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 divided into divisions and regions. The current NJCAA holds 24 separate regions.
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. Although 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
Each institution belonging to the NJCAA chooses to compete on the Division I, II or III level in designated sports. Division I colleges may offer full athletic scholarships 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.http://www.njcaa.org/eligibility/faq
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
Halls of fame
- NJCAA Hall of Fame
- See footnote
- NJCAA Hall of Fame (Region XVI)
- See footnote
- NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame
- See footnotes
- NJCAA Basketball Hall of Fame
- See footnote
- NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame
- See footnote
- NJCAA Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame
- See footnote
- NJCAA Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame
- See footnote
Conferences and regions
- Region 1 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference
- Region 2 Bi-State Conference
- Region 3 Mid-State Athletic Conference, Mountain Valley Athletic Conference, Western New York Athletic Conference
- Region 4 Illinois N4C Conference, Illinois Skyway Conference, Arrowhead 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, Panhandle Conference, Southern Conference, Suncoast Conference
- Region 9 Mon-Dak Conference
- Region 10 Carolinas Junior College Conference
- Region 11 Iowa Community College Athletic Conference
- Region 12 Michigan Community College Athletic Association, Ohio Community College Athletic Conference
- Region 13 Minnesota College Athletic Conference, Mon-Dak Conference
- Region 14 Southwest Junior College Conference
- Region 15 Mid Hudson Conference
- Region 16 Midwest Community College Athletic Conference
- Region 17 Georgia Junior College Athletic Association
- Region 18 Scenic West Athletic Conference
- Region 19 Garden State Athletic Conference
- Region 20 Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association, 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 (Formally known as Collegiate Conference of Central Illinois).
Sports
Baseball
- JUCO World Series
- JUCO Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame
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 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 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 includes schools from regions 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), Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (Region 2) and New Mexico Military (Region 5).
- Western States Football League includes teams from Arizona (Region 1) and Utah (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), 15 (Globe Tech), 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, 22 and 24 do not have any football programs.
See also
- List of NJCAA Division I schools
- List of NJCAA Division II schools
- List of NJCAA Division III schools
- California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA)
- Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC)
- National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
References
External links
- Official website