Little East Conference

Recent events

On June 16, 2022, the University of New England accepted an invitation to join the Little East as an associate member for women's swimming & diving, beginning the 2022–23 academic year.^[1]

On August 24, 2022, the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) members (Bridgewater State, Fitchburg State, Framingham State, Salem State, Westfield State and Worcester State) announced that they would leave the Little East and be its own separate conference (as in, the MASCAC to have it as a sponsored sport), beginning in the fall season of the 2023–24 academic year.^[2]

Chronological timeline

• 1986 – On April 28, 1986, the Little East Conference (LEC) was founded. Charter members included Eastern Connecticut State University, the University of Massachusetts Boston, Southeastern Massachusetts University (now the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth), Plymouth State College (now Plymouth State University), Rhode Island College and the University of Southern Maine; beginning the 1986–87 academic year.
• 1993 – Western Connecticut State University joined the Little East in the 1993–94 academic year.
• 1997 – Keene State College joined the Little East in the 1997–98 academic year.
• 2000 – Seven institutions joined the Little East as associate members, all effective in the 2000–01 academic year:
  • Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, Salem State University, Westfield State University and Worcester State University for field hockey as the MASCAC division in fall
  • and Salem State for men's lacrosse in spring
• 2003 – Salem State added men's tennis into its Little East associate membership in the 2004 spring season (2003–04 academic year).
• 2004 – Two institutions added certain single sports into their Little East associate memberships, both effective in the 2005 spring season (2004–05 academic year):
  • Bridgewater State for men's and women's tennis
  • and Salem State for women's tennis
• 2010 – Three institutions added certain single sports into their Little East associate memberships, all effective in the 2010–11 academic year:
  • Worcester State for women's tennis
  • and Bridgewater State and Westfield State for women's swimming & diving
• 2014 – Bridgewater State left the Little East as an associate member for women's swimming & diving after the 2013–14 academic year.
• 2018 – Castleton University (now Vermont State University–Castleton) joined the Little East in the 2018–19 academic year.
• 2019 – Massachusetts Maritime Academy joined the Little East as an associate member for men's lacrosse in the 2020 spring season (2019–20 academic year).
• 2020:
  • Worcester State left the Little East as an associate member for women's tennis after the 2020 spring season (2019–20 academic year).
  • Western New England University joined the Little East as an associate member for women's swimming & diving in the 2020–21 academic year; although due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they didn't begin to compete within conference play until 2021–22.
• 2021 – Bridgewater State added men's swimming & diving (with the return of women's swimming & diving) into its Little East associate membership in the 2021–22 academic year.
• 2022:
  • The University of New England joined the Little East as an associate member for women's swimming & diving in the 2022–23 academic year.
  • Bridgewater State, Fitchburg State, Framingham State, Salem State, Westfield State and Worcester State left the Little East as associate members for field hockey after the 2022 fall season (2022–23 academic year); as the MASCAC announced to have it as a sponsored sport.
• 2024 – Husson University, Maine Maritime Academy and the State University of New York at Delhi (SUNY Delhi) joined the Little East as associate members for men's and women's swimming & diving in the 2024–25 academic year. ^[3]
• 2025 – Five institutions joined the Little East as associate members (and/or added other single sports into their associate memberships), all effective in the 2025–26 academic year:
  • Babson College for men's ice hockey^[4]
  • Husson and Westfield State for women's golf ^[5]
  • and New England College^[6] and Norwich University^[7] for men's and women's ice hockey

Current members

The Little East currently has nine full members, all are public schools:

Notes

Associate members

The Little East currently has 12 associate members, all but six are public schools:

Notes

Former associate members

The Little East had six former associate members, all of which were also public schools:

Notes

Membership timeline

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

Men's sports

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Ice Hockey	Lacrosse	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field	Total LEC Sports
Castleton	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	9
Eastern Connecticut	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y[a]	N	Y	8
Keene State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	9
Plymouth State	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y[a]	N	Y	8
Rhode Island College	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	7
Southern Maine	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	9
UMass Boston	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	8
UMass Dartmouth	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	N	N	Y	6
Western Connecticut	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	9
Totals	9	9	9	6	7+3	7+2	9	3+4	5+2	9	73+11
Associate Members
Babson					Y						1
Bridgewater State								Y	Y		2
Husson								Y			1
Maine Maritime								Y			1
Massachusetts Maritime						Y					1
New England College					Y						1
Norwich					Y						1
Salem State						Y			Y		2
SUNY Delhi								Y			1

Women's sports

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Field Hockey	Golf	Ice Hockey	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field	Volleyball	Total LEC Sports
Castleton	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	10
Eastern Connecticut	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y[a]	N	Y	Y	10
Keene State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	11
Plymouth State	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y[a]	Y	Y	Y	11
Rhode Island College	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y[a]	Y	Y	Y	10
Southern Maine	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	11
UMass Boston	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	10
UMass Dartmouth	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Western Connecticut	Y	Y	Y	Y	N[b]	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	10
Totals	9	9	8	5+2	5+2	9	9	9	5+7	7+2	9	9	93+13
Associate Members
Bridgewater State									Y	Y			2
Husson				Y					Y				2
Maine Maritime									Y				1
New England College					Y								1
U. of New England									Y				1
Norwich					Y								1
Salem State										Y			1
SUNY Delhi									Y				1
Western New England									Y				1
Westfield State				Y					Y[a]				2

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Little East Conference that are played by Little East schools

School	Alpine Skiing	Gymnastics	Rugby
Castleton	USCSA		Y
Plymouth State	EISA
Rhode Island College		NCGA