New England Collegiate Conference
The New England Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division III men's volleyball and esports List of [college athletic conferences in the United States|college athletic conference] based in the Northeastern United States. The NECC was formerly an all-sports conference from 2008 to 2023. The conference rebranded as the New England Volleyball Conference, starting in the 2023–24 school year after becoming a men's volleyball-only conference.
History
In June 2007, nine colleges from New England announced the creation of a new athletic conference under the same NECC name.The conference, which began operations July 1, 2008, in Division III, currently includes Lesley University, Mitchell College, Nazarene College">Church of the Nazarene">Nazarene College and New England College as members. Their indicated locations are in Massachusetts unless otherwise noted.
Southern Vermont and Newbury both announced they would cease operations after the 2018–19 academic year, and founding member Becker College announced the same after the 2020–21 school year. Elms College joined the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, where it had competed as a swimming and diving affiliate since 2008, in the 2021-22 academic year. In July 2021, original member Bay Path was admitted to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, implicitly leaving the conference and the NCAA. Also, the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute and the State University of New York at Potsdam joined the NECC as associate members for men's volleyball, beginning almost immediately within the 2022 spring season.
Within the past year, there have been changes. Bard College joined the NECC for men's volleyball as an associate member beginning the spring of 2023. Lesley received and accepted an invitation to join the North Atlantic Conference, while Mitchell and New England College both accepted an invitation to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, all beginning the 2023-24 season. In 2023 it was announced that Eastern Nazarene College would also be joining the NAC.
The NECC may remain in operation for men's volleyball and the non-NCAA sport of esports. The conference has nine men's volleyball members in the current 2023 season, and the NCAA's official membership database lists all nine NECC men's volleyball teams as being members of the "New England Volleyball Conference". Over 25 schools are affiliate members in esports.
Chronological timeline
- 2007 – On May 31, 2007, The New England Collegiate Conference was founded. Charter members included Bay Path College, Becker College, Daniel Webster College, Elms College, Lesley University, Mitchell College, Newbury College, Southern Vermont College and Wheelock College, beginning the 2008–09 academic year.
- 2008 – Springfield College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology joined the NECC as associate members for men's golf in the 2008 fall season.
- 2009:
- * Massachusetts Tech left the NECC as an associate member for men's golf as the school dropped the sport after the 2008–09 academic year.
- * Babson College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's golf in the 2009 fall season.
- 2011:
- * Regis College joined the NECC in the 2011–12 academic year.
- * Endicott College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2012 spring season.
- 2016 – Eastern Nazarene College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2017 spring season.
- 2017:
- * Two institutions left the NECC to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective after the 2016–17 academic year:
- ** Regis joined the Great Northeast Athletic Conference
- ** the second, Daniel Webster, ceased operations
- * Dean College joined the NECC in the 2017–18 academic year.
- 2018:
- * Wheelock left the NECC after the 2017–18 academic year; as the school announced that it would be merged into Boston University.
- * New England College join the NECC, both effective in the 2018–19 academic year.
- * Nichols College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2019 spring season.
- 2019:
- * Newbury and Southern Vermont left the NECC after the 2018–19 academic year; as both schools announced that they ceased operations.
- * Springfield and Babson left the NECC as associate members for men's golf after the 2018–19 academic year.
- * Five institutions joined the NECC as associate members, all effective in the 2019–20 academic year:
- ** Husson University, the University of Maine at Farmington, Manhattanville College and Thomas College for field hockey
- ** and Johnson State College for men's volleyball
- 2020:
- * Dean left the NECC to join the GNAC after the 2019–20 academic year.
- * Russell Sage College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2021 spring season.
- 2021:
- * Three institutions left the NECC to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2020–21 academic year; thus leaving the conference with four institutions to compete in the 2021–22 school year:
- ** Bay Path would leave the NCAA to join the United States Collegiate Athletic Association
- ** and Elms joined the GNAC
- ** the third, Becker, ceased operations
- * The State University of New York Polytechnic Institute and the State University of New York at Potsdam joined the NECC as associate members for men's volleyball in the 2022 spring season.
- 2022:
- * Manhattanville left the NECC as an associate member for field hockey to join the Atlantic East Conference for that sport after the 2021 fall season.
- * Bard College joined the NECC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2023 spring season.
- 2023:
- * Three institutions left the NECC to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2022–23 academic year:
- ** Lesley to join the North Atlantic Conference
- ** and Mitchell and New England College to join the GNAC
- * Eastern Nazarene left the NECC to join the NAC after the 2022–23 academic year. This effectively ended the NECC as an all-sports conference. However, Eastern Nazarene remained as an associate member in men's volleyball, thus the rebranding of the NECC as the New England Volleyball Conference.
- 2024 – Eastern Nazarene left the NEVC after the 2024 spring season due to ceasing operations, consequently the school left as a men's volleyball-only member.
Member schools
Final full members
The NECC had four full members when it disbanded as an all-sports conference, all were private schools.| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference |
| Eastern Nazarene College | Quincy, Massachusetts | 1900 | Nazarene | 772 | Lions | 2018 | 2023 | Closed in 2024 |
| Lesley University | Cambridge, Massachusetts | 1909 | Nonsectarian | 6,593 | Lynx | 2008 | 2023 | North Atlantic |
| Mitchell College | New London, Connecticut | 1938 | Nonsectarian | 572 | Mariners | 2008 | 2023 | Great Northeast |
| New England College | Henniker, New Hampshire | 1946 | Nonsectarian | 4,327 | Pilgrims | 2018 | 2023 | Great Northeast |
;Notes:
Current men's volleyball members
The NECC has seven current associate members in men's volleyball:| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | NECC sport | Primary conference |
| Bard College | Annandale-on- Hudson, New York | 1860 | Private | 2,051 | Raptors | 2022 | Men's volleyball | Liberty |
| Endicott College | Beverly, Massachusetts | 1939 | Nonsectarian | 4,600 | Gulls | 2011 | Men's volleyball | New England |
| Nichols College | Dudley, Massachusetts | 1815 | Nonsectarian | 1,915 | Bison | 2018 | Men's volleyball | New England |
| Russell Sage College | Albany/Troy, New York | 1916 | Nonsectarian | 1,600 | Gators | 2020 | Men's volleyball | Empire 8 |
| State University of New York Polytechnic Institute | Marcy, New York | 1913 | Public | 3,061 | Wildcats | 2021 | Men's volleyball | North Atlantic |
| State University of New York at Potsdam | Potsdam, New York | 1816 | Public | 3,098 | Bears | 2021 | Men's volleyball | S.U. New York |
| Vermont State University–Johnson | Johnson, Vermont | 1828 | Public | 1,333 | Badgers | 2019 | Men's volleyball | North Atlantic |
;Notes:
Esports members
The NECC currently has twenty-seven associate members for esports, all but eight are private schools:;Notes:
Former members
The NECC had nine former full members, all were private schools:| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference |
| Bay Path University | Longmeadow, Massachusetts | 1897 | Nonsectarian | 3,298 | Wildcats | 2008 | 2021 | USCAA Independent |
| Becker College | Worcester, Massachusetts | 1784 | Nonsectarian | N/A | Hawks | 2008 | 2021 | Closed in 2021 |
| Dean College | Franklin, Massachusetts | 1865 | Nonsectarian | 1,055 | Bulldogs | 2017 | 2020 | Great Northeast |
| Daniel Webster College | Nashua, New Hampshire | 1965 | For-profit | N/A | Eagles | 2008 | 2017 | Closed in 2017 |
| Elms College | Chicopee, Massachusetts | 1899 | Catholic | 1,713 | Blazers | 2008 | 2021 | Great Northeast |
| Newbury College | Brookline, Massachusetts | 1962 | Nonsectarian | N/A | Nighthawks | 2008 | 2019 | Closed in 2019 |
| Regis College | Weston, Massachusetts | 1927 | Catholic | 2,748 | Pride | 2011 | 2017 | Great Northeast |
| Southern Vermont College | Bennington, Vermont | 1926 | Nonsectarian | N/A | Mountaineers | 2008 | 2019 | Closed in 2019 |
| Wheelock College | Boston, Massachusetts | 1888 | Nonsectarian | N/A | Wildcats | 2008 | 2018 | N/A |
;Notes:
Former associate members
The NECC had eight former associate members, all but one were private schools.| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | NECC sport | Primary conference |
| Babson College | Wellesley, Massachusetts | 1919 | Nonsectarian | 3,340 | Beavers | 2009 | 2019 | Men's golf | New England |
| Eastern Nazarene College | Quincy, Massachusetts | 1900 | Nazarene | 772 | Lions | 2016 | 2018 | Men's volleyball | Closed in 2024 |
| Eastern Nazarene College | Quincy, Massachusetts | 1900 | Nazarene | 772 | Lions | 2023 | 2024 | Men's volleyball | Closed in 2024 |
| Husson University | Bangor, Maine | 1898 | Nonsectarian | 3,476 | Eagles | 2019 | 2023 | Field hockey | North Atlantic |
| Farmington, Maine | 1863 | Public | 1,861 | Beavers | 2019 | 2023 | Field hockey | North Atlantic | |
| Manhattanville College | Purchase, New York | 1841 | Catholic | 2,494 | Valiants | 2019 | 2022 | Field hockey | Skyline |
| Cambridge, Massachusetts | 1861 | Nonsectarian | 10,253 | Engineers | 2008 | 2009 | Men's golf | New England | |
| Springfield College | Springfield, Massachusetts | 1919 | Nonsectarian | 5,062 | Pride | 2008 | 2019 | Men's golf | New England |
| Thomas College | Waterville, Maine | 1894 | Nonsectarian | 1,949 | Terriers | 2019 | 2023 | Field hockey | North Atlantic |
;Notes:
Membership timeline
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bar:22 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text:Vermont State–Johnson
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bar:24 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text:Russell Sage
bar:25 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:SUNY Poly
bar:26 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:SUNY Potsdam
bar:27 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text:Bard
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