The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a non-varsity college athletics association that follows all NCAA rules & regulations. The purpose of the ACHA is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated programs, which provides structure, regulates operations and promotes quality in collegiate ice hockey.
The interest in college hockey has grown as the game of hockey has grown in the United States. But as aggressively as the sport has grown at the grass-roots level, the number of NCAA programs has not expanded as rapidly to meet the demand as these youth players reach college and look to extend their hockey-playing experience. This is the reason the ACHA was created.
The ACHA shall emphasize academic performance, institutional sanction, eligibility criteria, standards of play and opportunities for national competition. ACHA players are required to maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average and be enrolled as a full-time student in order to be eligible.
The ACHA promotes all aspects of collegiate hockey stressing the personal development of individual athletes as well as national recognition for member organizations. The organization provides structure, regulations, promotes the quality of play, sponsors National Awards and National Tournaments.
The ACHA currently has three men’s and two women’s divisions and includes approximately 460 teams from across the United States.
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. Sometimes, NCAA and ACHA teams will schedule exhibition games against one another.
The ACHA Division 1 is the country’s highest level of non-varsity collegiate hockey. ACHA D1 rosters consist of top players that are recruited from around the world as well as NCAA transfers. ACHA D1 attracts the very best student/athletes looking to continue their playing career while receiving a great college education and experience.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ACHA PLEASE VISIT WWW.ACHAHOCKEY.ORG
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