National Christian College Athletic Association
From Hoopedia
The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) is an association of approximately 100 Christian universities, colleges, and Bible colleges in the United States which see collegiate sports primarily as an opportunity for Christian fellowship and ministry rather than a training grounds for future professional athletes or an opportunity to make a profit for its member institutions.
Every March the NCCAA sponsors basketball tournaments for men and women in each of two divisions. For results of the men's tournaments, see the NCCAA Men's Tournament article.
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Mission Statement
The NCCAA is an association of Christ-centered collegiate institutions whose mission is to use athletic competition as an integral component of education, evangelism and encouragement.
We serve our members by setting association standards, developing communication resources, providing regional/national competition and partnering in outreach to our communities and the world.
We are committed to equipping student-athletes and coaches to make a positive impact for Christ.
History
The NCCAA was incorporated to provide a Christian-based organization that functions uniquely as a national and international agency for the promotion of outreach and ministry and for the maintenance, enhancement and promotion of intercollegiate athletic competition with a Christian perspective.
Established in 1966 in Canton, Ohio, the NCCAA held its first men’s basketball tournament in Detroit, Michigan in 1968. At the initial tournament, the NCCAA adopted a constitution and voted to move the national headquarters to Chattanooga, Tennessee upon the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce. In 1989, the Board of Directors voted to move the National Office to Marion, Indiana. As the NCCAA grew in membership and national appeal, the Board of Directors examined the need for relocation to a larger corporate community. In May 2000, the NCCAA officially moved the National Office to Greenville, South Carolina.
In 1973, the NCCAA launched into other sports, developing national competition in cross country, track and field and men’s soccer. Bible colleges, which had competed well against liberal arts colleges, submitted a plan to add a second division. Division II basketball was developed in 1975 for the Bible colleges (non-scholarship), along with national competition in wrestling. Over the years, national championship competition in several other sports began: women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, softball, men’s golf, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, baseball, football and indoor track and field.
The NCCAA game plan is to produce true winners: a game plan that will carry an individual through his or her entire life. The game plan is devised to draw out the student-athlete’s greatest potential – body, mind and spirit.
Since its first tournament in 1968, the NCCAA has grown to encompass over 100 Christian colleges nationwide, both liberal arts and Bible colleges. The participating schools are dedicated not only to providing the best athletic competition possible, but also to exemplifying Jesus Christ in all they do.
Creed
We believe:
Athletics are a means to an end, not the end in themselves.
The process is as important as the performance.
The person (student-athlete) is more important than the program.
