West Chester’s Ice Line Quads Rinks recently hosted 32 of the top club teams in college hockey for the Collegiate Hockey Federation’s national championship tournament, writes Melanie Heller for The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

The Federation Cup featured the best club teams in the country. They were divided into eight pools of four for round-robin play, and the winner of each pool progressed to a single-elimination tournament. 

The CHF provides an opportunity for athletes, who are attending schools that might not have varsity ice hockey teams, to play competitively. While it may not be at a varsity level, club hockey is more organized and competitive than intramurals and offers competition with other local schools without the strings attached to competing at the NCAA level.

“People hear club, and there’s a little bit of a negative connotation towards it,” said Kutztown University coach Ryan Booth. “It’s still phenomenal hockey. These kids still show up every day and work hard to get better and to play for something special.” 

Babson College from Wellesley, Mass., won this year’s event. 

Read more about the Federation Cup in The Philadelphia Inquirer.