Northwest Athletic Conference
The Northwest Athletic Conference, formerly called the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges or NWAACC for short, is a sports association for community colleges in the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, along with the Canadian province of British Columbia.
The NWAC was originally formed in 1946 as the Washington State Junior College Athletic Conference. In 1961, the state Legislature removed a legal roadblock that had barred the establishment of junior colleges in counties with four-year colleges. After the Legislature took action, the number of schools in the WAACC nearly doubled. Three years later, the conference was renamed the Washington Athletic Association of Community Colleges.
In 1970 the conference admitted its first non-Washington member, Mt. Hood Community College of Gresham, Oregon, which had left the Oregon Community College Athletic Association. At that time, the WAACC became the Northwest AACC, reflecting its two-state membership.
The NWAACC merged with its Oregon counterpart in 1983, resulting in a 26-member circuit stretching from southwestern Oregon to the Canada–US border.
On July 1, 2014, the conference announced that they were becoming the Northwest Athletic Conference.
The NWAC, now with 36 members, is the largest community college conference in the United States. It is not affiliated with the National Junior College Athletic Association, but acknowledges on the NWAC website athletes representing conference schools in the NJCAA wrestling tournament.
Charter members of the WSJCAC
- Centralia College – Centralia, Washington
- Clark College – Vancouver, Washington
- Everett Community College – Everett, Washington
- Grays Harbor College – Aberdeen, Washington
- Lower Columbia College – Longview, Washington
- Skagit Valley College – Mount Vernon, Washington
- Olympic College – Bremerton, Washington
- Wenatchee Valley College – Wenatchee, Washington
- Yakima Valley Community College – Yakima, Washington
Members by region
Northern Region
- Bellevue College – Bellevue, Washington
- Douglas College – New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
- Edmonds College – Lynnwood, Washington
- Everett Community College – Everett, Washington
- Olympic College – Bremerton, Washington
- Peninsula College – Port Angeles, Washington
- Shoreline Community College – Shoreline, Washington
- Skagit Valley College – Mount Vernon, Washington
- Whatcom Community College – Bellingham, Washington
Southern Region
- Chemeketa Community College – Salem, Oregon
- Clackamas Community College – Oregon City, Oregon
- Lane Community College – Eugene, Oregon
- Linn-Benton Community College – Albany, Oregon
- Mt. Hood Community College – Gresham, Oregon
- Portland Community College – Portland, Oregon
- Rogue Community College – Grants Pass, Oregon
- Southwestern Oregon Community College – Coos Bay, Oregon
- Umpqua Community College – Roseburg, Oregon
Eastern Region
- Big Bend Community College – Moses Lake, Washington
- Blue Mountain Community College – Pendleton, Oregon
- Columbia Basin College – Pasco, Washington
- North Idaho College – Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
- Community Colleges of Spokane – Spokane, Washington
- Treasure Valley Community College – Ontario, Oregon
- Walla Walla Community College – Walla Walla, Washington
- Wenatchee Valley College – Wenatchee, Washington
- Yakima Valley College – Yakima, Washington
Western Region
- Centralia College – Centralia, Washington
- Clark College – Vancouver, Washington
- Grays Harbor College – Aberdeen, Washington
- Green River College – Auburn, Washington
- Highline College – Des Moines, Washington
- Lower Columbia College – Longview, Washington
- Pierce College – Lakewood, Washington
- South Puget Sound Community College – Olympia, Washington
- Tacoma Community College – Tacoma, Washington
History and growth
Although athletic competition between junior colleges existed in the 1930s, the first structured league and championship events in men's sports came in 1946 when the Washington State Junior College Athletic Conference was formed. Following the nine charter members, Columbia Basin College joined in 1955.
Initially, the conference offered football, basketball, baseball, tennis, track and golf. In 1963 wrestling was added, followed by cross country in 1965 and soccer in 1974.
The WSJCAC existed without bylaws until the spring of 1948, when Executive Secretary Jim Ennis of Everett JC, Dave DuVall of Skagit Valley and Maury Phipps of Grays Harbor, wrote the conference's original constitution. The document set forth the overall philosophy of the conference's athletic program, and prescribed scholarship limits and grade eligibility requirements.
1963: Birth of Oregon's Conference
In 1963, five Oregon schools joined to form the Oregon Community College Athletic Association. Charter members were Blue Mountain, Central Oregon, Clatsop, Southwestern Oregon and Treasure Valley community colleges. The conference more than doubled in size in the 1968-69 school year, when Chemeketa, Clackamas, Lane, Linn-Benton, Mt. Hood, Portland and Umpqua community colleges joined the circuit.
1970s: The NWAACC and the Rise of Women's Athletics
During the 1970s, the newly renamed NWAACC saw the growth of women's sports at its member institutions. Women's athletics were governed by the Northwest College Women's Sports Association until 1978, when the NCWSA was absorbed by the NWAACC.
Volunteer athletic directors had overseen conference functions and activities until the addition of women's athletics. The subsequent increased workload caused the NWAACC to convene a five-member hiring committee, which in 1979 appointed Frank Bosone as the conference's first executive director. Bosone retired in 1992 and was succeeded by Dick McClain, a longtime baseball coach in Corvallis, Oregon.
1983: Merger
Community college athletics in the Pacific Northwest changed dramatically in 1983, when seven OCCAA members joined the NWAACC. The merger between the Washington and Oregon colleges has helped the NWAACC become a strong organization. Since 1984, nine other colleges have added intercollegiate athletics and/or became NWAACC members.
Today:
The NWAACC was renamed the Northwest Athletic Conference on July 1, 2014 and has 36 member schools.
Sports
The NWAC sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in the following sports:| Sport | Men's | Women's |
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Cross Country | ||
| Golf | ||
| Soccer | ||
| Softball | ||
| Tennis | ||
| Track and field | ||
| Volleyball |