2016 National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships Site Selected

The National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association proudly announces the 18th National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships presented by Mission Hockey, to be held April 6-10, 2016 in Cedar Rapids, IA. Games will be played at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena, home of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL (Jr. A Tier 1). The event will bring 56-60 teams in 4 divisions (Division I, Division II, Division III and Junior College 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 Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, VenuWorks of Cedar Rapids, and USA Roller Hockey. The official press release from the Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau can be found here.

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 7, 2016.

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. 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 April, 2016.

As the event nears, the NCRHA website will feature a dedicated section with event details.  This will include block schedule, team invitations (bids), and travel information such as airport, hotel, rental car, local attractions, etc.  The NCRHA and the Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau will be working together to provide excellent local hotel options for teams and fans that will be available through an online booking system.  Teams MAY NOT book hotel rooms through any source other than the NCRHA’s approved booking engine, as all team hotel bookings must go through the official booking system for the event. Hotel information will be posted by the end of January, 2016 and an announcement will be made to all teams when the system is available.

Cedar Rapids, IA, is an ideal location for an event such as the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships because it is a hockey town! Since 1994 it has been home to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League (USHL), and Cedar Rapids has a strong base of hockey fans in the community. The city is a thriving community located on the banks of the Cedar River, and is an easy drive from Chicago, St. Louis or Minneapolis, Air travel to Cedar Rapids is also convenient via the Eastern Iowa Airport, which is serviced by five airlines including United, Delta and American.

For more information on what to do in Cedar Rapids before, during and after the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships, click here, and check out their website www.cedar-rapids.com.

The Cedar Rapids Ice Arena is a clean, modern facility featuring a main bowl arena that hosts the RoughRiders games with an attached Olympic size community rink side-by-side under the same roof. The facility features a spacious lobby, concourse level access to seating, 8 full size locker rooms with showers, ample free parking and full service concessions. Several national and regional championships have been held at the venue including the 2015 USA Curling Arena National Championships and the 2013 NCAA DIII National Wrestling Championships.

The 2015 National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships was held in Independence, MO, at the Independence Events Center. In Division I, Neumann University (PA) claimed its first Division I title in a thrilling 4-3 victory over Lindenwood University (MO). Farmingdale State College (NY) claimed its first ever Division II championship by defeating the University of Massachusetts by a score of 10-5. In Division III Lindenwood University defeated Neumann University by a score of 6-5. You can view all of the results from the 2015 Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships, as well as those from 2004-2014 at www.NCRHA.org.
 
This will be the 18th consecutive year that college roller hockey will crown national champions, going back to 1999. It is first time that the event has been held in the state of Iowa. For a list of previous locations, click here.

The NCRHA is the recognized national governing body of collegiate level roller hockey in the United States. Organized into seven regions, over 200 teams represent 150 colleges and universities at the club sports level. The NCRHA is sanctioned by USA Roller Hockey.

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: Mission Hockey, Revision Hockey, Ace Jerseys, Inline Warehouse, Rocket Puck, Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Cedar Rapids Ice Arena, VenuWorks of Cedar Rapids, and USA Roller Hockey.
 
For more information, stay tuned to www.NCRHA.org throughout the season.