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.

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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 University
• Drew University
• Fairfield University
• Fordham University
• Marist College
• Molly College
• Montclair University
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Rutger University
• Siena College
• Stony Brook University
• SUNY Albany
• SUNY Maritime
• SUNY New Paltz
• University of New Haven
• Vassar College

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New England Wide Collegiate Rugby Conference (DII/Small College)

• Babson College
• Central Connecticut State University
• Champlain College
• Eastern Connecticut State University
• Johnson & Wales University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Tufts University
• University of Maine - Orono
• University of New Hampshire
• University of Vermont
• U.S. Coast Guard Academy
• Wesleyan University

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Rocky Mountain

• Colorado College 
• Colorado School of Mines

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