Northwest Athletic Conference
FormerlyNorthwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges
ConferenceNone
Founded1946
CommissionerMarco Azurdia
Sports fielded
  • 15
    • men's: 7
    • women's: 8
No. of teams36
HeadquartersVancouver, Washington
RegionPacific Northwest
Official websitenwacsports.org

The Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC), formerly the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC), 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, 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 (NJCAA), but acknowledges on the NWAC website athletes representing conference schools in the NJCAA wrestling tournament.

History

The NWAC ("En-Wack") was originally formed in 1946 as the Washington State Junior College Athletic Conference (WSJCAC). 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 WSJCAC nearly doubled. Three years later, the conference was renamed the Washington Athletic Association of Community Colleges (WAACC).

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 (OCCAA). 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.[1]

Member schools

Current members

The NWAC currently has 36 full members, all are public schools:

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Joined Division
Bellevue College Bellevue, Washington 1966 Public[lower-alpha 1] 37,000 Bulldogs  ? Northern
Big Bend Community College Moses Lake, Washington 1962 Public[lower-alpha 1] 5,400 Vikings  ? Eastern
Blue Mountain Community College Pendleton, Oregon 1962 Public[lower-alpha 2] 10,600 Timberwolves 1983[lower-alpha 3] Eastern
Centralia College Centralia, Washington 1925 Public[lower-alpha 1] 4,803 Trailblazers 1946[lower-alpha 4] Western
Chemeketa Community College Salem, Oregon 1969 Public[lower-alpha 2] 50,000 Storm 1983 Southern
Clackamas Community College Oregon City, Oregon 1966 Public[lower-alpha 2] 25,029 Cougars 1983 Southern
Clark College Vancouver, Washington 1933 Public[lower-alpha 1] 14,000 Penguins 1946[lower-alpha 4] Western
Columbia Basin College Pasco, Washington 1955 Public[lower-alpha 1] 13,000 Hawks 1955 Eastern
Douglas College New Westminster, British Columbia 1971 Public 25,000 Royals  ? Northern
Edmonds College Edmonds, Washington 1967 Public[lower-alpha 1] 12,000 Tritons  ? Northern
Everett Community College Everett, Washington 1941 Public[lower-alpha 1] 19,666 Trojans 1946[lower-alpha 4] Northern
Grays Harbor College Aberdeen, Washington 1930 Public[lower-alpha 1] 2,088 Chokers 1946[lower-alpha 4] Western
Green River College[lower-alpha 5] Auburn, Washington 1963 Public[lower-alpha 1] 9,212 Gators  ? Western
Highline College Des Moines, Washington 1961 Public[lower-alpha 1] 18,993 Thunderbirds  ? Western
Lane Community College Eugene, Oregon 1964 Public[lower-alpha 2] 18,678 Titans 1983 Southern
Linn-Benton Community College Albany, Oregon 1966 Public[lower-alpha 2] 12,360 Roadrunners 1983 Southern
Lower Columbia College Longview, Washington 1934 Public[lower-alpha 1] 8,465 Red Devils 1946[lower-alpha 4] Western
Mt. Hood Community College Gresham, Oregon 1966 Public[lower-alpha 2] 8,370 Saints 1970 Southern
North Idaho College Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 1933 Public 7,800 Cardinals  ? Eastern
Olympic College Bremerton, Washington 1946 Public[lower-alpha 1] 12,285 Rangers 1946[lower-alpha 4] Northern
Peninsula College Port Angeles, Washington 1961 Public[lower-alpha 1] 10,000 Pirates  ? Northern
Pierce College[lower-alpha 6] Lakewood, Washington 1967 Public[lower-alpha 1] 21,643 Raiders  ? Western
Portland Community College Portland, Oregon 1961 Public[lower-alpha 2] 50,000 Panthers  ? Southern
Rogue Community College Grants Pass, Oregon 1970 Public[lower-alpha 2]  ? Ospreys  ? Southern
Shoreline Community College Shoreline, Washington 1964 Public[lower-alpha 1] 13,795 Dolphins  ? Northern
Skagit Valley College Mount Vernon, Washington 1926 Public[lower-alpha 1] 5,136 Cardinals 1946[lower-alpha 4] Northern
South Puget Sound Community College Olympia, Washington 1962 Public[lower-alpha 1] 4,665 Clippers  ? Western
Southwestern Oregon Community College Coos Bay, Oregon 1941 Public[lower-alpha 2] 14,500 Lakers 1983[lower-alpha 3] Southern
Spokane Community College Spokane, Washington 1963 Public[lower-alpha 1] 38,600 Sasquatch  ? Eastern
Tacoma Community College Tacoma, Washington 1965 Public[lower-alpha 1] 15,000 Titans  ? Western
Treasure Valley Community College Ontario, Oregon 1962 Public[lower-alpha 2]  ? Chukars  ?[lower-alpha 3] Eastern
Umpqua Community College Winchester, Oregon 1964 Public[lower-alpha 2] 13,300 Riverhawks 1983 Southern
Walla Walla Community College Walla Walla, Washington 1967 Public[lower-alpha 1] 13,000 Warriors  ? Eastern
Wenatchee Valley College Wenatchee, Washington 1939 Public[lower-alpha 1] 3,353 Knights 1946[lower-alpha 4] Eastern
Whatcom Community College Bellingham, Washington 1967 Public[lower-alpha 1] 11,457 Orcas  ? Northern
Yakima Valley College[lower-alpha 7] Yakima, Washington 1941 Public[lower-alpha 1] 10,000 Yaks 1946[lower-alpha 4] Eastern
Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Part of the Washington Community and Technical Colleges System.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Part of the Oregon Community College Association.
  3. 1 2 3 Charter member of the OCCAA.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Charter member of the WSJCAC/WAACC/NWAACC/NWAC.
  5. ↑ Formerly known as Green River Community College until 2014.
  6. ↑ Formerly known as Fort Steilacoom Community College until 1986.
  7. ↑ Formerly known as Yakima Valley Community College until 2022.

History and growth

1946: WSJCAC is Born
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 (WSJCAC) 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 (OCCAA). 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 (NCWSA) 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 [2] and has 36 member schools.

Sports

The NWAC sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in the following sports:

Conference sports
SportMen'sWomen's
Baseball
Green tickY
Basketball
Green tickY
Green tickY
Cross Country
Green tickY
Green tickY
Golf
Green tickY
Green tickY
Soccer
Green tickY
Green tickY
Softball
Green tickY
Tennis
Green tickY
Green tickY
Track and field (outdoor)
Green tickY
Green tickY
Volleyball
Green tickY

References

  1. ↑ NWAACC becomes NWAC, Marco Azurdia, Executive Director, NWAC website,
  2. ↑ NWAACC becomes NWAC, Marco Azurdia, Executive Director, NWAC website, July 1, 2014
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