The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes quality in collegiate ice hockey. The ACHA currently has three men's and two women's divisions and includes approximately 450 teams from across the United States and Canada. Most ACHA teams offer few athletic scholarships and typically receive far less university funding. The ACHA offers an opportunity for college hockey programs that struggle with large budgets and Title IX issues, as an alternative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) financial structure.
The Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) is Division I ACHA level hockey-college athletic conference. The CSCHL is in its 51st season of existence and is one of the top ranked ACHA leagues. It currently has 4 member teams in the Midwestern United States.
The Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League (TSCHL) is an ACHA Division II level ice hockey league. ACHA Division II level consists of players with previous Jr. A, AAA or Midget Major experience, along with high caliber high school experience. The level can range from varsity high school up to NCAA Division III skills, depending on the programs.
The Lindenwood Lions and Lady Lions are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Lindenwood University, located in St. Charles, Missouri, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Ohio Valley Conference for most of its sports since the 2022–23 academic year.
The Western Collegiate Club Hockey Association (WCCHA) is a conference of men's club ice hockey teams from the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) competing at the Division II level. The participating teams come from colleges and universities in the Upper Midwest, including North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Teams in the WCCHA are primarily student-run sports clubs with limited University funding, requiring significant player dues and fundraising for team operation.
The Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (GLCHL) is an American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I level ice hockey league. The GLCHL is made up of nine schools, including one in Indiana, one in Illinois, and seven in Michigan.
The Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League (ECWHL) is an American Collegiate Hockey Association Women's Division 1 club level hockey-only college athletic conference for women's hockey teams. It is one of four ACHA Women's Division 1 conferences, along with the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association, the Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League, and Women's Midwest College Hockey. Primarily, the league has been concentrated in New England and Upstate and Western New York, with eleven of its thirteen members over fourteen seasons based in those areas.
The Davenport Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Davenport University, located in Caledonia Township, Michigan, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for most of its sports as a provisional member since the 2017–18 academic year. The Panthers previously competed in the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2005–06 to 2016–17.
Thomas A. Anastos is an American ice hockey coach, former player, and former league administrator. He was most recently the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey team (MSU), a member of the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). He played junior hockey for the Paddock Pool Saints, college hockey for the Michigan State University Spartans and professional hockey for the Sherbrooke Canadiens. He was an ice hockey league administrator most recently serving as commissioner of the original Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), a now defunct NCAA Division I conference, from 1998-2012. Anastos is a member of the Dearborn (Michigan) Sports Hall of Fame, inducted in 2000.
The Lindenwood Lady Lions ice hockey team represents Lindenwood University located in St. Charles, Missouri. The Lady Lions currently participate in the NCAA Division I competition as a member of College Hockey America (CHA). The team played with no conference affiliation as an Independent program for its first season of NCAA competition. During the 2011–12 season, Lindenwood was accepted into College Hockey America (CHA) beginning in the 2012–2013 season. Prior to 2011 the university was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), because the organization does not sponsor women's ice hockey, the program competed in the American Collegiate Hockey Association at the ACHA DI level.
The Colonial States College Hockey Conference (CSCHC) is a non-varsity club college ice hockey league based in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The conference is part of the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 2 and is made up of teams from colleges and universities based in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The Rhode Island Rams women's ice hockey team represents the University of Rhode Island (URI) in Women's Division 1 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). Since the team's 1999 inauguration, the Rams have been one of the most successful programs in intercollegiate women's ice hockey, winning nine regular season and nine playoff titles in the 15-year existence of the Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League, both ECWHL records. The Rams have also qualified for 12 of the 18 ACHA National Tournaments held for women's teams, a number that trails only Massachusetts, Michigan and Michigan State. Highlighting Rhode Island's 12 ACHA tournament bids are eight semifinal appearances, including five in a row from 2004 through 2008. The team's present coach, Ashley Pagliarini, was a standout defenseman at URI from 2004 through 2009 and is just the second head coach in team history, taking over for program founder Beth McCann for the 2014–15 season.
The Penn State Women's Ice Hockey Club represents Penn State University (PSU) in Women's Division 1 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and in the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association (CCWHA). Since the team's establishment in 2012, it has been very successful, including a pair of ACHA second-place finishes at the Division 2 level in 2012–13 and 2013–14 and an appearance at the ACHA Division 1 national championship tournament to close the 2014–15 season. PSU is one of just three teams to appear in consecutive ACHA Division 2 championship games, joining the University of Minnesota-Duluth (2007–08) and Rainy River Community College (2008–11).
The University of Michigan Women's Ice Hockey team represents the University of Michigan (U-M) in Women's Division 1 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and in the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association (CCWHA). The team was founded in 1994 and has been consistently strong throughout its existence, winning a pair of CCWHA playoff titles and qualifying for 13 of the 18 ACHA National Tournaments held for women's teams, a number that ranks third all-time behind Massachusetts and Michigan State.
The UMass Minutemen women's ice hockey team represents the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) in Women's Division 1 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and in the Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League (ECWHL). The Minutemen are one of the ACHA's premier programs, having qualified for 16 of the 20 ACHA National Tournaments held for women's teams, a number second to Michigan State for the all-time lead. Additionally, UMass has won four ECWHL playoff titles and has been the home of two Zoë M. Harris Award winners, one of five ACHA D1 programs to produce multiple recipients of the honor.
The Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League (WWCHL) is an American Collegiate Hockey Association Women's Division 1 club level hockey-only college athletic conference for women's hockey teams. It is one of four ACHA Women's Division 1 conferences, along with the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association, Women's Midwest College Hockey, and the Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League. The league has a large footprint spreading across the western United States, featuring members in Arizona, Colorado and Utah.
The Lindenwood–Belleville Lynx women's ice hockey team represented Lindenwood University – Belleville in Women's Division 1 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and in Women's Midwest College Hockey (WMCH), following a successful stint in the Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League (WWCHL). The team was founded for the 2014–15 season, as part of a rapid expansion of LU–B's athletic department, and quickly became one of the ACHA's top programs. The Lynx claimed three regular season conference championships and one playoff title, and qualified for five ACHA National Tournaments, highlighted by a second-place finish in 2019.
The Roosevelt Lakers women's ice hockey team represents Roosevelt University (RU) in Women's Division 1 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and in the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association (CCWHA), following the absorption of Robert Morris University Illinois (RMU) and several of RMU's athletic teams, including women's ice hockey, that was finalized in 2020.
Women's Midwest College Hockey (WMCH) is an American Collegiate Hockey Association Women's Division 1 club level hockey-only college athletic conference for women's hockey teams. It is one of four ACHA Women's Division 1 conferences, along with the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association, Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League, and Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League. The league features seven of the top ACHA programs from across the country regardless of geographic considerations, with its membership ranging from Lynchburg, Virginia in the southeast to Minot, North Dakota in the northwest.
Minot State Beavers women's ice hockey represents Minot State University (MSU) in Women's Division 1 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and in Women's Midwest College Hockey (WMCH). MSU was one of the founding members of the ACHA's second women's division in 2006–07, but has seen its greatest successes within the last few years. The Beavers qualified for the ACHA National Tournament for the first time in 2017 and made it to the semifinals, and followed that up with back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2019. Minot then jumped to Division 1, and was one of the founding members of WMCH with Liberty University, Lindenwood University–Belleville, the University of Minnesota, McKendree University, and Midland University.
