membership database lists all nine NECC men's volleyball teams as being members of the "New England Volleyball Conference".[9] Over 25 schools are affiliate members in esports.
Chronological timeline
- 2007 - On May 31, 2007, The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) was founded. Charter members included Bay Path College (now Bay Path University), Becker College, Daniel Webster College, Elms College, Lesley University, Mitchell College, Newbury College, Southern Vermont College and Wheelock College, effective beginning the 2008-09 academic year.
- 2008 - Springfield College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) joined the NECC as associate members for men's golf, effective in the 2008 fall season (2008-09 academic year).
- 2009 - Massachusetts Tech (MIT) left the NECC as an associate member for men's golf as the school dropped the sport due to budget cuts, effective after the 2008-09 academic year.
- 2009 - Babson College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's golf, effective in the 2009 fall season (2009-10 academic year).
- 2011 - Regis College joined the NECC, effective in the 2011-12 academic year.
- 2011 - Endicott College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball, effective in the 2012 spring season (2011-12 academic year).
- 2016 - Eastern Nazarene College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball, effective in the 2017 spring season (2016-17 academic year).
- 2017 - Two institutions left the NECC to join their respective new home primary conferences: Daniel Webster closed while Regis joined the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), effective after the 2016-17 academic year.
- 2017 - Dean College joined the NECC, effective in the 2018-19 academic year.
- 2018 - Wheelock left the NECC as the school announced that it would be merged into Boston University, effective after the 2017-18 academic year.
- 2018 - New England College join the NECC (with Eastern Nazarene upgrading for all sports), both effective in the 2018-19 academic year.
- 2018 - Nichols College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball, effective in the 2019 spring season (2018-19 academic year).
- 2019 - Newbury and Southern Vermont left the NECC as both schools announced that they would close, effective after the 2018-19 academic year.
- 2019 - Springfield and Babson left the NECC as associate members for men's golf, effective after the 2018-19 academic year.
- 2019 - Five institutions joined the NECC as associate members: Husson University, the University of Maine at Farmington, Manhattanville College and Thomas College for field hockey, and Northern Vermont University–Johnson for men's volleyball, all effective in the 2019-20 academic year.
- 2020 - Dean left the NECC to join the GNAC, effective after the 2019-20 academic year.
- 2020 - Russell Sage College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball, effective in the 2021 spring season (2020-21 academic year).
- 2021 - Three institutions left the NECC to join their respective new home primary conferences: Becker closed, Bay Path would leave the NCAA to join the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), and Elms joined the GNAC, all effective after the 2020-21 academic year; thus leaving the conference with four institutions to compete in the 2021-22 academic year.
- 2021 - SUNY Poly and SUNY Potsdam joined the NECC as associate members for men's volleyball, effective in the 2022 spring season (2021-22 academic year).[10]
- 2022 - Manhattanville left the NECC as an associate member for field hockey to join the Atlantic East Conference, effective after the 2021 fall season (2021-22 academic year).
- 2022 - Lesley left the NECC to join the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), while Mitchell and NEC left to join the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), all effective after the 2022-23 academic year.
- 2022 - Bard College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball, effective in the 2023 spring season (2022-23 academic year).
- 2023 - Eastern Nazarene left the NECC to join the NAC, effective after the 2022-23 academic year. This effectively ended the NECC as an all-sports conference.
- 2024 – Lesley will discontinue men's volleyball after the 2024 spring season (2023–24 academic year).
Member schools
Final full members
The NECC had four full members when it disbanded as an all-sports conference, all were private schools.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Nazarene College | Quincy, Massachusetts | 1900 | Nazarene | 772 | Lions | 2018 | 2023 | North Atlantic (NAC) |
| Lesley University[a] | Cambridge, Massachusetts | 1909 | Nonsectarian | 6,593 | Lynx | 2008 | ||
| Mitchell College | New London, Connecticut | 1938 | 572 | Mariners | Great Northeast (GNAC) | |||
| New England College | Henniker, New Hampshire | 1946 | 4,327 | Pilgrims | 2018 |
- Notes
- ^ This institution is a former women's college, which has eventually turned into a co-educational college (Lesley since 2005–06).
Final associate members
The NECC had ten final associate members, six of them were private schools. However, only seven of them will remain for men's volleyball:
- Notes
- ^ Part of the University of Maine System.
- ^ Northern Vermont University was founded in 2018 by the merger of Johnson State College, founded in 1828, and Lyndon State College, founded in 1911. The two campuses continue to operate separate athletic programs.
- ^ The Sage Colleges, which were recognized by the NECC, NCAA, and the state of New York as a single institution, rebranded as Russell Sage College in July 2020 after consolidating the three components Sage previously consisted of—the women-only Russell Sage, the coeducational Sage College of Albany (SCA), and the Sage Graduate Schools. In the context of the NECC, Russell Sage's team consists mostly of former SCA students, since SCA was the only Sage component that enrolled male undergraduates.
- ^ Russell Sage has campuses in both Albany and Troy, New York, but the former SCA operated only in Albany.
- ^ The Sage Colleges dated their history to the establishment of Russell Sage College in 1916. SCA was established in 1949 and adopted its historical name in 2002.
- ^ Reflects Russell Sage's overall undergraduate enrollment. Enrollment in the former SCA, the only Sage component from which men's volleyball drew players, was about 850.
- ^ Part of the State University of New York System.
Men's volleyball members
Esports members
The NECC currently has twenty-seven associate members for esports, all but eight are private schools:
- Notes
New England Collegiate Conference Esports
800km
500miles
500miles
Boise State
Westcliff
Valpo
Upper Iowa
Tiffin
St. A
Rio Grande
Randolph–Macon
Northern Essex
Northcentral Technical
Newberry
Mount Saint Mary's
Montana
Monroe
Midland
Lakeland
Kansas Weslyean
Jackson
Illinois Wesleyan
Howard
Hood
Hocking
Champlain
Central Methodist
Carroll
Sacramento State
Cal State Dominguez Hills
Locations of NECC eSports associate members, 2021-2022 
associate
associate
Former members
The NECC had nine former full members, all were private schools:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay Path University[a] | Longmeadow, Massachusetts | 1897 | Nonsectarian | 3,298 | Wildcats | 2008–09 | 2020–21 | N/A (USCAA) |
| Becker College | Worcester, Massachusetts | 1784 | N/A | Hawks | Closed in 2021 | |||
| Dean College | Franklin, Massachusetts | 1865 | 1,055 | Bulldogs | 2017–18 | 2019–20 | Great Northeast (GNAC) | |
| Daniel Webster College | Nashua, New Hampshire | 1965 | For-profit | N/A | Eagles | 2008–09 | 2016–17 | Closed in 2017 |
| Elms College | Chicopee, Massachusetts | 1899 | Catholic (S.S.J.) |
1,713 | Blazers | 2020–21 | Great Northeast (GNAC) | |
| Newbury College | Brookline, Massachusetts | 1962 | Nonsectarian | N/A | Nighthawks | 2018–19 | Closed in 2019 | |
| Regis College | Weston, Massachusetts | 1927 | Catholic S.S.J. |
2,748 | Pride | 2011–12 | 2016–17 | Great Northeast (GNAC) |
| Southern Vermont College | Bennington, Vermont | 1926 | Nonsectarian | N/A | Mountaineers | 2008–09 | 2018–19 | Closed in 2019 |
| Wheelock College | Boston, Massachusetts | 1888 | Wildcats | 2017–18 | N/A[b] |
- Notes
- ^ This institution was a women's college, therefore it did not compete in men's sports.
- ^ Wheelock was merged with Boston University in 2018.
Former associate members
The NECC had four former associate members, all private schools.
| Institution | Location | Nickname | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Joined | Left | Primary conference |
NECC sport |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babson College | Wellesley, Massachusetts | 1919 | Nonsectarian | 3,340 | Beavers | 2009–10 | 2018–19 | New England (NEWMAC) | men's golf |
| Manhattanville College | Purchase, New York | 1841 | Catholic (RSCJ) |
2,494 | Valiants | 2019–20 | 2021–22 | Skyline | field hockey |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) |
Cambridge, Massachusetts | 1861 | Nonsectarian | 10,253 | Engineers | 2008–09 | 2008–09[a] | New England (NEWMAC) | men's golf |
| Springfield College | Springfield, Massachusetts | 1919 | 5,062 | Pride | 2018–19 |
- Notes
- ^ MIT dropped the sport after just one season due to budget cuts.
Membership timeline
Sports
| Sport | Men's | Women's |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball | 4 | - |
| Basketball | 4 | 4 |
| Cross Country | 4 | 4 |
| Esports | 29 | |
| Field hockey | - | 4 |
| Golf | - | - |
| Lacrosse | 3 | 3 |
| Soccer | 4 | 4 |
| Softball | - | 4 |
| Volleyball | 9 | 4 |
References
- ^ Therrien, Jim (March 4, 2019). "Shock as Southern Vermont College announces closing". Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
- ^ Krantz, Laura; Fernandes, Deirdre (December 14, 2018). "Newbury College to shut down in the spring". Boston Globe.
- ^ "Becker College closing permanently at end of academic year". Boston: WFXT. March 29, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ "Elms, GNAC Ready to Begin Conference Affiliation in 2021-22". Great Northeast Athletic Conference. April 7, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
- ^ "Bay Path University joins United States Collegiate Athletic Association". Bay Path University. July 6, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
- ^ "Welcome Raptors! Bard to Join the NECC as an Associate Member in the Sport of Men's Volleyball" (Press release). New England Collegiate Conference. June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- ^ "Mitchell, NEC Joining GNAC in 2023-24 Academic Year" (Press release). Great Northeast Athletic Conference. September 28, 2022. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
- ^ "NAC accepts Eastern Nazarene College as full member for 2023-24" (Press release). January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ^ "Membership Directory". NCAA. Retrieved February 1, 2023. Select "Men's Volleyball" from the "Sport" menu and "Division III" from the "Division" menu. Hovering over any dot on the map corresponding to an NECC men's volleyball member will show the conference as "New England Volleyball Conference".
- ^ "NECC Welcomes New Men's Volleyball Associate Members". 11 January 2022.
- ^ "Sage Men's Volleyball to Join NECC as Associate Member in 2020-21" (Press release). New England Collegiate Conference. August 19, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2020.