National Collegiate Equestrian Association

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The National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA), formerly known as Varsity Equestrian, was created as the governing body for NCAA Equestrian teams. The NCEA is headquartered in Waco, Texas. Currently the NCEA has 24 official member colleges and universities that sponsor women's equestrian teams that participate in intercollegiate competition as a varsity sport.[1] Some schools are further organized into conferences (ECAC, Big 12, SEC) while others are not. Most schools sponsor women's teams while two sponsor men's.

They began hosting a national championship in 2002. As membership has grown, they have begun to sponsor regional championships as well. They began hosting a Big 12 regional championship in 2009,[2] a Southeastern Conference (SEC) regional championship in 2013,[3] and a United Equestrian Conference (UEC) regional championship in 2015.[4] In 2012 they began the NCEA Coach of the Year Award and in 2013 they began the team given NCEA Sportsmanship Award.[5] In 2011 they began naming an NCEA All-American First Team for each section of competition, composed of the top four riders as selected by the NCEA selection committee.[5] In that same year they also began to name All-American Honorable Mentions based on a set criteria where there is no limit as to how many can earn the award.[5] In 2013 they began naming an NCEA All-American Second Team composed of the next top four riders as selected by the NCEA selection committee.[5] In the 2013-14 season they began naming an NCEA All-Time Rider of the Month Award to one athlete from each section of competition during the regular season.[6]

In 1998 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) identified Equestrian as an emerging sport for women in NCAA Divisions I and II.[7] In September 2019, the CWA supported a proposal to add equestrian to the Emerging Sports for Women program in Division III.[8] The proposal was submitted to Division III delegates at the NCAA Convention in January 2020, but was defeated 174-195.[9]

  1. ^ "Schools". collegiateequestrian.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  2. ^ "Big 12". collegiateequestrian.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  3. ^ "SEC". collegiateequestrian.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  4. ^ "United Equestrian Conference". collegiateequestrian.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d "NCEA Award Winners". collegiateequestrian.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  6. ^ "NCEA All-Time Riders of the Month". collegiateequestrian.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  7. ^ "History of the NCEA". National Collegiate Equestrian Association. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  8. ^ Rachel Stark-Mason (September 26, 2019). "Committee on Women's Athletics supports Division III equestrian proposal". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  9. ^ Jeremy Villanueva (January 25, 2020). "Division III adds to emerging sports for women list". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved May 31, 2021.