8 Schools•Division I•Est. 1951
The WCHA was founded in 1951 and added women's competition in 1999. Today it operates as a Division I conference devoted entirely to women's ice hockey, spanning eight universities across three states, with a league office in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Championships built the reputation. Member teams have earned more than 20 NCAA and AWCHA national titles, the deepest collection in the sport. WCHA schools won the first 13 NCAA women's championships ever awarded, and the conference has placed at least one team in every Frozen Four since the tournament began in 2001, often icing two or more in the same weekend.
Individual honors run just as deep. The league has produced more than 10 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winners and dozens of additional top three finalists, along with well over 100 All America selections. Its coaching ranks include the winningest active bench boss in the country, and WCHA coaches have claimed a substantial share of the national coach of the year awards presented since 1998.
The Olympic pipeline ranks among the finest in any sport. League athletes have made more than 250 appearances at the Winter Games since women's hockey debuted in 2002, dozens of them ending in gold, and every nation to medal in that span has carried a player with WCHA ties on its roster.
Rivalries give the calendar its shape. Minnesota and Wisconsin stand as the two most decorated programs in league history, and most of the membership sits within Minnesota, so in state series fill the schedule from October forward. The Julianne Bye Cup goes to the regular season champion, the Final Faceoff to the postseason winner.
Official Website
The WCHA was founded in 1951 and added women's competition in 1999. Today it operates as a Division I conference devoted entirely to women's ice hockey, spanning eight universities across three states, with a league office in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Championships built the reputation. Member teams have earned more than 20 NCAA and AWCHA national titles, the deepest collection in the sport. WCHA schools won the first 13 NCAA women's championships ever awarded, and the conference has placed at least one team in every Frozen Four since the tournament began in 2001, often icing two or more in the same weekend.
Individual honors run just as deep. The league has produced more than 10 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winners and dozens of additional top three finalists, along with well over 100 All America selections. Its coaching ranks include the winningest active bench boss in the country, and WCHA coaches have claimed a substantial share of the national coach of the year awards presented since 1998.
The Olympic pipeline ranks among the finest in any sport. League athletes have made more than 250 appearances at the Winter Games since women's hockey debuted in 2002, dozens of them ending in gold, and every nation to medal in that span has carried a player with WCHA ties on its roster.
Rivalries give the calendar its shape. Minnesota and Wisconsin stand as the two most decorated programs in league history, and most of the membership sits within Minnesota, so in state series fill the schedule from October forward. The Julianne Bye Cup goes to the regular season champion, the Final Faceoff to the postseason winner.
Official Website