Formerly | CIAU women's ice hockey, CIS women's ice hockey |
---|---|
Sport | Ice hockey |
Founded | 1997 |
No. of teams | 35, in four conferences |
Country | Canada |
Most recent champion(s) | Mount Royal Cougars |
Most titles | Alberta Pandas (8) |
Official website | U Sports women's ice hockey |
U Sports women's ice hockey is the highest level of play of women's ice hockey at the university level under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Women's ice hockey has been played in U Sports since the 1997-98 season, when the governing body was known as the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union, following a long stint of teams only competing in the OUA. There are 35 teams, all of which are based in Canada, that are divided into four conferences that are eligible to compete for the year-end championship. As these players compete at the university level, they are obligated to follow the rule of standard eligibility of five years.