Virginia-based United States Collegiate Athletic Association provides sport governance to small college athletic programs.

Case, Robert

Virginia has been the home to the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), and other sport and physical education national organizations for a number of years. Virginia is also home to a number of college athletic conferences that include the Atlantic 10, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Colonial Athletic Association, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. However, very few people know that Virginia is home to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) which is a national governing body for small college athletic programs located in Newport News, Virginia.

Intercollegiate sport governance organizations have been around for over 100 years. In 1905-1906, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was established to help oversee college athletics in response to a number of football deaths (Coakley, 2009). In the early years, formulating athletic program compliance and player eligibility standards, standardization of playing rules, and developing codes of conduct were given top priority (Eitzen and Sage, 2009). Eventually, organizing tournaments and sport championships as well as providing publicity to teams and players (e.g., all conference teams, All-American players) became an important function of intercollegiate athletic governing bodies.

In an age when major college athletic programs are viewed from a big business perspective with many employees, multi-million dollar budgets, and expansive athletic facilities, it is sometimes easy to lose sight of the fundamental purpose of college athletics which is to offer educational and athletic opportunities to students. While some major college athletic programs seem to be caught in an "athletic arms race" where bigger is considered better, it is important to point out that on a national level the majority of college athletes do not compete at the NCAA Division I level. Instead, they compete at mid-sized and small college athletic programs located throughout the United States.

While small colleges offer fantastic academic programs and socialization opportunities for students, they often experience difficulty in publicizing

their athletic programs and athlete accomplishments due to limited resources. A number of small colleges want to compete in national tournaments and see their athletes receive national recognition and all-star honors. Membership in a national athletic association can provide the recognition, media exposure, and national competition opportunities that many small colleges desire.

The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) helps to fill a void in intercollegiate athletics. The mission of the USCAA is to provide quality athletic competition at the regional and national levels for student-athletes who attend small colleges with enrollments of less than 1,500 students. The USCAA provides opportunities for small colleges to compete on an equal competitive basis with schools of similar size and athletic budgets. This includes conducting national championships, naming all-star teams, selecting All-American teams, honoring scholar athletes, providing compliance services, and overseeing eligibility standards for USCAA member schools. Members of the USCAA oftentimes have unique sport governance needs that can't be met completely through affiliation with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, or the National Christian College Athletic Association.

While the USCAA appears to be a young and emerging athletic governing body, it has a rich history dating back as far as 1966. It was on July 29 of that year when athletic directors from the Lake Erie (Ohio) Conference and the Eastern Shore Basketball League met in Charleston, West Virginia and started the National Little College Athletic Association (NLCAA). At that conference, small colleges were finally given an opportunity to compete athletically on a national level when an eight-team national basketball tournament was established.

The United States Collegiate Athletic Association was formed in 2001 as a reorganization of the NLCAA. While the USCAA has seen its ups and downs over the years, reorganization of the National Office in 2005 was undertaken and this allowed the association to expand further. In a span of just five years, the association has seen its membership grow from 42 members in 2005-06 to over 100 members in 2011-12. In addition to membership growth, the association has increased its operating budget significantly. This was due in part to membership growth and the development of national sponsorships and media opportunities. Additional championships in a variety of sports have been added over the past five years in order to better serve its members.

One of the most important strengths of the USCAA relates to its diversity of membership. The USCAA accepts members with unique organizational structures and educational missions. For example, some USCAA member schools are 2-year private colleges. Other members are 3-year trade or apprentice schools. Some members are 4-year public colleges and others are 4-year Bible Colleges. No other national athletic organization or association has such a variety of member schools with different backgrounds and organizational structures. The defining and common thread of the USCAA is that members are from small colleges who are seeking to participate in national athletic tournaments with national championships while complying with eligibility rules and standards. USCAA member institutions may hold dual membership in other associations such as the NCAA, NAIA, and the National Christian Athletic Association.

The USCAA is quickly emerging as a strategic choice for small colleges, as they provide quality service and the opportunity for all stakeholders to meet their objectives. The association serves to meet the varying goals of member institutions and their athletes. Many schools have found that the USCAA serves as an excellent transition step between provisional periods for NAIA or NCAA Division III membership. Other institutions with dual membership recognize the opportunities that the USCAA pro vides for postseason play as well as athletic and academic recognition. Still, the majority of members identify with the mission of the USCAA and realize that membership in an association is a valuable and worthwhile long term strategy for their college in terms of athletic governance.

As the USCAA continues to grow and develop, it is clear that their primary mission will be to provide athletic opportunities and a level playing field for small college athletes. An annual conference for member schools is held in the Spring and national championship tournaments are conducted in a variety of sports. All-American and All-Academic teams are selected each year. Member colleges in the USCAA come from a number of states --particularly states located in the northeast region of the United States. Pennsylvania has the distinction of having the most member schools in the USCAA.

Administrators of the USCAA are committed to providing educational opportunities for future sport administrators. During the past five years, a number of undergraduate and graduate sport management students from Virginia colleges have completed internships and graduate assistantships at the USCAA's national office. The future certainly looks bright for small college athletic programs in Virginia and throughout the United States thanks to the USCAA. The State of Virginia continues to serve as a key player in world of collegiate sport governance. For more information about the USCAA, please go to www.theuscaa.com.

REFERENCES

Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society: Issues and controversies. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill.

Eitzen, D.S., & Sage, G.H. (2009). Sociology of North American sport. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.

Robert Case, PhD, Old Dominion University, Sport Management Program