Conference of New England

Formerly	Commonwealth Coast Conference (1984–2024)
Association	NCAA
Founded	1984
Commissioner	Julie Beer (since 2025)
Sports fielded	21 men's: 10 women's: 11
Division	Division III
No. of teams	11
Headquarters	Beverly, MA, U.S.
Region	New England
Official website	cnesports.org
Locations

TheConference of New England (CNE), formerly known as theCommonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), is anintercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with theNCAA'sDivision III. Member institutions are located inNew England in the states ofConnecticut,Maine,Massachusetts, andRhode Island.

The CCC and Commonwealth Coast Football unveiled a new family of logos during a June 2019 visual rebrand.^[1]

100km
62miles

Saint Joseph

New England College

Colby–Sawyer

Maine Maritime

Johnson & Wales

Hartford

Suffolk

Husson

Western New England

Wentworth

Univ. of New England

Roger Williams

Nichols

Gordon

Endicott

Curry

   

Location of current members:
full member
associate member

On June 21, 2022, theUniversity of Hartford announced that it would join the CCC, starting the 2023–24 academic year;^[2] while Salve Regina announced it would leave both the CCC and CCC Football to join theNew England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), once concluding the 2022–23 school year.^[3]

On December 8, 2022, Johnson & Wales (R.I.) announced it would join the CCC as soon as the 2024–25 academic year.^[4] first as an associate member for men's and women's ice hockey, before eventually going for full membership status,^[5]

In 2023, two schools announced they would be reinstating their varsity football programs and joining the CCC for football, starting the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year); firstMaine Maritime Academy on January 9,^[6] thenNew England College followed suit on November 14.^[7]

On August 1, 2024, 40 years after it was founded, the conference announced that it would be rebranding as theConference of New England (CNE), effective with the 2024–25 season.^[8]

On September 12, 2024, the CNE announced that it would add a women's golf championship in the 2025–26 academic year, coinciding with the addition of the sport by full member Roger Williams; giving the CNE the six women's golf members needed to qualify for an automatic bid to the NCAA championship.^[9]

On August 19, 2025, the CNE announced that it would add men's volleyball as its 22nd championship sport, beginning in the 2026–27 academic year.^[10]

• 1984 – On 1984, the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) was founded. Charter members includedAnna Maria College,Curry College,Emerson College,Hellenic College,Salve Regina College (now Salve Regina University), theUnited States Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard) andWentworth Institute of Technology (Wentworth Tech), beginning the 1984–85 academic year.
• 1985:
  • Hellenic left the CCC when the school dropped its athletic program after lasting only one season after the 1984–85 academic year.
  • Roger Williams College (now Roger Williams University) joined the CCC in the 1985–86 academic year.
• 1986 – The CCC was granted membership within theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III ranks in the 1986–87 academic year.
• 1987:
  • The U.S. Coast Guard left the CCC to join theConstitution Athletic Conference after the 1986–87 academic year.
  • Gordon College joined the CCC in the 1987–88 academic year.
• 1988 –Regis College joined the CCC in the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1989:
  • Emerson left the CCC to become anNCAA D-III Independent after the 1988–89 academic year.
  • New England College of New Hampshire joined the CCC in the 1989–90 academic year.
• 1992 –Eastern Nazarene College joined the CCC in the 1992–93 academic year.
• 1995 –Colby–Sawyer College andNichols College joined the CCC in the 1995–96 academic year.
• 1999 –Endicott College and theUniversity of New England of Maine joined the CCC in the 1999–2000 academic year.
• 2007 –Western New England University joined the CCC in the 2007–08 academic year.
• 2011 – Four member schools left the CCC to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2010–11 academic year:
  • Anna Maria to theGreat Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC)
  • Regis (Mass.) to theNew England Collegiate Conference (NECC)
  • and Colby–Sawyer and New England (N.H.) to theNorth Atlantic Conference (NAC)
• 2016 –Becker College,Johnson and Wales University, Providence andSuffolk University joined the CCC as associate members for men's ice hockey in the 2016–17 academic year.
• 2017:
  • The CCC added football as a sponsored sport, although not directly as it absorbed the former and defunctNew England Football Conference and rebranded asCommonwealth Coast Football (CCC Football) in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).
  • Becker added football to join the CCC Football league in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).
• 2018:
  • Eastern Nazarene left the CCC to join the NECC after the 2017–18 academic year.
  • Johnson & Wales (R.I.) and Suffolk left the CCC as associate members for men's ice hockey after the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2019 –Husson University joined CCC Football in the 2019 fall season (2019–20 academic year).
• 2020 – Suffolk upgraded as a full member of the CCC for all sports in the 2020–21 academic year.
• 2022 – Due to changes in NCAA legislation regarding the number of member schools required for an automatic qualifier (AQ), football was fully incorporated into the CCC multi-sport conference, eliminating the need for the single-sport Commonwealth Coast Football league, beginning the 2022–23 academic year.
• 2023:
  • Salve Regina left the CCC (and CCC Football) to join theNew England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) after the 2022–23 academic year; while it remained in the conference as an associate member for men's and women's ice hockey only for the 2023–24 academic year.
  • TheUniversity of Hartford joined the CCC in the 2023–24 academic year.
• 2024:
  • TheUniversity of Saint Joseph of Connecticut (with Colby–Sawyer returning) joined the CCC as associate members for men's tennis in the 2025 spring season (2024–25 academic year).
  • The CCC was rebranded as the Conference of New England (CNE), effective beginning the 2024–25 academic year.
  • Johnson & Wales (R.I.) returned to the CNE as an associate member for men's and women's ice hockey for the 2024–25 academic year.
  • The CNE added a women's golf championship in the 2025–26 academic year, coinciding with the addition of the sport by full member Roger Williams; giving the CNE the six women's golf members needed to qualify for an automatic bid to the NCAA championship.
• 2025:
  • Johnson & Wales (R.I.) upgraded as a full member of the CNE for all sports, beginning the 2025–26 academic year.
  • Maine Maritime Academy (with New England (N.H.) following suit) reinstated their varsity football programs and joined the CNE as associate members for football in the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year).
  • The CNE added men's volleyball as its 22nd championship sport, beginning the 2026–27 academic year.
• 2026 – Salve Regina will rejoin the CNE as an associate member for men's and women's ice hockey, beginning the 2026–27 academic year.

The CNE currently has 11 full members, allprivate schools.

Notes

The CNE currently has five associate members, allprivate schools:

Notes

The CNE will have one future associate member, aprivate school.

Notes

The CNE had nine former full members, with all but one beingprivate schools.

Notes

The CNE had three former associate members, allprivate schools.

Notes

 Full member (all sports)  Full member (non-football)  Associate member (football)  Associate member (sport) 

The CNE sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in 21 sports. The conference started sponsoringfootball in the 2017–18 season, absorbing the former football-only New England Football Conference. From 2017 to 2021 football was operated as a single-sport conference brandedCommonwealth Coast Football.^[11] Due to changes in NCAA legislation regarding the number of members required for a conference to receive and automatic qualifier (AQ), football was fully incorporated into the multi-sport conference in 2022, eliminating the need for the football-only league. Women's ice hockey was added as a conference sport in 2020–21 when the CNE took over operations of theColonial Hockey Conference.^[12] Women's golf was added in 2025–26,^[9] with men's volleyball to follow in 2026–27.

Championship sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Field Hockey		Y
Football	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Ice Hockey	Y	Y
Lacrosse	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track & Field	Y	Y
Volleyball	2026–27	Y

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Ice Hockey	Lacrosse	Soccer	Tennis	Track & Field	Total CNE Sports
Curry	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Endicott	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	9
Gordon	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Hartford	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Johnson & Wales	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	5
New England	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	8
Nichols	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Roger Williams	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Suffolk	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Wentworth Tech	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Western New England	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Totals	10	11	10	5+3	9	9	10	11	10+2	8	93+5
Associate Members
Colby–Sawyer									Y		1
Husson				Y							1
Maine Maritime				Y							1
New England (NH)				Y							1
Saint Joseph									Y		1

School	Equestrian	Rowing	Sailing	Swimming	Volleyball	Wrestling
Curry					NEVC
Endicott	Y				NEVC
Gordon		Y		METS
Johnson & Wales	YCo-Ed					NEWA
Nichols					NEVC
Roger Williams	YCo-Ed		YCo-Ed	NJAC		NEWA
Wentworth Tech					GNAC
Western New England						NEWA

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Field Hockey	Golf	Ice Hockey	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & Field	Volleyball	Total CNE Sports
Curry	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Endicott	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Gordon	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Hartford	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Johnson & Wales	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	9
New England	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Nichols	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Roger Williams	Y	Y	Y	Y	2026-27	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Suffolk	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Wentworth Tech	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	7
Western New England	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Totals	11	11	8	6	7	11	11	11	9	11	11	107

School	Equestrian	Rowing	Rugby	Sailing	Swimming	Wrestling
Endicott	Y
Gordon		Y			METS
Johnson & Wales	YCo-Ed
New England			NIRA		LEC
Roger Williams	YCo-Ed			YCo-Ed	NJAC
Western New England					LEC	Y

Wikimedia Commons has media related toCommonwealth Coast Conference.

• Official website

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• NCAA Division III ice hockey conferences

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