The Apprentice Builders are the athletic teams of The Apprentice School, located in

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the fifth-most populous city in Virginia and 140th-most populous city i ...

, in the

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Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The Apprentice School is a full member of the

United States Collegiate Athletic Association The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 national ...

and competes in the New South Athletic Conference (NSAC) for men's and women's basketball and baseball. The school competes in the following sports: * Baseball * Men's basketball * Women's basketball * Football * Men's golf * Wrestling * Women’s wrestling

Basketball

The men's basketball team has enjoyed historical success at Apprentice. The 1937 men's basketball team won the Virginia State AAU Championship and qualified for the AAU Nationals in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. More recently, the Builders won the

USCAA The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 national ...

men's basketball tournament in 2002, 2003, and 2024. The school also fields a women's basketball team that has regularly competed nationally at their level.

Football

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

has been played at Apprentice since 1919, only breaking for two years during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The former coach is Phil Janaro, who has led the Builders to a record of 42 wins and 35 losses during his tenure. Former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Norm Snead Norman Bailey Snead (July 31, 1939 – January 14, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, New ...

also served as a head coach. Until the end of the 2010 season, Apprentice was a member of the Atlantic Central Football Conference, playing teams mainly in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

, although they also schedule games against NAIA teams. The program was briefly a member of the

National Club Football Association The National Club Football Association (NCFA) is an association of collegiate American football teams. It is a member of CollClubSports and manages the National Club Football Association#NCFA National Championship, NCFA National Championship. NCF ...

(NCFA) for the 2018 season. Led by Head Coach John Davis, the Builders won the 2018 NCFA National Championship before transitioning back to an independent varsity schedule in 2019.

Wrestling

Wrestling at Apprentice competes in the

National Collegiate Wrestling Association The National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) is a nonprofit association of 162 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organize the wrestling programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canad ...

(NCWA) and the team won the Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship for the 2010 season. The 2009 team, under head coach Bruce Shumaker, won the NCWA national championship.National Collegiate Wrestling Association
2009 National Tournament Results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Apprentice Builders, The