The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

state college State College is a city in central Pennsylvania, United States. State College may also refer to: Related to State College, Pennsylvania * State College Area School District, a school district serving State College * State College Area High School ...

and

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions across 24 states and is divided into 3 divisions.

History

The idea for the NJCAA was conceived in 1937 at

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. 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. A constitution was presented and adopted at the charter meeting in Fresno on May 14, 1938. 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. Although the NJCAA was founded in California, it no longer operates there, having been supplanted by the unaffiliated

California Community College Athletic Association The California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) is a sports association of community colleges in the U.S. state of California. It oversees 108 athletic programs throughout the state. The organization was formed in 1929 as the Calif ...

. The NJCAA only allowed male competitors until 1975, when it established a women's division following the enactment of

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

. Based out of

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch". As of the 2020 cen ...

since 1968, the national office relocated to

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

in 1985. Headquarters moved to

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

in 2018.

Division history

Each institution belonging to the NJCAA chooses to compete on the Division I, II or III level. Division I colleges may offer full athletic scholarships, totaling a maximum of tuition, fees, room and board, course-related books, up to $250 in course-required supplies, and transportation costs one time per academic year to and from the college by direct route. Division II colleges are limited to awarding tuition, fees, course related books, and up to $250 in course required supplies. Division III institutions may provide no athletically related financial assistance. However, NJCAA colleges that do not offer athletic aid may choose to participate at the Division I or II level if they so desire.

Awards

* Academic Student-Athlete Awards by sport *"NJCAA Academic Team of the Year" by sport *"Betty Jo Graber Female Student-Athlete of the Year" by sport *"David Rowlands Male Student-Athlete of the Year" by sport *"Lea Plarski Award" by sport * NJCAA sponsors by sport * Service Awards by sport

Halls of fame

*NJCAA Hall of Fame *NJCAA Hall of Fame (Region XVI) *NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame *NJCAA Basketball Hall of Fame *NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame *NJCAA Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame *NJCAA Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame

Conferences and regions

The NJCAA is divided into 24 different regions: NJCAAmap

* Region 1:

Arizona Community College Athletic Conference The Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) is a junior college conference in Region 1 of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Conference championships are held in most sports and individuals can be named to All- ...

* Region 2:

Bi-State Conference The Bi-State Conference, also known as Region II, is a junior college athletic conference for many technical and community colleges within the South Central states of Arkansas and Oklahoma, sponsored by the National Junior College Athletic Assoc ...

* Region 3:

Mid-State Athletic Conference The Mid-State Athletic Conference (MSAC) is a junior college conference located within Region III of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The MSAC has 8 member schools, all located in Upstate New York. Conference championships ...

Mountain Valley Athletic Conference Mountain Valley Conference may refer to : * Mountain Valley Conference (Maine), an athletic conference for small high schools * Mountain Valley Conference (New Jersey), a former high school sports association under the jurisdiction of the New Jerse ...

Western New York Athletic Conference Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

* Region 4:

North Central Community College Conference The North Central Community College Conference, commonly known as the N4C, is part of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Conference championships are held and individuals can be named to All-Conference and All-Academic teams ...

Illinois Skyway Conference The Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference is an athletic conference associated with the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The conference consists of eight community colleges located in the suburbs of Chicago. The conference s ...

Arrowhead Conference The Arrowhead Conference is a conference within the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) located in region 4. The conference consists of six junior colleges located in northern Illinois. Members Founding member institutions were B ...

City College of Chicago Athletic Conference A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

* Region 5: Metro Athletic Conference, North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference, Western Junior College Athletic Conference * Region 6:

Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference The Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) is a college athletic conference that is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). As of 2007, the KJCCC was home to more than 3,000 student-athletes in the 19 me ...

* Region 7: Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association * Region 8: Mid-Florida Conference, Panhandle Conference, Southern Conference, Suncoast Conference * Region 9: Colorado Community College Athletic Conference, Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference, Wyoming Community College Athletic Conference * Region 10:

Carolinas Junior College Conference The Carolinas Junior College Conference (CJCC) is a component of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), in which it is also known as Region 10. Teams represent various junior colleges, technical colleges, and community colle ...

* Region 11: Iowa Community College Athletic Conference * Region 12:

Michigan Community College Athletic Association The Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) is a junior college conference throughout Michigan and northern Indiana in Region 12 of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The men's sports organized by the MCC ...

, Ohio Community College Athletic Conference * Region 13: Minnesota College Athletic Conference, Mon-Dak Conference * Region 14: Southwest Junior College Conference * Region 15: City University of New York Athletic Conference, Mid Hudson Conference * Region 16: Missouri Community College Athletic Conference * Region 17: Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association * Region 18:

Scenic West Athletic Conference The Scenic West Athletic Conference (also known as the Scenic West Conference) is a sports association for junior colleges located in Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, and California. The conference is a member of the NJCAA and sponsors 9 sports, 4 ...

* Region 19: Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference, Garden State Athletic Conference * Region 20:

Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association The Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association (PCAA) was an athletic conference established in 1972 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a partnership between the Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Association (EPCC) and Western Pennsylvania Athle ...

, Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference * Region 21: Massachusetts Community College Athletic Association * Region 22: Alabama Community College Conference * Region 23: MISS-LOU Junior College Conference, Mississippi Association of Community & Junior Colleges * Region 24: Mid-West Athletic Conference, Great Rivers Athletic Conference.

Sports

* Baseball (Divisions I, II, III) * Basketball (Divisions I, II, III) * Softball (Divisions I, II, III) * Volleyball (Divisions I, II, III) *

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

(Divisions I, II) * Track and field (Divisions I, II) * Tennis (Divisions I, II) * Wrestling (Divisions I, II) * Golf (Divisions I, II, III) * Cross country (Divisions I, II) *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

(Division I) * Bowling (Division I) * Swimming (Division I) * Diving (Division I) * Lacrosse (Division I) * Half marathon (Division I)

Baseball

* JUCO World Series * JUCO Baseball Coaches

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

Basketball Championships

* NJCAA Division I * NJCAA Division II * NJCAA Division III * NJCAA Women's Championship

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

includes only schools in Kansas (Region 6). All are members of the conference in other sports. * The

Midwest Football Conference The Midwest Football Conference was a football conference for National Junior College Athletic Association, NJCAA teams located in the midwest United States. It was formed when the North Central Community College Conference merged with the Iowa Conf ...

which features schools from Iowa (Region 11), once included programs in northern Illinois (Region 4), Michigan (part of Region 12), and North Dakota (part of Region 13) before several of its schools dropped football prior to the 2015 season. The three Iowa schools (Ellsworth, Iowa Central and Iowa Western) play each other and also have a scheduling alliance with the KJCCC. The College of DuPage (Region 4), the only Illinois school that still has football, plays as an independent. Harper, Joliet and Grand Rapids all disbanded their football programs. North Dakota State School of Science joined the MCAC (see below). * The Minnesota College Athletic Conference, includes schools in Minnesota and North Dakota (part of Region 13). All of the Minnesota schools participate in the conference in other sports. North Dakota State School of Science and Dakota College only participate in football. * The Mississippi Association of Community & 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 JC Football Conference The Northeast Football Conference is a football conference for NJCAA teams located in the northeast United States. Current members Former members *Berean Institute (disbanded) * Cayuga County CC (disbanded) * Alfred State (NCAA Division III) *De ...

includes schools from regions 15 (Lower New York, New York City and Long Island), and 19 (Lackawanna, Pa.). Lackawanna is the only football-playing school in Region 19. * The Southwest Junior College Football Conference includes teams from both regions in Texas (5 and 14), Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (Region 2) and New Mexico Military (Region 5). * Western States Football League, now defunct, once included teams from Arizona (Region 1) and Utah and Idaho (Region 18). Snow College, Utah, is now the only college sponsoring football in Region 1 and Region 18. There are also independent schools in regions 2 (Arkansas Baptist), 3 (upstate New York), 8 (ASA-Miami), 10 (Louisburg, N.C.), 12 (Hocking College), and 17 (Georgia Military). Onondaga Community College's football program does not compete in the NJCAA but instead competes at the club football level. Regions 7, 9, 16, 20, 21, 22 and 24 do not have any football programs.

References

External links

* {{authority control Sports organizations established in 1938 College sports governing bodies in the United States NJCAA athletics Organizations based in Charlotte, North Carolina 1938 establishments in the United States