The Inter-university Athletic League, often abbreviated LAI, is a college athletics conference in the
U.S. Commonwealth
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
of
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
.
The LAI is a non-profit organization whose main purpose is to regulate sports amongst its member institutions. The league was founded in 1929 by Cosme Beitía of the
University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
, Charles Leker for the
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico
The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has ...
, and Luis Izquierdo Galo y José D. Morales from the
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) in Spanish (also referred to as Colegio and CAAM in allusion to its former name), is a Public university, public land-grant university in Mayagüez ...
. The league is best known for its flagship inter-collegiate sports event locally called ''
Las Justas
The ''Justas de Atletismo y Festival Deportivo de Puerto Rico'' () —better known as ''Las Justas Intercolegiales'' () or simply as ''Las Justas'' ()— is an College athletics, intercollegiate sports competition held annually in Puerto Rico wh ...
'' which takes place yearly during the month of April, generally in the city of
Ponce.
History
The League began celebrating three sports events amongst its member institutions in 1929;
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
,
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
, and
Athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...
. For 40 years, the League's events were open to male athletes only. Women began competing in the league starting in the 1969-1970 academic year. Today, male athletes compete in some 16 events and female athletes in 13. Every year the league hosts the ''
Justas de Atletismo y Festival Deportivo'', their flagship sports competition event. For many years the event was held in San Juan, but in 1993 the event was moved to the city of Ponce. In 2010 the event was held in
Mayagüez in preparation for the
2010 Central American and Caribbean Games
The 21st Central American and Caribbean Games (Spanish: ''XXI Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe, Mayagüez 2010'') took place in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, from 18 July 2010 to 1 August 2010.
Bid
It was understood that Mayagüez was going to b ...
. Games resumed in Ponce in 2011, and continued in Ponce in 2012.
''Ponce se duplicará durante las Justas.''
Jason Rodríguez Grafal. Ponce, Puerto Rico: La Perla del Sur. Year 30. Issue 1480. Page 4. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
The league is administered by a "Administrative Council" made up of the Deans of Students, Athletic Directors, and a student representative. There is also a "Cuerpo Rectoral" called the "Junta de Gobierno" made up of the Rectors and presidents of the member institutions. The "Junta de Gobierno" chooses an employee called "The Commissioner" who is appointed to act as executive officer of the LAI for a period of two years. The League is a founding member of International University Sports Federation
The International University Sports Federation (FISU; ) is responsible for the organization and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25. It was founded in 1949 as the world governing body of ...
.
Sports
* men's baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
* men's & women's basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
* men's & women's cross country
* men's & women's judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
* men's & women's taekwondo
Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...
* men's & women's soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
* men's & women's softball
Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
* men's & women's swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
* men's & women's table tennis
Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...
* men's & women's tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
* men's & women's track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
* men's & women's volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
* men's water polo
Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
* men's & women's weightlifting
Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...
* men's wrestling
Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
Member schools
Current members
;Notes:
Former members
;Notes:
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liga Atletica Interuniversitaria de Puerto Rico
*
Sports governing bodies in Puerto Rico
College sports conferences in the United States
Sports organizations established in 1929
1929 establishments in Puerto Rico
San Germán, Puerto Rico
College athletics conferences