The Lake Superior State Lakers ( LSSU Lakers ) are the athletic teams that represent the Lake Superior State University , located in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan , in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sporting competitions. The Lakers compete as members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for 12 of 13 varsity sports, with the men's hockey team (the only team that competes at the Division I level) playing in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association . The Lakers have been members of the GLIAC since 1972.
24-551: The Lakers have appeared in 10 NCAA Division I ice hockey tournaments and won three national championships (1988, 1992, and 1994) at that level. LSSU also won two men's NAIA national championships in 1972 and 1974 while playing in that association. The Lakers have taken the CCHA regular season title four times (1974, 1988, 1991, and 1996) and have also won the CCHA conference tournament four times (1991, 1992, 1993, and 1995). Many of these teams' players have gone on to play professionally in
48-1361: A part of any of these conferences play in the Continental Athletic Conference , formerly the Association of Independent Institutions. *- Denotes that the conference sponsors football. †- Denotes a football-only conference. 1952 in sports 1952 in sports describes the year's events in world sport. England Spain Italy Germany France Portugal Victorian Football League South Australian National Football League Western Australian National Football League NBA Finals Spain Events England Australia India New Zealand South Africa Men's professional Men's amateur Women's professional Steeplechases Hurdle races Flat races Speed Skating World Championships Australia England France USA Davis Cup Awarded retrospectively by
72-499: A series of do-it-yourself home improvement videos, became the first college student-athlete known to have profited from an endorsement under the current rules. The NAIA sponsors 16 sports in which it conducts 28 annual championships (13 for men, 13 for women, 2 co-ed). The NAIA recognizes three levels of competitions: "emerging" (15 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity and declared), "invitational" (25 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity and declared for postseason, Approval of
96-659: Is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to their student athletes. Around $ 1.3 billion in athletic scholarship financial aid is awarded to student athletes annually. For the 2023–24 season, it had 241 member institutions , of which two are in British Columbia , one in the U.S. Virgin Islands , and
120-751: The Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player award since 1939, as well as the Charles Stevenson Hustle Award ("Charlie Hustle"), which was the basis for Pete Rose 's nickname, given to him by Whitey Ford . From 1992 to 2020, basketball was the only NAIA sport in which the organization's member institutions were aligned into divisions. Effective with the 2020–21 academic year, the NAIA returned to a single division for both men's and women's basketball. The NAIA has 21 member conferences, including 9 that sponsor football. Member institutions that are not
144-728: The NHL and other professional leagues. LSSU also has a Division III club hockey team, which plays in the American Collegiate Hockey Association .The Taffy Abel Arena where the Lakers' play is named after Clearance "Taffy" Abel. It is named after him because when the University got the donation to renovate the arena from the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians, it was in the contract that they would get to name
168-637: The 1976, 1978, 1996, 2014 and 2015 GLIAC regular season titles. In 1996 they also won the GLIAC tournament championship along with an NCAA tournament berth. In 2009, 2014 and 2015, the men's team captured the GLIAC North Division Championship along with an NCAA tournament berth. LSSU's women's basketball team found success in the early part of the decade. They were the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 GLIAC North Division regular season champions. The LSSU women's basketball team also took home
192-534: The GLIAC conference tournament championship in 2003 and 2004. LSSU is home to a cross country and track & field program. LSSU is home to men's and women's tennis teams. In 2004 and 2006, LSSU's men's tennis teams qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships for the first and second time in school history. In 2006 and 2007 LSSU's women's tennis teams qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships for
216-576: The NAIA, in partnership with the National Football League (NFL), announced the addition of flag football as a varsity sport for female student-athletes. The NAIA became the first collegiate governing body to sanction the sport at the varsity level. Women's flag began during the 2021 season as an emerging sport with about 15 teams. Name, image, and likeness reform — In October 2020, the NAIA passed legislation that allows student-athletes at its member institutions to be compensated for
240-516: The National Administrative Council), and "championship" (40 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity, Minimum of two Invitationals held, Approval of the National Administrative Council). The association conducts, or has conducted in the past, championship tournaments in the following sports (year established). The NAIA men's basketball championship is the longest-running collegiate national championship of any sport in
264-645: The National Association for Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) was formed in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1952 , the NAIB was transformed into the NAIA, and with that came the sponsorship of additional sports such as men's golf, tennis and outdoor track and field. Football in the NAIA was split into two divisions in 1970, based on enrollment (Divisions I and II); it was consolidated back into a single division in 1997. The 1948 NAIB national tournament
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#1732787147576288-537: The United States. The tournament was the brainchild of Dr. James Naismith , creator of the game of basketball; Emil Liston , athletic director at Baker University ; and Frank Cramer, founder of Cramer Athletic Products. The event began in 1937 with the inaugural tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 2017 men's championship marked the 80th edition of what has been tabbed College Basketball's Toughest Tournament. The tournament has awarded
312-442: The arena. They chose Taffy Abel because he is from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., a legendary hockey star, and a Native American. Ice Hockey National Championships LSSU has also been national runners-up four times on the national stage in ice hockey. LSSU finished second in the 1968, 1969 and 1970 NAIA national championships and lost 5-4 to Maine in the 1993 NCAA ice hockey national championship. The LSSU men's basketball team captured
336-518: The first National College Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri , of which Goldman was director, one year before the first National Invitation Tournament and two years before the first NCAA tournament . The goal of the tournament was to establish a forum for small colleges and universities to determine a national basketball champion. The original eight-team tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1938. On March 10, 1940,
360-485: The first and second time in school history. LSSU briefly fielded a football team from 1948 to 1950 when the university was known as Sault Tech. LSSU also briefly fielded a club men's rugby team, 'The Black Sheep', from 2006 to 2009. Despite enthusiasm among students, the team folded due to lack of support from the administration. National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ( NAIA ) established in 1940,
384-479: The first association to admit colleges and universities from outside the United States. The NAIA began admitting Canadian members in 1967. Football – The NAIA was the first association to send a football team to Europe to play. In the summer of 1976, the NAIA sent Henderson State and Texas A&I to play 5 exhibition games in West Berlin, Vienna, Nuremberg, Mannheim and Paris. Flag football – In May 2020,
408-499: The first female college athlete to play and score in a college football game when she kicked two extra points during the 1997 Linfield vs. Willamette football game . Launched in 2000 by the NAIA, the Champions of Character program promotes character and sportsmanship through athletics. The Champions of Character conducts clinics and has developed an online training course to educate athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators with
432-538: The first historically Black institution to win a collegiate basketball national championship. In 1959, Southern University became the first HBCU to win the NAIA Baseball championship. In 2024, NAIA instituted a ban on those transgender men who have begun transgender hormone therapy and all transgender women from competing in women’s sports, with the exception of cheerleading and dance. The NAIA began sponsoring intercollegiate championships for women in 1980 ,
456-548: The rest in the continental United States , with over 83,000 student-athletes participating. The NAIA, whose headquarters is in Kansas City, Missouri , sponsors 28 national championships. CBS Sports Network , formerly called CSTV, serves as the national media outlet for the NAIA. In 2014, ESPNU began carrying the NAIA Football National Championship . In 1937, James Naismith and local leaders, including George Goldman and Emil Liston, staged
480-463: The second coed national athletics association to do so, offering collegiate athletics championships to women in basketball, cross country, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track and field, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball. The National Junior College Athletic Association had established a women's division in the spring of 1975 and held the first women's national championship volleyball tournament that fall. In 1997, Liz Heaston became
504-478: The skills necessary to promote character development in the context of sport. In 2010, the association opened the NAIA Eligibility Center, where prospective student-athletes are evaluated for academic and athletic eligibility. It delivers on the NAIA's promise of integrity by leveling the playing field, guiding student-athlete success, and ensuring fair competition. Membership – The NAIA was
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#1732787147576528-487: The use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). According to an NAIA press release, student-athletes can now "receive compensation for promoting any commercial product, enterprise, or for any public or media appearance", and can also "reference their intercollegiate athletic participation in such promotions or appearances." The NAIA had allowed student-athletes to receive NIL compensation since 2014, but had not previously allowed them to reference their status as such. The NAIA
552-499: Was several years ahead of the NCAA in NIL reform; the NCAA did not adopt NIL reform until 2021, after its hand was forced by multiple states passing legislation to allow student-athletes to receive such compensation, most notably California . In December 2020, Chloe Mitchell, a volleyball player at NAIA member Aquinas College who at the time had more than 2 million followers on TikTok with
576-506: Was the first intercollegiate postseason to feature a Black student-athlete, Clarence Walker of Indiana State under coach John Wooden . Wooden had withdrawn from the 1947 tournament because the NAIB would not allow Walker to play. The association furthered its commitment to African-American athletes when, in 1953, it became the first collegiate association to invite historically black colleges and universities into its membership. In 1957, Tennessee A&I (now Tennessee State) became
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