Northeastern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference

Northeastern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference
Established 2016
Association NAIA & USCAA
Division Division II
Members 14
Sports fielded
  • 19
    • men's: 10
    • women's: 9
Headquarters Delhi, New York
Commissioner Bob Backus (since 2016)
Website twitter.com/NIAC_Sports

The Northeastern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference is a college athletic conference which holds dual affiliation with the NAIA and USCAA. Member institutions are located in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont in the United States.

History

The NIAC's earlier ancestor was the Sunrise Athletic Conference (SAC), which was formed in 2002 when the Maine Athletic Conference and the Mayflower Conference disbanded in the spring of 2002. Both of these conferences were NAIA conferences of long standing.[1] The conference membership held steady with nine members until Paul Smith's College and Lyndon State College left in 2010, dropping SAC membership to seven. The conference disbanded in 2011 when the College of St. Joseph, Vermont Technical College and University of Maine at Machias left the conference and NAIA for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) and the Yankee Small College Conference.[2][3] The University of Maine at Fort Kent, University of Maine at Presque Isle, and SUNY-Canton then left with no regional NAIA competition to become independents in the USCAA.[3] In addition, UM-Presque Isle is transitioning to an independent member of NCAA Division III, while SUNY Canton was accepted into the transition process to move from NAIA to NCAA DIII.[4] Fisher College joined the American Mideast Conference but that conference disbanded in 2012 when many of the members left for NCAA Division II.[3][5]

The Northeastern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference was announced in 2016 with a start date set for the 2017-18 academic year. The NIAC due to the lack of conference homes for several independent members of the NAIA as well as USCAA in the New York and New England region.[6] In October 2016 it was announced that five charter members would form the Northeastern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference.[6]

The NIAC’s charter members includes College of St. Joseph, Fisher College, State University of New York at Delhi, University of Maine–Fort Kent, and Villa Maria College. St. Joeseph, Maine-Fort Kent, and Villa Maria are all members of the USCAA, while Fisher College is a member of the NAIA; SUNY-Delhi holds dual membership in both the NAIA and USCAA.[6] Bob Backus, director of athletics at SUNY Delhi was elected president of the NIAC.[6][7]

Member schools

Current members

Institution Location Founded Enrollment Nickname Joined
College of St. Joseph Rutland, Vermont 1956 350 Fighting Saints 2016
Fisher College Boston, Massachusetts 1903 2,560 Falcons 2016
Green Mountain College Poultney, Vermont 1834 710 Eagles 2018
SUNY-Delhi Delhi, New York 1913 3,000 Broncos 2016
University of Maine–Fort Kent Fort Kent, Maine 1878 1,557 Bengals 2016
Villa Maria College Buffalo, New York 1961 600 Vikings 2016

Sports

Conference sports
SportMen'sWomen's
BaseballGreen tick
BasketballGreen tickGreen tick
Cross CountryGreen tickGreen tick
GolfGreen tickGreen tick
SoccerGreen tickGreen tick
SoftballGreen tick
TennisGreen tickGreen tick
VolleyballGreen tick

References

  1. ↑ http://naia.cstv.com/member-services/conferences/profiles/NAIA_ConferenceProfile_Sunrise.pdf
  2. ↑ Hawkins, Gary (June 30, 2011). "COLLEGE: UMA adds 3 sports". Kennebec Journal. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Mahoney, Larry (June 17, 2011). "UMFK, UMPI, UMM leave NAIA for new association". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  4. ↑ Brown, Gary (June 30, 2011). "DIII Membership Committee recommends four new active members". NCAA. Archived from the original on July 5, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  5. ↑ "UMFK adds new sports and joins NAIA". Sun Community News. Apr 18, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 NAIA http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=211284129. Retrieved November 5, 2017. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ "College joins new athletic conference". Sun Community News. November 21, 2016. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
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