PRESS RELEASE – The Rugby Northeast Division I teams will join National Collegiate Rugby starting with the spring 2024 season. This latest shift brings six highly competitive teams into the nation’s largest women’s rugby association while further unifying women’s rugby teams that play a fall 15s season.
The Rugby Northeast Division I teams include:
Boston College
Boston University
Northeastern University
University of Connecticut
University of Massachusetts – Amherst
University of Rhode Island
The Rugby Northeast conference has a long tradition of rugby success and has consistently produced some of the top Division I teams in the country. Northeastern is the reigning CRAA DI 7s champion and fall 15s champion. Meanwhile, UMass claimed 2nd place in the 2023 Collegiate Rugby Championship Division I bracket.
Rugby Northeast Commissioner, Devin DiGiovanni, stated, “We’re excited for our six Division I teams to join NCR and showcase their talent at this year’s CRC. Our teams are looking forward to the great experiences and opportunities NCR provides to the athletes.”
Photo: USA Rugby
National Collegiate Rugby serves over 250 women’s rugby teams around the country representing the largest and deepest competitive leagues in Division I, Division II and Small College. With 85% of women’s rugby competing for a fall 15s Championship, NCR provides numerous postseason opportunities across its three divisions.
“The addition of Rugby Northeast creates the largest Division I collegiate competition in almost a decade at almost 40 teams,” said Angela Smarto, Director of Women’s Rugby. “There will be no easy road to a national championship as the competition gets deeper in both 15s and 7s. We’re excited to bring all teams into the mix.”
The women’s Collegiate Rugby Championship, scheduled for April 27-28 provides 66 slots for qualified teams to compete for a national championship in one of four competitive divisions. The Rugby Northeast teams will compete for a bid to the CRC during the conference 7s championship scheduled for April 14 at Stonehill College.
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So what does that mean for this spring and the impending fall 2024 season? For NCR, it means an even more robust Division I competition, obviously. Northeastern is the top 7s and 15s program in CRAA’s Division I, so that’s a substantial pickup for NCR. And the conference as a whole is a long-established, recognizable league with classic rivalries and clout.
Specific to 15s, adding the Northeast builds out the DI East Coast presence, linking with the South Atlantic conference, which stretches from Maryland to South Carolina. So there’s a better chance of seeing a regional championship site outside of the Midwest this November.
For CRAA, the loss of the Northeast means there is just one conference remaining for the DI fall 15s championship: Rocky Mountain. There are several options for moving forward, but here’s the hinge: All of this information is available now. There’s a long runway ahead of CRAA’s 2024 DI fall season. Conversations building toward solutions can begin now. Maybe Rocky Mountain teams could play their regular season and/or final in the fall, and then send their representatives to the spring 15s playoffs? Maybe Rocky Mountain is happy to culminate with a conference championship? Maybe the conference joins NCR, too? The point is, CRAA needs to get those talks going now, and not in November.