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 s ...
,
state college and
junior college 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,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. 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.
Based out of
Hutchinson, Kansas since 1968, the national office relocated to
Colorado Springs, Colorado 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 popu ...
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:
* Region 1:
Arizona Community College Athletic Conference
* Region 2:
Bi-State Conference
* Region 3:
Mid-State Athletic Conference,
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)
The Mountain Valley Conference was a New Jersey high school sports association ...
,
Western New York Athletic Conference
* Region 4:
North Central Community College Conference,
Illinois Skyway Conference,
Arrowhead Conference,
City College of Chicago Athletic Conference
* Region 5:
Metro Athletic Conference,
North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference,
Western Junior College Athletic Conference
* Region 6:
Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference
* Region 7:
Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association
*
Region 8:
Mid-Florida Conference
The Mid–Florida Conference is a conference within the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 8. The conference consists of seven state colleges located in Florida.
Members
Member institutions are:
*Seminole State College ...
,
Panhandle Conference
The Panhandle Conference is a conference within the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 8. The conference consists of four state colleges and one community college located in Florida.
Members
Member institutions are Chipo ...
,
Southern Conference,
Suncoast Conference
*
Region 9:
Colorado Community College Athletic Conference,
Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference
Region 9 of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) consists of 17 colleges from Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, and Wyoming.
Members Colorado Community College Athletic Conference
*Lamar Community College
*Northeastern Junior Colle ...
,
Wyoming Community College Athletic Conference
* Region 10:
Carolinas Junior College Conference
{{Infobox sports league
, name = Carolinas Junior College Conference
, association = NJCAA
, division = Region 10
, founded = 1978
, teams = 35
, sports = 18 (10 men's, 8 women's)
, region = East (North C ...
* Region 11:
Iowa Community College Athletic Conference
The Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) is the Region 11 of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Commissioner's Office, headquartered in Ames, Iowa oversees 25 sports. Conference championships are held in ...
* 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
The Ohio Community College Athletic Conference or OCCAC is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are community colleges in the states of Ohio and Indiana. It is a member of Region 12 of the National Junior College Athletic Assoc ...
* Region 13:
Minnesota College Athletic Conference
Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC) - formerly the Minnesota Community College Conference - is a junior college collegiate athletic conference in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and they compete primarily at the N ...
,
Mon-Dak Conference
The Mon-Dak Conference (MDC) is a junior college conference for eight Tech and Community Colleges located in Montana and North Dakota, and it is a conference in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Conference championships ar ...
* Region 14:
Southwest Junior College Conference
Southwest Junior College Conference (SJCC) is hosted by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), also known as Region XIV (or Region 14) is a junior college conference for many Tech and Community Colleges. Conference championships ...
* Region 15:
City University of New York Athletic Conference,
Mid Hudson Conference
* Region 16:
Missouri Community College Athletic Conference
The Missouri Community College Athletic Conference (MCCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) within its Region 16. The MCCAC is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.
Members
...
* Region 17:
Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association
* Region 18:
Scenic West Athletic Conference
* Region 19:
Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference
The Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (EPAC) is a junior college conference in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) for many technical and community colleges in eastern Pennsylvania. And it is one of two conferences wit ...
,
Garden State Athletic Conference
The Garden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) is a junior college conference in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) for many technical and community colleges in New Jersey. And it is one conference in the Region 19 of the NJC ...
* 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
The Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference (MD JUCO) is a sports association for junior colleges in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). It belongs to Region XX (20) of the NJCAA. Chartered in the late 1960s, the MD JUCO ...
* Region 21:
Massachusetts Community College Athletic Association
The Massachusetts Community College Athletic Association (also known as the MCCAA) is a sports association in the NJCAA for junior colleges located in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The conference is a member of the Region 21 of ...
* Region 22:
Alabama Community College Conference
The Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) is a collegiate athletic conference and is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and NJCAA Region 22.
Sports
*Baseball
*Basketball
*Golf
*Softball
*Tennis
*Volleyball
...
*
Region 23:
MISS-LOU Junior College Conference
The Louisiana Community Colleges Athletic Conference (LCCAC) is a member conference of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). It, along with the MACJC, are members of Region XXIII (or Region 23).
The conference was once know ...
,
Mississippi Association of Community & Junior Colleges
* Region 24:
Mid-West Athletic Conference
The Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) is an athletic conference in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Mid-West Athletic Conference is a two-year college conference composing the two-year schools in Central and South C ...
,
Great Rivers Athletic Conference.
Sports
*
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
(Divisions I, II, III)
*
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 (appr ...
(Divisions I, II, III)
*
Softball (Divisions I, II, III)
*
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 Sum ...
(Divisions I, II, III)
*
Soccer (Divisions I, II)
*
Track and field (Divisions I, II)
*
Tennis (Divisions I, II)
*
Wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...
(Divisions I, II)
*
Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
(Divisions I, II, III)
*
Cross country (Divisions I, II)
*
Football (Division I)
*
Bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
(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
Basketball Championships
*
NJCAA Division I There are 221 Division I teams in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) that play in 24 different regions.
Members
Alabama
*Bevill State Community College Bears in Sumiton
*Bishop State Community College Wildcats in Mobile
* ...
*
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
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 The Midwest Football Conference was a football conference for NJCAA teams located in the midwest United States. It was formed when the North Central Community College Conference merged with the Iowa Conference in 2005.
The conference dissolved foll ...
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
Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC) - formerly the Minnesota Community College Conference - is a junior college collegiate athletic conference in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and they compete primarily at the N ...
, 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
Onondaga Community College (OCC) is a public community college that serves Onondaga County, New York, at two campuses. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system.
History
The college was founded in 1961 and began instruction ...
's football program does not compete in the NJCAA but instead competes at the
club football
This is a list of post-secondary colleges and universities that have club football teams. Operating independently of their colleges' athletics programs, these teams are typically administered, coached, and played by students. In addition to playi ...
level.
Regions 7, 9, 16, 20, 21, 22 and 24 do not have any football programs.
See also
*
List of NJCAA Division I schools There are 221 Division I teams in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) that play in 24 different regions.
Members
Alabama
*Bevill State Community College Bears in Sumiton
*Bishop State Community College Wildcats in Mobile
* ...
*
List of NJCAA Division II schools There are 118 Division II teams in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) that play in 24 different regions.
Members
Arkansas
*North Arkansas College Pioneers in Harrison
Arizona
* Chandler-Gilbert Community College Coyotes in ...
*
List of NJCAA Division III schools There are 98 Division III teams in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) that play in 24 different regions.
Members
Connecticut
* Briarwood College Wildcats in Southington
*Gateway Community College Lions in New Haven
* Universi ...
*
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 ...
(CCCAA)
*
Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC)
*
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
(NCAA)
*
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
*
United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA)
*
National Christian College Athletic Association
The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) is an association of Christian universities, colleges, and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada whose mission is "the promotion and enhancement of intercollegiate athleti ...
(NCCAA)
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