October 8, 2008

11th Annual Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships

to be held in Feasterville, PA April 2-5, 2009

The National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association proudly announces the 11th Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships, to be held April 2-5, 2009 in Feasterville, PA. The event will bring 60 teams in 4 divisions (Division I, Division II, Junior College Division, and B Division) together to compete for the title of Collegiate Roller Hockey National Champion. The event will be hosted by the NCRHA, in conjunction with The Sportsplex and the Bucks County Sports Commission, and all games will be played at The Sportsplex.

Teams will represent each of the seven Member Organizations of the NCRHA. Each Member Organization will receive an automatic bid to place one team in each division. The rest of the field will be selected at-large from around the country by the NCRHA Selection Committee on “Selection Monday,” March 2, 2009.

The format for the event includes three round robin games for each team, followed by a single elimination bracket round leading up to the National Championship games. Games will begin on all three rinks at The Sportsplex on Thursday morning, April 2 and the Championships for all Divisions will take place mid-day on Sunday April 5. A complete listing of the colleges and universities that will be represented, round robin pools and the game schedule, will be available on the NCRHA website, www.NCRHA.org, in March 2009.

The Sportsplex is the Philadelphia area’s finest indoor sports facility, featuring three full-sized rinks with stadium seating for up to 600 people per rink and 12 locker rooms. The entire indoor facility is fully air-conditioned, with a large parking area and a new silicone cool roof that is environmentally friendly. Players and fans will enjoy a fully stocked pro shop, full service snack bar and a video game room.

Bucks County businesses, hotels, attractions and shopping districts are eager to welcome the Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships. Ranked by LIFE’s Dream Destinations as one of the top 20 sight-seeing vacations in the world, Bucks County boasts an array of activities for all ages. Center City Philadelphia is located just 20 minutes from the Bucks County area, and New York City is less than an hour away.

Once again the NCRHA will be hosting its signature Mission Hockey College program during the National Championships. This event, sponsored by Mission Hockey, offers no-cost instructional clinics to local youth roller hockey players. The instructors for the Mission Hockey College are current college hockey players and are regarded as some of the most talented players in the world. Mission Hockey College gives the youth players the opportunity to interact with the college players in an atmosphere where they can receive tips and pointers and have some fun. More details will be released on www.NCRHA.org as the event approaches.

The 2008 Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships were held in Colorado Springs, CO, at the Tour Inline Hockey Arena and Colorado Sports Center. Lindenwood University (MO) claimed its 5th consecutive Division I National Championship by defeating the University of Missouri – St. Louis, and Neumann University defeated West Chester University for the Division II National Championship. In the Junior College Division (formerly known as Division III), Broward County Community College (FL) claimed title by defeating Oakland Community College (MI), and Lindenwood University took home the B Division National Championship by defeating the University of Central Florida‘s B squad. You can view the results from the 2008 Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships, as well as 2004-2007 at www.NCRHA.org.

This will be the eleventh consecutive year that college roller hockey will crown national champions, going back to 1999. It is the fourth time that the event will be held in a repeat location, as The Sportsplex in Feasterville hosted the 2003 Championships under the former Collegiate Roller Hockey League. Last year’s host, Colorado, hosted the 2005 and 2008 events, and St. Louis hosted in 2002 and 2007. The other location that has hosted the event twice is Southern California in 2001 and 2004.

The NCRHA is the nationally recognized governing body of collegiate level roller hockey in the United States. Organized into seven regions, a total 190 teams represent 140 colleges and universities at the club sports level. The NCRHA is sanctioned by USA Hockey InLine, a program of USA Hockey, Inc.

The NCRHA would like to thank the following partners and sponsors for their continued support of this event and the growth of collegiate level roller hockey: USA Hockey InLine, The Sportsplex, The Bucks County Sports Commission, Mission Hockey, Ace Jerseys, Revision Hockey, and Rocket Puck.

For more information, stay tuned to www.NCRHA.org throughout the season.