America East Conference (America East) |
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Established | 1979 |
Association | NCAA |
Division | Division I non-football |
Members | 13 (full: 9; associate: 4) |
Sports fielded | 18 (men's: 8 sports; women's: 10 sports) |
Region |
Northeastern United States (plus California in field hockey) |
Former names | Eastern College Athletic Conference-North (1979–1988) North Atlantic Conference (1988–1996) |
Headquarters | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Commissioner | Amy Huchthausen |
Website | www |
Locations | |
The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA Division I, whose members are located mainly in the Northeastern United States. The conference was known as the Eastern College Athletic Conference-North from 1979 to 1988 and the North Atlantic Conference from 1988 to 1996.
The America East Conference was founded as the Eastern College Athletic Conference-North, a men's basketball-only athletic conference in 1979. The charter members were the University of Rhode Island, the College of the Holy Cross, Canisius College, Niagara University, Colgate University, Northeastern University, Boston University, the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Vermont. Many other events have occurred since its formation:
There are nine schools with full membership:
There are currently four schools with associate membership. All are in California, and moved their field hockey teams into the America East in July 2015. A fifth associate member, from Virginia, will be added in men's and women's swimming & diving in the 2017–18 school year.
Three schools have had single-sport membership in the past. Two of these, Fairfield and Providence, moved their America East sports into their all-sports conferences. The third, NJIT, left when it joined a conference that sponsored its America East sport.