NCR Adds More Northeast Conferences to Fall 15s

NCR (July 26) – The Tri-State and New England Wide women’s conferences, along with teams from Rocky Mountain Conference, will join National Collegiate Rugby for the fall 2023 season, further unifying women’s rugby under a single collegiate association. [Lead photo: Vassar College Athletics]
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The Tri-State Conference includes 16 Division II and Small College programs, including perennial DII powerhouse, Vassar College, along with DII conference leaders Columbia University and Fairfield University. Siena College and Drew University will be fighting for a spot in the Small College playoffs for the first time in the Tri-State.
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NEWCRC brings 13 teams to the NCR league, as well as many experienced coaches and conference administrators. There will be six teams fighting for their spot at the regional championship such as reigning conference champion U.S. Coast Guard Academy. The remaining teams such as Babson College and MIT, will play a fall developmental schedule and look forward to qualifying for the Small College division of the 2024 Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC).
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NEWCRC Commissioner Dave Meyer commented, “NEWCRC is excited to have our Division II Women’s programs join the NCR family. Our men’s clubs have had much success playing across NCR’s DII and Small College pools, and we believe that our women’s programs will benefit greatly from NCR’s extensive experience running a top notch collegiate competition.”
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The highly-competitive Rocky Mountain teams joining NCR include Colorado College in the Small College division, and Colorado School of Mines in Division II. Mines is a force to be reckoned with as they finished 2nd at the 2023 CRC, and look to go deep into playoffs this fall.
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With the shift to NCR, some of the new Division II programs will have the opportunity to compete in the Small College championship pathway while continuing their existing conference play.
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These announcements follow several recent conference moves to NCR including the Carolinas Conference (DI and DII), MARC (DII) and Capital Conference (DII). With these recent shifts, about 250 teams, or 75% of non-NCAA women’s clubs, will play in the NCR league. NCR will now serve the largest Division II pool since the seasonality split in 2014, and expand the post-season bids from 8 to 16 Division II teams.
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Several of the new teams will shift back to a Fall postseason schedule, which expands the number of women’s teams playing fall XVs to 85%.
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Angela Smarto, NCR’s Women’s Director, said, “The addition of these new conferences will unify the largest collegiate competitions in the country. Division II and Small College now boast over 100 teams each supported by thousands of players, coaches, and volunteers. It’s a privilege to serve this group, and I’m humbled these people trust us to guide their college rugby experience.”
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While NCR still expects some pre-season movement between divisions, NCR forecasts that about 110 Division II and 120 Small College programs will compete in XVs, 7s or both in the upcoming season.
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The following teams will join National Collegiate Rugby in the fall 2023 season:
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Tri-State Women’s Conference
(DII & Small College)

Columbia Univ
Drew Univ
Fairfield Univ
Fordham Univ
Marist College
Molly College
Montclair Univ
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rutger Univ
Siena College
Stony Brook Univ
SUNY Albany
SUNY Maritime
SUNY New Paltz
Univ New Haven
Vassar College
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New England Wide Collegiate Rugby Conference
(DII/Small College)

Babson College
Central Connecticut State Univ
Champlain College
Eastern Connecticut State Univ
Johnson & Wales Univ
MIT
Tufts Univ
Univ Maine – Orono
Univ New Hampshire
Univ New Haven
Univ Vermont
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Wesleyan Univ
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Rocky Mountain
Colorado College
Colorado School of Mines