Sports in New England the New England Dragway facility in Epping, New Hampshire as one of the very few remaining dragstrips in the New England region. Additionally, four colleges compete at the Division I level in ice hockey only: American International and Bentley College compete in the Atlantic Hockey Association, while Merrimack and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell compete in Hockey East and America East in the second half of 2013. Sports in New England Two popular American sports were invented in New England. Basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. Volleyball was invented by William G. Morgan in Holyoke, Massachusetts,
Defender (1895 yacht) Defender (1895 yacht) Defender was the victorious United States defender of the tenth America's Cup in 1895 against challenger "Valkyrie III". Defender was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in 1895. It was Herreshoff's second victorious America's Cup defender design. "Defender" was a sloop with all-metal construction: steel, aluminum, and manganese bronze. It was owned by William Kissam Vanderbilt, Edwin Dennison Morgan and Charles Oliver Iselin, and skippered by Henry C. Haff. "Defender" defeated the New York Yacht Club's "Vigilant" then went on to defend the cup against British keel cutter "Valkyrie III". Lord