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NCAA
The National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA, often said "NC-Double-A") is a
voluntary association of about 1200 institutions, conferences,
organizations and individuals that organizes the athletics programs of
many colleges and universities in the United States. Its headquarters
are currently located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Its predecessor, the
Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS),
was established on March 31, 1906 to set rules for amateur sports in the
United States. Its creation was urged by then-president Theodore
Roosevelt in reaction to his concern over the growing amount of serious
injuries and deaths occurring in collegiate football. The IAAUS later
became the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1910.
Up until the 1980s the
association did not offer women's athletics. By 1982 however, all
divisions of the NCAA offered national championship events for women's
athletics and most members of the
AIAW joined
the NCAA.
In 1973, the NCAA split its
membership into three divisions:
Division I,
Division II and
Division III. Under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools
can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III
schools may not offer any athletic
scholarships. Generally, larger schools compete in Division I and
smaller schools in III. Division I football is further divided into I-A
and I-AA.
The NCAA's legislative
structure is broken down into cabinets and committees, consisting of
various representatives of its member schools. These may be broken down
further into sub-committees. Legislation is then passed on to the
Management Council, which oversees all the cabinets and committees, and
also includes representatives from the schools, such as athletic
directors and faculty advisors. Management Council legislation goes on
to the Board of Directors, which consists of school presidents, for
final approval.
The NCAA staff itself
provides support, acting as guides, liaison, research and public and
media relations. The current NCAA president is
Myles Brand, former school president of
Indiana University.
The NCAA is not the only
collegiate athletic organization in the United States. The
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is another
collegiate athletic organization.
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