National Collegiate Equestrian Association

Mission Statement of the NCEA
The NCEA, in concert with the mission and vision of the NCAA, is committed to providing collegiate opportunities for female equestrian student-athletes to compete at the highest level, while embracing equity, diversity and promoting academic and competitive excellence.

History of the NCEA
In 1998, Equestrian was identified and adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) as an emerging sport for women at the Division I and II levels. Currently, there are 16 Division I and four Division II programs sponsoring equestrian.

The National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA), a non-profit corporation, was created as a governing body to advance the sport of equestrian. The NCEA is responsible for the development and administration of equestrian rules and guidelines. Equestrian is subject to all NCAA policies and procedures in the same manner as other sports.

The NCEA developed sub-committees for areas critical to the advancement of equestrian. These sub-committees consist of coaches and administrators from member institutions. Coaches and administrators are invited to serve on any of the various NCEA Committees of their choice. The committees include but are not limited to: Membership Services, Competition, Strategic Communications, Sponsorship, Selection, and Championship. Each committee is charged with helping to progress equestrian to championship sport status within the NCAA. Additionally, liaisons from the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) interact with and provide input to these committees and the NCEA Executive Committee.
 
Part of the NCEA’s structure includes a National Advisory Board (NAB) comprised of corporate leaders, philanthropists, and equine industry experts. The goal of the NAB is to develop the financial support to make Equestrian the first financially-independent non-revenue generating collegiate sport. NAB efforts have shown early success in the form of grants to help sustain current NCEA teams, as well as providing financial strategies for the development of new Equestrian teams across the nation.