College Hockey America (CHA) was a group of American colleges and universities that played NCAA Division I women's ice hockey against one another every season. It was founded in 1999 as a men's hockey conference, with women's teams joining in 2002. The men's side of CHA folded after the 2009–10 season. It continued as a women-only league through the 2023–24 season, after which it merged with the men-only Atlantic Hockey Association to form Atlantic Hockey America.[1]
Before the merger, CHA had close ties with the Atlantic Hockey Association. Although the conferences had separate bylaws and governing boards, they had a single commissioner and a combined office staff from 2010 to the merger.[2] Also, three of the final CHA members housed their men's teams in the Association.
All of the final members are now in Atlantic Hockey America.
Of the final members, Mercyhurst, RIT, and Robert Morris had varsity men's teams in the Association; all of that conference's final members are now in the merged AHA. Penn State has a men's varsity team that plays in the school's all-sports conference, the Big Ten. Syracuse has a men's team, but it plays at club level, outside the NCAA structure.