What is #NECPride
#NECPride is about having pride in your team, your school and the will to succeed both on and off the field.
#NECPride is about achievement, ambition, perseverance, community, passion, respect, determination, unity and teamwork.
Northeast Conference History
As the Northeast Conference (NEC) enters its 43rd year as an NCAA Division I athletic entity, the league’s NEC mission has remained remarkably consistent: to provide opportunities for student-athletes to achieve their fullest potential in the classroom, in athletic competition and in the community.
Focusing on the areas of student-athlete achievement, academic excellence, integrity, sportsmanship, diversity, equity and inclusion, innovation, community partnership and national engagement, the NEC continues to make great strides under the leadership of Commissioner Noreen Morris, now in the 14th year of her tenure. With the NEC's five-year Strategic Plan providing a blueprint for the future, there is no shortage of excitement headed into the 2023-24 season as the nine-strong NEC looks to stand out among its peers, while fostering a sense of #NECPride amongst its student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans.
When the Northeast Conference (NEC) was first established as the ECAC-Metro Conference back in 1981, the league’s founders had one goal in mind: to create a competitive NCAA Division I men’s basketball conference for unaffiliated schools on the Eastern seaboard. A single-sport entity at its inception, the NEC has grown far beyond expectations over the past four decades, having transformed itself into a 24-sport conference.
The remarkable success story of the Conference began to unfold in 1985, when the league began sponsoring additional sports. Three years later, a change of name was in order and the Northeast Conference as we know it today was born. With membership and sport sponsorship continuing to grow over the years, the NEC enjoys qualification or play-in access to 15 different NCAA Championships (baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, women's bowling, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis and women’s volleyball).
Though the NEC has featured various incarnations since its inception, charter members FDU, LIU, Saint Francis U and Wagner remain part of the current nine-school alignment. They are joined by Central Connecticut (1997), Sacred Heart (1999), Merrimack (2019). Stonehill (2022) and Le Moyne the league's newest member.
Le Moyne, which accpeted its membership invitation on May 10, 2023, field 21 varsity sports, 20 of which are sponsored by the NEC.
Stonehill will become a full member of the conference in 2026-27 and Le Moyne in 2027-28 upon completion of their respective four-year NCAA Division I reclassification period.
The NEC's geographic footprint stretches to five states, including access to such major media markets as New York City, Boston, Hartford/New Haven and Syracuse.
With the addition of men’s volleyball in 2022-23, NEC member institutions now compete in 24 championship sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s bowling, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, and men's and women’s volleyball.