Ultimate Guide
Whether you're a hopeful hockey player, a parent, or just a curious hockey fan, this in-depth guide will provide you with a deeper understanding of all things ACHA Hockey (American Collegiate Hockey Association). Here in this guide, we'll cover:
•ACHA League History
•Tiers/Teams (Men & Women’s)
•Skill Level
•Common Misconceptions
•How to Play ACHA Hockey
•What It's Like to Play Here
•Alternative Routes
•and much more
Let’s get off the couch…and get into it.
Chapter 1
ACHA League History
Chapter 2
ACHA Tiers/Teams
Chapter 3
ACHA Skill Level
Chapter 4
Common Misconceptions
Chapter 5
How to Play ACHA Hockey
Chapter 6
What It's Like to Play in the ACHA
Chapter 7
Alternative Routes
Before we jump over the boards and start getting into the corners, let’s take a quick moment to go over some basics on what ACHA hockey is (and it’s founding story).
Even if you’re already familiar with the league, this makes for a quick refresher.
Ready? Let's do it.
The ACHA was founded back in 1991 as an additional playing route for college-level ice hockey players to continue playing.
Ice hockey growth and the number of youth hockey players in the United States has risen steadily in recent decades…but the number of NCAA programs hasn’t necessarily kept pace with that growth.
The ACHA fills that void...providing more opportunities for players to continue playing hockey competitively alongside their academic pursuits.
The ACHA’s core mission as they state “is to support the growth of collegiate hockey while emphasizing academic performance, personal development and opportunities for regional, national, and international competition.”
Since its inception back in the day, the ACHA has seen impressive growth to over 460+ teams playing today.
The collective teams are spread all across the United States with a couple select teams additionally based in Canada. Teams are broken down by three divisions at the men’s level and two divisions at the women's level.
Let’s get into the levels and tiers…
How many ACHA teams and tiers are there?
Good question.
Here in this chapter, we’ll cover this for you covering all of the ACHA men’s and women’s levels.
With over 460+ teams, the ACHA organization is quite large. Within this total number, there are several respective divisions for men's and women's hockey.
Let's break these down with a quick visual...
At the ACHA Men’s level, there are three divisions:
At the ACHA Women’s level, there are two divisions:
Now that we've covered the basic structure, let's move into the good stuff and cover what the caliber of play here is like.
What’s the skill level of play like for ACHA hockey?
Another good question. Since ACHA hockey as a whole has hundreds of teams spread out across multiple divisions, the range of skill levels is naturally quite diverse from top to bottom.
Our aim in this chapter is to help break it down…let’s do just that.
From our experience, ACHA hockey is often misunderstood when it comes to its skill level. We’ll get into this even further in the next chapter, but it’s important to note on as it pertains to skill level.
Many people assume it's a big step down from NCAA hockey, but the truth is that it’s a bit more nuanced than this.
The level of play across many ACHA D1 teams can be quite strong. Many of these top ACHA players here likely could have played NCAA D3 themselves, but for whatever reason (financial situations, academic focus, living closer to home), they preferred to take this route instead.
The level of play in the ACHA depends greatly on the specific team and the division.
Top-tier teams in ACHA Division 1 play at a level that is quite comparable to lower-tier NCAA Division III teams.
As you move down to the lower Division 1 teams into ACHA Division 2 and ACHA Division 3, the overall level of play can (and will) drop a bit.
That being said, there are strong teams at each tier in their own right….but there are fewer ACHA powerhouse teams as you move down each level and tier.
As a whole though, the level of hockey throughout the organization continues to get stronger collectively.
Due in part to this, we’re seeing more players go from ACHA to professional ice hockey, whether in lower-tier minor leagues in North America or overseas in Europe (more on this in a later chapter).
Is ACHA hockey any good? Are the hockey players that play here good athletes?
We hear questions like this often.
In this chapter, we’ll cut to the chase and cover them for you...
One of the biggest misconceptions about the ACHA is that it's a "beer league" or a low-intensity version of college hockey.
While it's true that some ACHA teams are less competitive, especially in the lower divisions, the top-tier teams can be extremely serious with rigorous training schedules, travel, and highly attended games.
Another misconception some have is that ACHA players aren’t "serious" athletes.
This also couldn’t be further from the truth.
Many ACHA players not only balance thier full academic schedules with the demands of a college hockey season, but they do it all without the scholarships or added perks that NCAA athletes receive.
They're continuing to play because they love the game.
How does one go about playing hockey at the ACHA level?
There are several ways to go about it.
We’ll cover these for you here in this chapter...
If you're looking to play ACHA hockey, the good news is that there are plenty of opportunities.
This is due to the sheer number of teams and less rigorous recruiting hurdles.
At the NCAA level, the majority of rostered players are recruited well before playing there which makes it extremely hard to crack a roster. They’re often recruited 1-3 years before ever stepping foot onto campus (during juniors, prep school hockey, AAA, etc).
Yes- there are walk-on examples at the NCAA level, but it’s a much less common path.
At the ACHA level (especially D1), recruitment is still a big part of each years team building, but this is heavily geared towards the top-tier teams in terms of their resources to recruit up and coming talent.
Not all ACHA can dedicate the same time to recruit incoming players. Some programs are highly competitive and recruit players who could have likely played NCAA hockey whereas others are more open and focus their program around building a competitive but fun, team-oriented hockey culture that goes alongside school.
Most ACHA teams hold some form of hockey tryouts on campus.
This provides ample opportunity for competing hockey players to earn a shot. As we’ve mentioned several times throughout this guide, the level of competition to make a team can vary widely depending on the school.
Keep this in mind.
If you’re interested in joining a particular ACHA team, we recommend looking online at the school’s hockey program for information about tryouts and practices to potentially join the club. Pair this with looking at the school both academically and financially.
It can help to ask yourself the following questions:
•Do I have the marks/grades to get accepted into the school?
•Can I afford this school’s tuition cost, housing, and additional costs for several years?
•Is my skill level on the ice in line with players who currently play here?
Answering the top two questions above is just as important as it is being a potential fit hockey-wise.
On the hockey fit part, we strongly recommend you be realistic in your aim as well to match your playing ability with the ACHA tier.
Doing this alone will greatly increase your chances.
For example, if you’ve barely played travel hockey during high school and you aren’t currently dedicating time each week on/off the ice to improve your craft even further, it’s probably not best to aim for an ACHA D1 program as your next move. Maybe not even D2.
Why?
These top ACHA clubs already have players they’ve manually recruited plus a line of additional players out the door aiming to tryout to play here too. Many of them likely have higher levels of playing experience so far (high level AAA, junior, etc).
You may be better than them, but it’s basic supply/demand in terms of chances to earn a roster spot (ex: 40 players competing for 2 spots).
If you were already planning to attend that school for academic reasons regardless, then by all means go for it.
Just be okay though in knowing that if the hockey level is too high for your current skill level or if the team is stacked with recruits and returners, you may not make the team.
We share this candidly in hopes that it helps a few players (maybe you) in their aim to play ACHA or maybe to end up deciding that there’s another hockey path that’s better suited for your situation….completely up to each player to decide.
As a last point to make in this chapter, the very best way to earn opportunity at the ACHA level is by playing well in your current league. By you standing out via your play on ice, this alone can potentially earn you interest from prospective clubs. It’s often not enough on it’s own, but it makes all other efforts a bit less of an uphill climb.
Key Takeaways:
Research
Take the time to review ACHA schools to determine a potential fit or not based on preferences (both on the academics + athletics side, per section above)
Self Analysis
Is your level of play in line with players on their roster?
Team Fit
Do they accept walk-ons? If so, do they make it onto the roster? Do you believe you could make a roster spot there?
Stand out + Play Well
Do your best to play well wherever you are playing today. Whether that’s impressing others in your current league or that’s waking up at 6AM to get extra ice time in while you take a gap year off, do everything you can possibly do in your control to be the best player you can be.
In the last chapter, we talked all about making a team at the ACHA level.
Here in Chapter 6, we’re going to talk all about what it’s like for players day-to-day once they’re on campus on a ACHA team.
Whether you’re a player/parent or a fan, there’s something we can all take from this…
According to many players, it’s a great experience.
Not only are you able to continue to receive a higher education (degree), but you're able to continue to play the game you love in a time in life where the “world is your oyster.”
Based on a number of conversations we’ve had with players at upper echelon D1 ACHA hockey programs all the way down to the lower levels, players generally enjoyed their college hockey experience.
We’re obviously painting this answer with a broad stroke since it’d be impossible to answer this for several hundred teams without sitting down with former players from each of them, but we’ve heard many players speak well of the organizations they were with.
In terms of what it’s like day-to-day…the two main priorities for ACHA players to balance are school and hockey.
Mix in work for some as well and you have an almost too full schedule.
Much like how players in the NCAA are student-athletes...where the word “student” comes first, the same goes for ACHA hockey players.
First and foremost, all players here are students first.
Sure…you may technically be there to play hockey…but the reason the team exists at all is a byproduct of the school being in place.
The daily grind can be quite busy between attending classes, workload (homework, assignments), practices, team training, and then game schedules (both home and away), and so on.
To help you grasp this further in terms of what players go through during a season here, we’ll break it down into 3 broad groupings: top-tier, mid-tier, lower-tier.
Try not to view these as strictly top tier must be ACHA D1, D2 mid tier, and D3 low tier. Rather see them as broad guidelines. As you’ll see below, hockey programs here may naturally fall into that particular tier bucket, but there are some lower division teams for example that have larger budgets/programs than some higher division teams. It all depends.
These top ACHA programs are run much like a typical NCAA hockey team would. If you look up the top programs in the nation rankings wise, many of them will fall somewhere in this bucket.
They’re quite regimented in their weekly schedules (practice, team workouts, video sessions), the hockey week load is full, and you come to the rink ready to train like a high level collegiate athlete every day.
At this mid-tier which is a broad range, there are aspects to your hockey program that are dialed.
The team has a bit more budget than others, but it’s not creme of the creme in all areas. Maybe you have a nice locker room, ample ice time, and team workouts, but hockey isn’t everything on campus. From the top to the bottom of your roster, there may be a large spectrum of players ranging from those who take hockey extremely seriously to those still playing but it is a very secondary focus for them (just as one example).
Here at the lowest tier of ACHA, there’s a bit more of a college “club hockey” feel to it in terms of how the team runs.
Players at this level are still competitive but typically put way more focus on their full-time academic schedules, part-time jobs, and other campus activities which they take part in alongside playing puck.
The lower-tier teams usually don’t have the same funding as top-tier ACHA clubs either. With fewer resources across the board, teams can’t consistently get as much ice time to practice, there’s less equipment budget to work with, and players are even sometimes responsible for team dues or pitching in to help organize travel plans for away games (ex: carpools for road games). This last one is a big reason why lower-tier ACHA clubs play opponents closer to home.
We’ve found that no matter the tier, there are high-quality players, coaches, volunteers, and team staff members across the entire ACHA. We tip our hats off to each one of them.
Many players form close-knit teams, and the team camaraderie is a big part of their college hockey experience.
Where else can I play if ACHA hockey isn’t for me?
There are several other routes you can take depending on skill level, work ethic, and preferences.
Here in this closing chapter, we’ll cover what a few of the best alternatives to playing ACHA hockey are…
As we’ve harped on throughout this guide, ACHA hockey can be a solid option for numerous players who aspire to continue playing after high school, travel, or junior hockey….but it's not the only route players can take if playing NCAA isn’t in the cards.
Maybe continued education isn’t your thing based on your career goals…
Maybe the financial cost of a 4-year program is too high…
Maybe you’re still not sure where you want to play next...
One alternative route is trying to make the jump right to semi-professional ice hockey in North America.
With more players wanting to continue playing in the minors today though in North America, this route has proven to be quite challenging. Reason why is you’re competing with a subset of players who for the most part have stronger resumes and playing experience than you.
Not a great recipe for success.
Another viable option is playing puck across the pond.
Due to the wide range of leagues and tiers throughout Europe, European Ice Hockey Leagues make for a great alternative option for players depending on both current level of play and previous playing experience.
Not only are most teams in the EU based in exceptional cities in terms of day-to-day living, but there’s quality ice hockey tiers for all sorts of players from differing playing backgrounds.
Whether you’re a top-end player with junior/college experience or maybe you’ve had some time off playing competitively on paper but you have the itch and drive to keep playing...there’s potentially a tier for you to play.
You likely just need help getting your foot in the door with the right people (in a realistic manner) so that teams take you seriously as a prospect.
Over the seasons, we’ve helped a wide range of non-ACHA and ACHA players in their goal to play hockey in Europe so we recommend this route from first-hand experience.
When an underdog player coming out of ACHA or another path similar to this thanks us for helping them achieve their goal, it makes us extremely proud.
Not only have they achieved the goal of playing pro that many players have growing up, but they did it with a chip on their shoulder while coming out of a less conventional hockey path.
Ultimately, your specific hockey path depends on your goals.
For some of you, that’s focusing on hockey and school in unison (they’re equally important) for the coming years.
For others, maybe hockey is your primary focus for the time being (or vice versa- education first).
By using the information we’ve shared throughout this guide and the questions we’ve raised, we hope that you're now a bit more informed regarding the best potential routes you may (or may not) want to take in the next steps of your hockey journey.
If you’re reading this on behalf of a player, we also hope that you’ve gained some helpful takeaways for them.
In closing, we hope to continue to see the league and ACHA players within it thrive throughout college hockey and beyond.
We plan to play a small part in their success as they move into the next step of the hockey ladder. If the idea of playing in Europe sounds appealing to you, don't hesitate to reach out and send a message to our office here.