National Junior College Athletic Association

National Junior College Athletic Association
National Junior College Athletic Association

Logo NJCAA
Abbreviation NJCAA
Motto Promote and foster Junior College Athletics on Intersectional and National levels!
Formation May 14, 1938 (Intercollegiate Athletic Association)
Legal status Association
Headquarters Colorado Springs, Colorado
Region served  United States
Membership 24 (Regions), 525 (Members)
Official languages English
Executive Director Mary Ellen Leicht
Main organ Executive Committee
Website www.NJCAA.org/index.cfm
Men and women Division III basketball championship trophies from 2003 at Suffolk County Community College

The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is an association of community college and junior college athletic departments throughout the United States. It is held as Divisions and Regions. The current NJCAA holds 24 separate regions.

Contents

History

The idea for the NJCAA was conceived in 1937 at Fresno, California. A handful of junior college representatives met to organize an association that would promote and supervise a national program of junior college sports and activities consistent with the educational objectives of junior colleges.

The constitution presented at the charter meeting in Fresno on May 14, 1938, was accepted and the National Junior College Athletic Association became a functioning organization.

In 1949, the NJCAA was reorganized by dividing the nation into sixteen regions. The officers of the association were the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, public relations director, and the sixteen regional vice presidents. Ironically, though the NJCAA was founded in California, it no longer operates there and has been supplanted instead by the unaffiliated California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) with 100+ colleges participating.

Division History

Years Division
1938-1945 None
1945-1986 Division I
1986-1991 Division I, Division II
1991-present Division I, Division II, Division III

Awards

  • Academic All-American by Sport
  • NJCAA Academic Team of the Year by Sport
  • BJ Graber Female Athlete of the Year by Sport
  • David Rowlands Male Athlete of the Year by Sport
  • Lea Plarski Award by Sport
  • NJCAA Championship Ring National Sponsor by Sport
  • NJCAA Service Awards by Sport

Conferences

Current NJCAA map of Regions.

Sports

Football

Due to the relatively small number of schools fielding teams, some football-only conferences exist. They may be home to teams from multiple regions.

  • The Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference includes only schools in Kansas (Region 6). All are members of the conference in other sports.
  • The Midwest Football Conference includes schools from Iowa (Region 11), northern Illinois (Region 4), Michigan (part of Region 12) and North Dakota (part of Region 13).
  • The Minnesota College Athletic Conference, like the KJCCC, includes only schools in Minnesota (part of Region 13), all of which participate in the conference in other sports.
  • The Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges only includes schools in that state, which is a part of Region 23. None of the Louisiana members of Region 23 field a football team.
  • The Northeast Football Conference includes schools from Region 3 (Upper New York), 15 (Lower New York, New York City and Long Island), 19 (Lackawanna, Pa.) and 21 (Dean, Mass.) Lackawanna and Dean are the only football-playing schools in their respective regions.
  • The Southwest Junior College Football Conference includes teams from both regions in Texas (5 and 14) and one from Oklahoma (Region 2).
  • Western States Football League includes teams from Arizona (Region 1), New Mexico (Region 5), and Utah (Region 18).

There are also independent schools in Regions 2 (Arkansas Baptist and Lon Morris), 10 (Louisburg, N.C.), 13 (Dakota-Bottineau), 15 (Globe Tech) and 17 (Georgia Military).

Regions 7, 8, 9, 16, 20, 22 and 24 do not have any football programs.

Basketball Championships

See also

External links and references

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