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{{short description|North American college athletics association}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
| logo = National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics logo.svg
| logo_size = 200
| image = NAIA Headquarters.jpg
| image_size =
| alt = 
| caption = NAIA headquarters in Downtown Kansas City, pictured in 2008
| map =
| msize =
| mcaption =
| abbreviation = NAIA
| formation = {{start date and age|1940}}
| extinction =
| type =
| status = Association
| purpose =
| headquarters = 120 W. 12th Street, Suite 700 <br />[[Kansas City, Missouri]] 64105<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.naia.org/information/directory/index|title=NAIA Staff Directory|website=Naia.org|access-date=April 17, 2023}}</ref>
| location =
| region_served = United States, Canada, and U.S. Virgin Islands
| membership = 237
| language =
| leader_title = President
| leader_name = Jim Carr<ref name=staff>[https://www.naia.org/about/about-us Staff Directory] at NARA.org, 12 Oct 2022</ref>
| leader_title2 = [[Chief operating officer|COO]]
| leader_name2 = Lynn Parman
| leader_title3 =
| leader_name3 =
| main_organ = NAIA Council of Presidents
| budget =
| website = {{URL|https://www.naia.org/landing/index|naia.org}}
| remarks =
}}
The '''National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics''' ('''NAIA''') established in 1940, is a [[college athletics]] association for [[higher education|colleges and universities]] in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer [[athletic scholarships]] to their student athletes. Around $1.3 billion in athletic scholarship financial aid is awarded to student athletes annually.

For the 2025–26 season, it has [[List of NAIA institutions|235 member institutions]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.naia.org/schools/files/2021-22_NAIA_Institutions.pdf|title=2023-24 NAIA Member Institutions |publisher=National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics |access-date=January 28, 2022}}</ref> of which three are in [[British Columbia]], one in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], and the rest in the [[conterminous United States|continental United States]], with over 83,000 student-athletes participating.<ref>{{cite web |title=NAIA Member Schools |url=http://www.naia.org/Schools.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&DB_OEM_ID=27900 |publisher=NAIA |access-date=January 5, 2019}}</ref> The NAIA, whose headquarters is in [[Kansas City, Missouri]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://naia.cstv.com/genrel/062707aaa.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080814050029/http://naia.cstv.com/genrel/062707aaa.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 14, 2008|title=NAIA Headquarters Relocating to Downtown Kansas City, Mo.|publisher=NAIA|access-date=December 23, 2017|date=June 27, 2007}}</ref> sponsors 28 national championships. [[CBS Sports Network]], formerly called CSTV, serves as the national media outlet for the NAIA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://naia.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/101408aaa.html|title=NAIA and CBS College Sports Network Agree to Broadcast Deal|publisher=NAIA|access-date=December 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408164941/http://naia.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/101408aaa.html|archive-date=April 8, 2009|url-status=dead|date=October 14, 2008}}</ref> In 2014, [[ESPNU]] began carrying the [[NAIA football national championship|NAIA Football National Championship]].

==History==
In 1937, [[James Naismith]] and local leaders, including George Goldman and Emil S. Liston, staged the first National College Basketball Tournament at [[Municipal Auditorium (Kansas City)|Municipal Auditorium]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], of which Goldman was director, one year before the first [[National Invitation Tournament]] and two years before the first [[NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|NCAA tournament]]. The goal of the tournament was to establish a forum for small colleges and universities to determine a national basketball champion. The original eight-team tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1938. On March 10, 1940, the National Association for Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) was formed in Kansas City, Missouri.

In [[1952 in sports|1952]], the NAIB was transformed into the NAIA, and with that came the sponsorship of additional sports such as men's golf, tennis and outdoor track and field.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naiahoops.com/page/history.php|title=NAIA History|website=NAIA Hoops|access-date=December 23, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121185725/http://www.naiahoops.com/page/history.php|archive-date=November 21, 2011}}</ref> [[college football|Football]] in the NAIA was split into two divisions in 1970, based on enrollment (Divisions I and II); it was consolidated back into a single division in 1997.

===African-American participation===
The [[1948 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament|1948 NAIB national tournament]] was the first intercollegiate postseason to feature a [[African-American|Black]] student-athlete, [[Clarence J. Walker|Clarence Walker]] of [[Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball|Indiana State]] under coach [[John Wooden]]. Wooden had withdrawn from the [[1947 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament|1947 tournament]] because the NAIB would not allow Walker to play.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Keefer |first1=Zak |title=Indiana basketball player broke racial barrier, changed game forever |url=https://eu.indystar.com/story/sports/college/2017/03/15/private-pain-clarence-walker/99144560/ |access-date=January 5, 2019 |work=Indianapolis Star |date=March 16, 2017 |language=en}}</ref>

The association furthered its commitment to African-American athletes when, in 1953, it became the first collegiate association to invite [[historically black colleges and universities]] into its membership. In 1957, [[Tennessee State Tigers men's basketball|Tennessee A&I (now Tennessee State)]] became the first historically Black institution to win a collegiate basketball national championship. In 1959, Southern University became the first HBCU to win the NAIA Baseball championship.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/sports/southern/article_a4ad3846-4c52-11e9-846c-97994653c927.html|title=Southern pays homage to 1959 baseball team — a squad that won a national championship|work=The Advocate|date=March 21, 2019}}</ref>

===Transgender participation===

In 2024, NAIA instituted a ban on transgender men who have begun [[transgender hormone therapy]] and all transgender women from competing in women’s sports, with the exception of cheerleading and dance.<ref>{{Cite news |work=AP |url= https://apnews.com/article/naia-transgender-ban-ad422f3a86ebcc4db618750c6a5d1c5f |title= NAIA all but bans transgender athletes from women's sports. NCAA vows to ensure 'fair competition}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |work=CBS |title= NAIA, small colleges association, bans transgender athletes from women's sports competitions |url= https://www.cbssports.com/general/news/naia-small-colleges-association-bans-transgender-athletes-from-womens-sports-competitions/amp/}}</ref>

===Female participation===
The NAIA began sponsoring intercollegiate championships for women in [[1980 in sports|1980]], the second coed national athletics association to do so, offering collegiate athletics championships to women in basketball, cross country, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track and field, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball. The [[National Junior College Athletic Association]] had established a women's division in the spring of 1975 and held the first women's national championship volleyball tournament that fall.

In 1997, [[Liz Heaston]] became the first female college athlete to play and score in a college football game when she kicked two extra points during the [[1997 Linfield vs. Willamette football game]].<ref name="NYT">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/20/sports/woman-kicks-extra-points.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=April 20, 2011|date=October 20, 1997|title=Woman Kicks Extra Points}}</ref>

===Champions of Character===
Launched in 2000 by the NAIA, the Champions of Character program promotes character and sportsmanship through athletics. The Champions of Character conducts clinics and has developed an online training course to educate athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators with the skills necessary to promote character development in the context of sport.

=== Eligibility Center ===
In 2010, the association opened the NAIA Eligibility Center, where prospective student-athletes are evaluated for academic and athletic eligibility.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=205323019 |title=About the NAIA |website=NAIA |date=April 11, 2016}}</ref>

===Other firsts===
'''Membership''' – The NAIA was the first association to admit colleges and universities from outside the United States. The NAIA began admitting Canadian members in 1967.

'''Football''' – The NAIA was the first association to send a football team to Europe to play. In the summer of 1976, the NAIA sent Henderson State and Texas A&I to play 5 exhibition games in West Berlin, Vienna, Nuremberg, Mannheim and Paris.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://katv.com/sports/content/from-arkadelphia-to-europe-the-trip-that-transformed-football|title=From Arkadelphia to Europe: the trip that transformed football|first=Kyle|last=Deckelbaum|publisher=KATV|date=10 November 2015 |access-date=December 23, 2017}}</ref>

'''Flag football''' – In May 2020, the NAIA, in partnership with the [[National Football League]] (NFL), announced the addition of [[college flag football|flag football]] as a varsity sport for female student-athletes. The NAIA became the first collegiate governing body to sanction the sport at the varsity level. Women's flag began during the 2021 season as an emerging sport with about 15 teams.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kerkhoff |first1=Blair |title=With NFL's backing, women's college flag football will debut at NAIA schools in 2021 |url=https://www.kansascity.com/sports/article242494126.html |access-date=May 5, 2020 |work=The Kansas City Star |date=May 4, 2020}}</ref>

'''Name, image, and likeness reform''' — In October 2020, the NAIA passed legislation that allows student-athletes at its member institutions to be compensated for the use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). According to an NAIA press release, student-athletes can now "receive compensation for promoting any commercial product, enterprise, or for any public or media appearance", and can also "reference their intercollegiate athletic participation in such promotions or appearances."<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.naia.org/general/2020-21/releases/NIL_Announcement |title=NAIA Passes Landmark Name, Image and Likeness Legislation |publisher=National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics |date=October 6, 2020 |accessdate=March 11, 2021}}</ref> The NAIA had allowed student-athletes to receive NIL compensation since 2014, but had not previously allowed them to reference their status as such.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.naia.org/membership/2020-21/files/NIL_FAQs_for_ASA.pdf |title=Name, Image and Likeness FAQs |publisher=National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics |date=September 14, 2020 |accessdate=March 11, 2021}}</ref> The NAIA was several years ahead of the NCAA in NIL reform; the NCAA did not adopt NIL reform until 2021, after its hand was forced by multiple states passing legislation to allow student-athletes to receive such compensation, most notably [[Fair Pay to Play Act|California]].<ref name=Hale>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/30945653/social-media-stardom-how-changes-nil-benefit-athlete-influencers-ncaa |title=Social media stardom: How changes to NIL will benefit athlete-influencers across the NCAA |first=David M. |last=Hale |website=ESPN.com |date=March 8, 2021 |accessdate=March 11, 2021}}</ref> In December 2020, Chloe Mitchell, a volleyball player at NAIA member [[Aquinas College (Michigan)|Aquinas College]] who at the time had more than 2 million followers on [[TikTok]] with a series of do-it-yourself home improvement videos, became the first college student-athlete known to have profited from an endorsement under the current rules.<ref name=Hale/>

==Championship sports==
The NAIA sponsors 16 sports in which it conducts 28 annual championships (13 for men, 13 for women, 2 co-ed). The NAIA recognizes three levels of competitions: "emerging" (15 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity and declared), "invitational" (25 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity and declared for postseason, Approval of the National Administrative Council), and "championship" (40 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity, Minimum of two Invitationals held, Approval of the National Administrative Council).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naia.org/fls/27900/1NAIA/resources/admin/Emerging%20Sports%20Webinar.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=27900|title=NAIA EMERGING SPORTS|publisher=National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics|access-date=December 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222081502/http://www.naia.org/fls/27900/1NAIA/resources/admin/Emerging%20Sports%20Webinar.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=27900|archive-date=December 22, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> The association conducts, or has conducted in the past, championship tournaments in the following sports (year established).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://naia.cstv.com/genrel/090905aai.html |title=NAIA History |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060621235604/http://naia.cstv.com/genrel/090905aai.html |archive-date=June 21, 2006}}</ref>

===Basketball championships===
*[[NAIA Men's Basketball Championships|Men's basketball]]
**Division I (1937–present)
**Division II (1992–2020)
*[[NAIA Women's Basketball Championships|Women's basketball]]
**Division I (1981–present)
**Division II (1992–2020)

The NAIA men's basketball championship is the longest-running collegiate national championship of any sport in the United States. The tournament was the brainchild of [[James Naismith|Dr. James Naismith]], creator of the game of basketball; [[Emil Liston]], athletic director at [[Baker University]]; and Frank Cramer, founder of Cramer Athletic Products.

The event began in 1937 with the inaugural tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 2017 men's championship marked the 80th edition of what has been tabbed College Basketball's Toughest Tournament. The tournament has awarded the [[Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player award]] since 1939, as well as the Charles Stevenson Hustle Award ("Charlie Hustle"), which was the basis for [[Pete Rose]]'s nickname, given to him by [[Whitey Ford]]. From 1992 to 2020, basketball was the only NAIA sport in which the organization's member institutions were aligned into divisions.

Effective with the 2020–21 academic year, the NAIA returned to a single division for both men's and women's basketball.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=211711382 |title=NAIA to Combine Basketball Divisions |publisher=NAIA |date=April 16, 2018 |access-date=April 20, 2018}}</ref>

===Other championship sports===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
*[[NAIA Baseball World Series|Baseball]] (1957)
*Bowling
**[[NAIA Men's Bowling Championship|Men's]] (2018)
**[[NAIA Women's Bowling Championship|Women's]] (2018)
*[[NAIA Competitive Cheer Championship|Competitive Cheer]] (2016)
*[[NAIA Competitive Dance Championship|Competitive Dance]] (2016)
*Cross Country
**[[NAIA Men's Cross Country Championship|Men's]] (1956)
**[[NAIA Women's Cross Country Championship|Women's]] (1980)
*[[NAIA national football championship|Football]] (1956)
*Lacrosse
**[[NAIA lacrosse#Women's programs|Women's]] (2016)
*Golf
**[[NAIA Men's Golf Championship|Men's]] (1952)
**[[NAIA Women's Golf Championship|Women's]] (1995)
*Soccer
**[[NAIA Men's Soccer Championship|Men's]] (1959)
**[[NAIA Women's Soccer Championship|Women's]] (1984)
*[[NAIA Softball Championship|Softball]] (1981)
*Swimming and Diving
**[[NAIA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships|Men's]] (1957)
**[[NAIA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships|Women's]] (1981)
{{col-2}}
*Tennis
**[[NAIA Men's Tennis Championship|Men's]] (1952)
**[[NAIA Women's Tennis Championship|Women's]] (1981)
*Indoor and Outdoor Track
**[[NAIA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship|Men's Indoor]] (1966)
**[[NAIA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship|Men's Outdoor]] (1952)
**[[NAIA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship|Women's Indoor]] (1981)
**[[NAIA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship|Women's Outdoor]] (1981)
*Volleyball
**[[NAIA Women's Volleyball Championship|Women's volleyball]] (1980){{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}
**[[NAIA Men's Volleyball Championship|Men's volleyball]] (original run 1969–1980{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}/(2018)
*Wrestling
**[[NAIA Men's Wrestling Championship|Men's]] (1956)
**[[NAIA Women's Wrestling Championship|Women's]] (2021)
{{col-end}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}

===Invitational sports===
*[[Beach volleyball#College|Beach volleyball]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Beach Volleyball Named Emerging Sport at NAIA Convention |url=https://www.naia.org/sports/beachvball/2018-19/releases/20190412vvng9 |access-date=February 25, 2020 |publisher=NAIA |date=April 12, 2019}}</ref>
*Lacrosse
**[[NAIA lacrosse#Men's programs|Men's]] (2016)

*[[Collegiate wrestling|Women's Wrestling]] (2019)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Saab |first1=Jennifer |title=NAIA Grants Invitational Status to Women's Wrestling |url=https://www.naia.org/sports/wwrest/2017-18/releases/20180414lktmg |access-date=February 25, 2020 |publisher=NAIA |date=April 14, 2018}}</ref>
{{col-2}}

===Emerging sports===
*[[College flag football|Women's flag football]]<ref>{{cite news |agency=AP |title=NAIA to sponsor women's flag football with NFL partnership |url=https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/29133422/naia-sponsor-women-flag-football-nfl-partnership |access-date=May 5, 2020 |publisher=ESPN |date=May 4, 2020}}</ref>
{{col-end}}

===Discontinued championships===
*Gymnastics
**[[gymnastics|Men's]] (1964–1985){{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}
**[[NAIA national women's gymnastics championship|Women's]] (1981–1988)
*[[NAIA national ice hockey championship|Ice hockey]] (1968–1984)
*[[Water Polo]] {{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

==Conferences==
The NAIA has 21 member conferences, including 9 that sponsor football. Member institutions that are not a part of any of these conferences play in the [[Continental Athletic Conference]], formerly the Association of Independent Institutions.

===List of conferences===
{{see also|List of NAIA conferences}}

{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
* [[American Midwest Conference]] (AMC)
* [[Appalachian Athletic Conference]] (AAC) *
* [[California Pacific Conference]] (Cal Pac)
* [[Cascade Collegiate Conference]] (CCC)
* [[Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference]] (CCAC)
* [[Continental Athletic Conference]] (CAC)
* [[Crossroads League]] (CL)
* [[Frontier Conference]] (Frontier) *
* [[Great Plains Athletic Conference]] (GPAC) *
* [[Great Southwest Athletic Conference]] (GSAC)
* [[HBCU Athletic Conference]] (HBCUAC)
{{col-2}}
* [[Heart of America Athletic Conference]] (HAAC) *
* [[Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference]] (KCAC) *
* [[Mid-South Conference]] (MSC) *
* [[Mid-States Football Association]] (MSFA) †
* [[Red River Athletic Conference]] (RRAC)
* [[River States Conference]] (RSC)
* [[Sooner Athletic Conference]] (SAC) *
* [[Southern States Athletic Conference]] (SSAC)
* [[Sun Conference]] (TSC) *
* [[Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference]] (WHAC)
{{col-end}}

<nowiki>*</nowiki>- Denotes that the conference sponsors football.

†- Denotes a football-only conference.

==See also==
*[[List of NAIA conferences]]
*[[List of NAIA institutions]]
*[[List of NAIA regions]]
*[[List of college athletic programs by U.S. state]]
*[[NACDA Directors' Cup]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{commons cat}}
* {{oweb}}

{{National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics}}
{{NAIA conference navbox}}
{{College athletics in the United States}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics| ]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Kansas City, Missouri]]
[[Category:Sports organizations established in 1940]]
[[Category:1940 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:College sports governing bodies in the United States]]

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics - Revision history

imported>Finchwidget at 00:54, 6 November 2025