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.
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