The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (also FGCU ) refer to the fifteen intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Florida Gulf Coast University , located in unincorporated Lee County, Florida near Fort Myers , in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, and tennis; women's-only: softball, swimming and diving, indoor volleyball, and beach volleyball; and men's-only: baseball. The Eagles compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the ASUN Conference (ASUN). FGCU is also notable as the youngest institution competing in NCAA Division I, having been officially founded in 1991 and started classes in 1997. Their mascot is Azul the Eagle.
55-477: FGCU athletics began in the NAIA . In 2002, Florida Gulf Coast became an independent member of NCAA Division II . In 2006, Florida Gulf Coast applied for NCAA Division I status and became a transitory Division I effective in the 2007–08 season. Florida Gulf Coast became a full Division I member on August 11, 2011. In the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament , FGCU became the first number 15 seed to advance to
110-640: A Policies and Procedures Manual to provide the policy foundation for the organization as it works to fulfill its purpose. These documents are reviewed yearly at the ACHA's annual meeting. The ACHA's policies cover team and player eligibility, rules of play, ranking procedures, national tournament procedures, and other administrative issues, although the ACHA parallels the NCAA Division III with most eligibility requirements, recruitment processes, gameplay rules, etc. The league holds its annual meeting in conjunction with
165-499: A nationwide search, Russ Slagle was selected by the ACHA's Board of Directors and appointed to fill the vacant staff position of ACHA National Tournament Director, and A.J. Boldan was placed in the role of National Tournament Manager-Broadcast Operations/Executive Producer in conjunction with the ACHA opting to engineer its own National Tournament broadcasts on a newly launched YouTube channel "ACHA National Championships". The ACHA includes both Men's and Women's Divisions. The Men's side
220-788: A part of any of these conferences play in the Continental Athletic Conference , formerly the Association of Independent Institutions. *- Denotes that the conference sponsors football. †- Denotes a football-only conference. American Collegiate Hockey Association The American Collegiate Hockey Association ( ACHA ) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes quality in collegiate ice hockey. The ACHA currently has three men's and two women's divisions and includes approximately 450 teams from across
275-499: A series of do-it-yourself home improvement videos, became the first college student-athlete known to have profited from an endorsement under the current rules. The NAIA sponsors 16 sports in which it conducts 28 annual championships (13 for men, 13 for women, 2 co-ed). The NAIA recognizes three levels of competitions: "emerging" (15 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity and declared), "invitational" (25 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity and declared for postseason, Approval of
330-635: Is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to their student athletes. Around $ 1.3 billion in athletic scholarship financial aid is awarded to student athletes annually. For the 2023–24 season, it had 241 member institutions , of which two are in British Columbia , one in the U.S. Virgin Islands , and
385-485: Is a pool play format with the winners of each pool advancing to the semifinals. The semifinal match-ups are the winner of Pool A vs. Pool C and Pool B vs. Pool D. Conferences ACHA Men's Division 3 consists of approximately 140 teams in nine conferences and Independents. These teams are also divided into four Regions (Atlantic, North, Pacific and South). A total of 16 teams qualify for the National Tournament in
440-541: Is made up of three Divisions: 1, 2, and 3. Division 3 was the last to be established in 1999. Each division has its own distinguishing set of guidelines which are explained below. The Women's side has two divisions. Division 1 began in 2000 and Division 2 is the most recent addition to the ACHA with its inception in 2006. Despite most teams' non-varsity status, the caliber of ACHA play can be quite high, especially in Division 1. Many large universities that do not sponsor hockey at
495-520: The COVID-19 pandemic . Number shown is the team's final regular season ranking/seeding. 37 teams have appeared in the ACHA Tournament in at least one year starting with 2007, the first year for Women's Division 2. The results for all years are shown in this table below, other than missing data for the third-place games from 2007 and 2009. The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in
550-726: The Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player award since 1939, as well as the Charles Stevenson Hustle Award ("Charlie Hustle"), which was the basis for Pete Rose 's nickname, given to him by Whitey Ford . From 1992 to 2020, basketball was the only NAIA sport in which the organization's member institutions were aligned into divisions. Effective with the 2020–21 academic year, the NAIA returned to a single division for both men's and women's basketball. The NAIA has 21 member conferences, including 9 that sponsor football. Member institutions that are not
605-505: The NCAA varsity level have become powerhouses, such as Ohio University , Adrian College , and Lindenwood University . Additionally, several universities that do sponsor NCAA varsity hockey teams also field ACHA-affiliated teams. Of all non-varsity sports activities, the ACHA-affiliated hockey teams generally garner the most attention at their universities, such as Missouri State where it is
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#1733093332828660-497: The Sweet 16 . FGCU Athletics earned $ 4.5 million in revenue for the 2015 fiscal year, with revenue from ticket sales earning over $ 800,000 for FY 2015. Men's basketball is the athletic department's "cash cow." Men's and women's basketball account for over $ 600,000, and baseball draws $ 28,000 in ticket revenue. NCAA The FGCU baseball team became eligible to compete in the NCAA post season in
715-459: The 2010 season after the two-year NCAA reclassifying period. FGCU has several former baseball players playing in the minor leagues, and has three MLB pitchers: Chris Sale (Boston Red Sox), Richard Bleier (Boston Red Sox and Team Israel), and Jacob Barnes (Los Angeles Angels). In 2017, the Green and Blue appeared in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. FGCU defeated Michigan in
770-542: The 2017 ACHA National Championship Tournament Festival held in Columbus, Ohio, in partnership with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets . Then ACHA Executive Director Michael Walley assumed the role of Tournament Director for the inaugural tournament, Andy Storz was placed in the role of National Tournament Manager-Game Day Hockey Operations/P.A. Announcer/Anthem Soloist, while Fasthockey.com handled broadcasting. In July 2017, after undergoing
825-550: The 2019–20 season, with all but independent Wisconsin playing in one of the four WD1 conferences. Eight teams qualify for the national tournament each season: automatic bids are awarded to the playoff champions of the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association , the Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League and Women's Midwest College Hockey , with the remainder of the field filled out by the highest-placing teams from
880-700: The ACHA had a total of 179 teams registered with 33 teams in Division I, 100 teams in Division II, 18 teams in Division III, and 20 teams in the Women's Division. By the 2002–2003 season that number raised to over 250 teams, with Division III adding over 80 teams alone. By the 2003–2004 season the number raised to 278 teams: 40 teams in D-I, 124 teams in D-II, 87 teams in D-III, and 27 teams in
935-429: The ACHA was the 1991–1992 season. The goal of the organization was to create an impartial governing body to monitor national tournaments, player eligibility, and general oversight. Over the years the ACHA quickly grew to over 150 teams in three men's divisions. A Women's Division was added in 2000 with a second Women's division being added for the 2006–2007 season. By the 2001–2002 season, marking their 10th anniversary,
990-635: The Eagles are one of the youngest men's soccer programs in the country. The team made the NCAA tournament in the first year of eligibility, in 2011, and returned in 2012. They most recently returned to the NCAA tournament in 2014 where they lost to Coastal Carolina 1–0. The men's soccer team plays its home games at the FGCU Soccer Complex . The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles women's soccer team represents Florida Gulf Coast University in all NCAA Division I women's soccer competitions. The Green and Blue have competed in
1045-755: The FGCU woman's basketball team won the Atlantic Sun Conference again. In the 2011–12 Season, the Women's team won both the Atlantic Sun Conference's regular season and conference tourney titles, earning its first berth into the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship . The Eagles lost to St. Bonaventure University in the first round of the tournament 72–65 in Tallahassee, FL. The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles men's soccer team represents Florida Gulf Coast University in all NCAA Division I men's soccer competitions. Founded in 2007,
1100-566: The NAIA, in partnership with the National Football League (NFL), announced the addition of flag football as a varsity sport for female student-athletes. The NAIA became the first collegiate governing body to sanction the sport at the varsity level. Women's flag began during the 2021 season as an emerging sport with about 15 teams. Name, image, and likeness reform — In October 2020, the NAIA passed legislation that allows student-athletes at its member institutions to be compensated for
1155-701: The NCAA tournament 6 times, with a win against South Florida during the 2015 tournament. The women's team played their first home NCAA tournament game in 2014, before a record crowd of 2,014 at the FGCU Soccer Complex. FGCU has a successful men's hockey program. Part of the ACHA , FGCU fields a hockey team at the D2 and D3 levels and often qualifies for the national championship tournaments. National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ( NAIA ) established in 1940,
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#17330933328281210-503: The National Administrative Council), and "championship" (40 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity, Minimum of two Invitationals held, Approval of the National Administrative Council). The association conducts, or has conducted in the past, championship tournaments in the following sports (year established). The NAIA men's basketball championship is the longest-running collegiate national championship of any sport in
1265-626: The National Association for Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) was formed in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1952 , the NAIB was transformed into the NAIA, and with that came the sponsorship of additional sports such as men's golf, tennis and outdoor track and field. Football in the NAIA was split into two divisions in 1970, based on enrollment (Divisions I and II); it was consolidated back into a single division in 1997. The 1948 NAIB national tournament
1320-470: The National Tournament, four from each region. Each month of the season a ranking of the top 15 teams in region is released. After the final ranking in February the top two seeds from each region earn an automatic berth into Nationals. Seeds 3–10 compete in their respective single-elimination Regional Tournaments, with the two teams who win both of their games also earning a Nationals berth. The National Tournament
1375-810: The Northeast Region (13 teams), the Southeast Region (19 teams), or the West Region (19 teams). At the end of the year, the top four teams from each region in the final edition of a monthly computer ranking are invited to the ACHA National Tournament. The WD2 tournament differs from WD1 in that teams are divided into four pools and play a round robin, with the pool winners advancing to the semifinals. Northeast Region Conference Southeast Region Conferences West Region Conference Players are selected from only ACHA Men's D1 to represent USA Hockey in
1430-619: The Sweet 16. On March 24, 2007, FGCU women's basketball team ended their 35–1 season with a loss in the Division II National Championship to Southern Connecticut State University . One year later, in 2008, the Women's Basketball team qualified for the WNIT , becoming the first team to qualify for the WNIT in its first season of Division I sports. During the 2008 WNIT Tourney, the team became
1485-556: The United States and Canada. Most ACHA teams offer few athletic scholarships and typically receive far less university funding. 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. The interest in college hockey has grown as the game of hockey has grown in
1540-482: 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 why the ACHA level was created. The ACHA's primary mission is to support the growth of two-year and four-year collegiate hockey programs nationwide. The ACHA identifies standards that serve to unite and regulate teams at
1595-474: The United States. The tournament was the brainchild of Dr. James Naismith , creator of the game of basketball; Emil Liston , athletic director at Baker University ; and Frank Cramer, founder of Cramer Athletic Products. The event began in 1937 with the inaugural tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 2017 men's championship marked the 80th edition of what has been tabbed College Basketball's Toughest Tournament. The tournament has awarded
1650-603: The Winter World University Games, an IIHF and FISU event. ACHA Men's D2 and D3 division created the Select Teams to offer opportunities for the other Men division's to experience International hockey and they are ACHA events. The Division 2 & Division 3 Selects Teams alternate going over to Europe each year during the Holiday Break to play European teams. The players are chosen from a round robin tournament in
1705-546: The Women's Division. By the summer of 2007 ACHA membership had reached 360 teams (M1-54, M2-190, M3-139, W1-32, W2-8), that cover 48 of the 50 states. During the summer of 2009 the University of Alaska Fairbanks established a Women's Division II team becoming the 49th state in the ACHA. Hawaii is currently the only state without an ACHA team. Every year since 2003, the Men's Division I Showcase has been an event that features some of
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1760-723: The annual convention of the American Hockey Coaches Association , in the month of April in Naples, Florida . The ACHA was established on April 20, 1991. Fifteen charter members met during the Chicago Showcase in Skokie, Illinois at the North Shore Hilton. These member teams had been playing college hockey for many years but wished to legitimize its play by standardizing some of its procedures. The members that created
1815-417: The collegiate level. The ACHA emphasizes academic performance, institutional sanction, eligibility criteria, and standards of play and opportunities for national competition, and the ACHA promotes all aspects of collegiate hockey stressing the personal development of individual athletes as well as national recognition for member organizations. In order to do this, the ACHA has developed organizational by-laws and
1870-447: The contest, with former graphic-design intern Tom Eykemans designing the new version of the logo (as shown above). 37 teams have appeared in the ACHA Tournament in at least one year starting with 2001 (the first year that the ACHA sponsored a women's division). The results for all years are shown in this table below. The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament: † Tournament canceled due to
1925-415: The first Atlantic Sun conference team to win a post-season game since 1998, when Florida International University won in the Women's NCAA tourney. The Women's team won the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season championship with a conference record of 17–3 but was ineligible to compete in the conference tourney, as the team was in transition from Division II to Division I athletics. In the 2010–11 season,
1980-512: The first National College Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri , of which Goldman was director, one year before the first National Invitation Tournament and two years before the first NCAA tournament . The goal of the tournament was to establish a forum for small colleges and universities to determine a national basketball champion. The original eight-team tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1938. On March 10, 1940,
2035-473: The first association to admit colleges and universities from outside the United States. The NAIA began admitting Canadian members in 1967. Football – The NAIA was the first association to send a football team to Europe to play. In the summer of 1976, the NAIA sent Henderson State and Texas A&I to play 5 exhibition games in West Berlin, Vienna, Nuremberg, Mannheim and Paris. Flag football – In May 2020,
2090-494: The first female college athlete to play and score in a college football game when she kicked two extra points during the 1997 Linfield vs. Willamette football game . Launched in 2000 by the NAIA, the Champions of Character program promotes character and sportsmanship through athletics. The Champions of Character conducts clinics and has developed an online training course to educate athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators with
2145-535: The first game 10–6 before falling in the next two contests of the double-elimination regional to Davidson and UNC, respectively. In 2012, FGCU's first year of full Division I post-season eligibility, the men's team played in the Atlantic Sun Championship final, losing to Belmont. In 2013, the team won the Atlantic Sun championship, beating top-seeded Mercer in the conference tournament final. That earned
2200-531: The first historically Black institution to win a collegiate basketball national championship. In 1959, Southern University became the first HBCU to win the NAIA Baseball championship. In 2024, NAIA instituted a ban on those transgender men who have begun transgender hormone therapy and all transgender women from competing in women’s sports, with the exception of cheerleading and dance. The NAIA began sponsoring intercollegiate championships for women in 1980 ,
2255-402: The last of a series of weekly computer rankings. At nationals, the eight teams are paired off by ranking (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc.) for a best-of-three first round, with the winners of those series advancing to the semifinals. Conferences ACHA Women's Division 2 includes 51 teams for the 2019–20 season, with a majority standing as a member of one of four conferences. All teams are sorted into
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2310-399: The organization were Tom Keegan (ACHA), Al Murdoch (Iowa State), Joe Battista (Penn State), Jim Gilmore (Ohio), Ernie Ferrari (Stanford), Howard Jenks (California), Jeff Aikens (North Dakota State), Don Spencer (West Virginia), Jim Barry (Navy), Scott Fuller (Navy), Leo Golembiewski (Arizona), Ron Starr (DePaul), Cary Adams (PCHA), Jim Warden (PCHA) and Jack White (UCLA). The inaugural year of
2365-565: The pre-season in informal exhibition games. Nine conferences and Independent teams compete annually for the Murdoch Cup, which is awarded to the Men's ACHA Division 1 National Champion. Twenty teams compete in the National Tournament. These top-twenty teams are ranked/selected by way of computer rankings, and as determined by auto-berths from the seven regular-season Conference champions. At Nationals, teams ranked 1–12 all receive first-round byes, with teams ranked 13–20 matching up 20 vs 13 (etc.), for
2420-534: The rest in the continental United States , with over 83,000 student-athletes participating. The NAIA, whose headquarters is in Kansas City, Missouri , sponsors 28 national championships. CBS Sports Network , formerly called CSTV, serves as the national media outlet for the NAIA. In 2014, ESPNU began carrying the NAIA Football National Championship . In 1937, James Naismith and local leaders, including George Goldman and Emil Liston, staged
2475-480: The rights to play in the second-round in pre-determined bracket slots. Since 2012, two teams (Penn State and Arizona State) have moved from ACHA to NCAA Division I. A third, Lindenwood moved up in 2022. Conferences ACHA Men's Division 2 is currently the largest division in the ACHA, it includes approximately 200 teams in 12 conferences and Independents. These teams are divided into four Regions (Central, Northeast, Southeast and West). A total of 16 teams qualify for
2530-409: The same manner as Division 2. The National Tournament has also been conducted in the same manner as Division 2 since 2010. Before that it was single elimination and every team played four games. The one exception is the semifinals match-ups. The winner of Pool A plays the winner of Pool B and the winner of Pool C plays the winner of Pool D. Conferences ACHA Women's Division 1 includes 25 teams for
2585-463: The second coed national athletics association to do so, offering collegiate athletics championships to women in basketball, cross country, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track and field, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball. The National Junior College Athletic Association had established a women's division in the spring of 1975 and held the first women's national championship volleyball tournament that fall. In 1997, Liz Heaston became
2640-468: The skills necessary to promote character development in the context of sport. In 2010, the association opened the NAIA Eligibility Center, where prospective student-athletes are evaluated for academic and athletic eligibility. It delivers on the NAIA's promise of integrity by leveling the playing field, guiding student-athlete success, and ensuring fair competition. Membership – The NAIA was
2695-611: The spring usually in Pennsylvania. The tournament pits each conference's elite players against each other. The original ACHA logo was created by Dave Kammerdeiner of the West Virginia University Art Department under the direction of Don Spencer for a cost of $ 50. In August 2003, the ACHA held an official contest to design a new logo, with the winning school receiving free registration for the 2003–2004 season. The University of Washington 's Husky Hockey team won
2750-449: The team an automatic invitation to the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament . In its first-ever tournament appearance, the No. 15 seeded Eagles upset the No. 2 seeded Georgetown Hoyas in the first round of the tournament, and the No. 7 seeded San Diego State Aztecs in the second round. The Eagles became the seventh No. 15 seed to advance to the round of 32 and the first to advance to
2805-553: The third-largest spectator sport. The same can be said for the Arizona and University of Georgia who draw the third-largest fan base behind football and basketball. All ACHA teams are members of USA Hockey and the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). ACHA Men's Division 1 comprises 72 teams as of the 2023–2024 season. Some of these teams also compete against NCAA Hockey D1 and D3 Schools throughout
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#17330933328282860-487: The top teams in the ACHA. ACHA partners with Fasthockey.com to broadcast many of the league's games. In 2017, the ACHA adopted a new hosting format for holding the annual National Championship Tournament for all Men's & Women's Divisions. Then ACHA Executive Director Michael Walley championed an idea to hold all of the ACHA's National Championship Tournaments in one major U.S. city, in partnership with that city's National Hockey League (NHL) team. The inaugural year saw
2915-487: The use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). According to an NAIA press release, student-athletes can now "receive compensation for promoting any commercial product, enterprise, or for any public or media appearance", and can also "reference their intercollegiate athletic participation in such promotions or appearances." The NAIA had allowed student-athletes to receive NIL compensation since 2014, but had not previously allowed them to reference their status as such. The NAIA
2970-445: Was several years ahead of the NCAA in NIL reform; the NCAA did not adopt NIL reform until 2021, after its hand was forced by multiple states passing legislation to allow student-athletes to receive such compensation, most notably California . In December 2020, Chloe Mitchell, a volleyball player at NAIA member Aquinas College who at the time had more than 2 million followers on TikTok with
3025-506: Was the first intercollegiate postseason to feature a Black student-athlete, Clarence Walker of Indiana State under coach John Wooden . Wooden had withdrawn from the 1947 tournament because the NAIB would not allow Walker to play. The association furthered its commitment to African-American athletes when, in 1953, it became the first collegiate association to invite historically black colleges and universities into its membership. In 1957, Tennessee A&I (now Tennessee State) became
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