The Northern Lights Conference is joining NSCRO for both its men's and women's D2 college competitions.

This is the first women's D2 league to announce the move to NSCRO, while there's been a long list of men's D2 conferences making the move. The Northern Lights Conference was formed in 2012 as the collegiate arm of the Minnesota Rugby Union. It includes 31 men’s and women’s teams competing at both the Small College and Division 2 levels.

This decision was overwhelmingly supported by a vote of collegiate membership after a task force, appointed by the Minnesota Union, engaged and interviewed multiple organizations in order to present side-by-side comparisons of their offerings at a collegiate meeting earlier this week.

“Our task force was committed to doing our due diligence and presenting all options to our teams as objectively as possible. In the end, NSCRO stood out as the organization with the most comprehensive plan that would allow our teams to play on a competitive national pathway without significant disruption in our seasonality or hybrid format,” said Greg White, Men’s Commissioner. “The move to NSCRO is the best fit for all of our teams at this time”, Women’s Commissioner Rachel Hill adds, “We are excited where this move will take us.”

The Northern Lights membership includes:

Men’s Division 2                                                                 Women’s Division 2

Minnesota State University Mankato                                     Minnesota State University Mankato

Minnesota State University Moorhead                                   University of Minnesota Duluth

North Dakota State University                                                North Dakota State University

South Dakota State University                                                St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud State University                                                       University of North Dakota

University of North Dakota                                                      Winona State University

Winona State University

Men’s Small College Division                                                 Women’s Small College Division

Bemidji State University                                                                Bemidji State University

Carleton College                                                                          Carleton College

Gustavus Adolphus College                                                         Gustavus Adolphus College

Macalester College                                                                       Macalester College

St. John’s University                                                                     College of Saint Benedict

St. Olaf College                                                                            St. Olaf College

College of St. Scholastica                                                             College of St. Scholastica

University of St. Thomas                                                               Minnesota State University Moorhead

Southwest State University (Dev)

University of Minnesota Morris (Dev)