About

Entering its 16^th season in 2025-26, the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) stands as the only USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior league in the country. Widely recognized as one of the premier development platforms at its level, the NA3HL offers unmatched coaching, exposure, and advancement opportunities for student-athletes.

No other Tier III league has moved more players on to the North American Hockey League (NAHL) than the NA3HL. Through enhanced initiatives and strengthened collaboration with the NAHL, more NA3HL players are earning opportunities to play, practice, and secure college commitments through the NAHL than ever before.

The NA3HL continues to serve as a vital part of the NAHL's developmental pipeline. For the upcoming 2025-26 season, 35 NA3HL players have signed NAHL tender agreements, and 28 more were selected in the 2025 NAHL Draft.

Beyond internal advancement, the NA3HL is also a national leader in moving players on to collegiate hockey. In 2025, the league has already surpassed 100 college commitments, with athletes continuing their careers at both the NCAA and ACHA levels.

To date, the NA3HL proudly claims over 330 alumni playing NCAA hockey, including 20 at the Division I level and 313 in Division III, as well as more than 750 alumni competing in the ACHA. The league takes great pride in supporting its players' ongoing pursuit of academic and athletic excellence at the next level.

The NA3HL began back in the early 1980's as the Junior B level Central States Hockey League (CSHL). In 2007, the CSHL changed from Junior B to Tier III Junior A under the USA Hockey classification system. On November 1, 2010 it was announced that the North American Hockey League (NAHL) would take control of the CSHL. The NAHL-CSHL affiliation allowed for a more structured junior hockey system to provide athletes with more opportunities to advance to college and pro hockey. At the time of the take over the league was renamed to the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL).

The primary mission of the NA3HL, which is managed organizationally by the NAHL, is to provide a structured developmental environment for student-athletes whose youth options are limited but are still reaching their potential and have aspirations of playing in the NAHL or United States Hockey League (USHL) and eventually the NCAA or American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA).

Through the NAHL's vast resources for development and exposure, the creation of the NA3HL provides another worthy path for players to grow, on and off the ice, while being showcased in front of the entire junior, college and professional scouting community. It also allows the NAHL and NA3HL to work with USA Hockey's youth affiliates regarding junior-youth conflicts of same-age players.

In addition to its regular-season schedule and playoffs, the NA3HL, featuring 38 teams across 20 states (Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming), provides players the opportunity to compete close to home while continuing to excel academically. The league also takes part in the NAHL's high-exposure events, which draw hundreds of college, junior, and professional coaches and scouts.

The NA3HL also benefits from the NAHL's extensive network of marketing partnerships, including its affiliations with Bauer, the Official Equipment Supplier of the NAHL, as well as NATV and NAScout, the league's premier video and scouting platforms.