Formed in 1982, the NorPac Conference has evolved over the past 27 years from an initial California membership to the current east and west blend. Three of the original teams include Pacific, Stanford and California. Both Appalachian State and Davidson accepted invitations to join in 2000, followed by Radford in 2001.

Longwood was added to the conference in 2005 as a provisional member while reclassifying to a Division I membership. After fulfilling NCAA reclassification requirements, Longwood became eligible for its first conference tournament in 2007 and hosted the 2008 championship.

UC Davis is the newest addition to the league. After the Aggies' program was elevated from club to intercollegiate status, the NorPac Conference announced the addition of UC Davis in July 2008. The Aggies, in 2009, went on to compete in a full conference schedule and participated in the league tournament.

With the addition of UC Davis as the eighth member, the conference reestablished Eastern and Western divisional play in 2009. The Aggies joined California, Pacific and Stanford to make up the West Division. Appalachian State, Davidson, Longwood and Radford formed the East Division. The round-robin divisional play will culminate with the conference championship tournament for all eight members.

In 2010, the tournament returns to Davidson for the third time, joining Stanford (four) and Saint Louis (three) as multiple-year hosts. Appalachian State (2001), California (2005) and Longwood (2007) have served as a host institution once.

In 1998, the growth and development of the NorPac as an NCAA single-sport conference was assisted by a three-year grant from the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the NCAA, as well as by a partnership with and support from the United States Field Hockey Association (USFHA). Through the grant opportunity, the restructuring of the conference included members California, Davis and Elkins College, Missouri State, Pacific, Saint Louis and Stanford.

Since 1999, the NorPac Field Hockey Conference has received an NCAA play-in opportunity or a conference automatic qualification (2005). Over the past decade NorPac representatives are 8-2 in NCAA play-in games.