The Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC), formerly the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC), is a non-profit two-year college conference for community colleges in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington, along with the Canadian province of British Columbia.

The NWAC, now with 37 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., Marco Azurdia, Executive Director, NWAC website,

1946: WSJCAC birth 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.

2014: renaming The NWAACC was renamed the Northwest Athletic Conference on July 1, 2014, Marco Azurdia, Executive Director, NWAC website, July 1, 2014 and has 36 member schools.

Member schools Current members The NWAC currently has 37 full members, all are public schools:

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Joined Division Bellevue College Bellevue, Washington 1966 Public 37,000 Bulldogs ? Northern Big Bend Community College Moses Lake, Washington 1962 Public 5,400 Vikings ? Eastern Blue Mountain Community College Pendleton, Oregon 1962 Public 10,600 Timberwolves 1983 Eastern Centralia College Centralia, Washington 1925 Public 4,803 Trailblazers 1946 Western Chemeketa Community College Salem, Oregon 1969 Public 50,000 Storm 1983 Southern Clackamas Community College Oregon City, Oregon 1966 Public 25,029 Cougars 1983 Southern Clark College Vancouver, Washington 1933 Public 14,000 Penguins 1946 Western Columbia Basin College Pasco, Washington 1955 Public 13,000 Hawks 1955 EasternColumbia Gorge Community CollegeThe Dalles, Oregon1977Public1,039Chinooks2024Eastern Douglas College New Westminster, British Columbia 1971 Public 25,000 Royals ? Northern Edmonds College Edmonds, Washington 1967 Public 12,000 Tritons ? Northern Everett Community College Everett, Washington 1941 Public 19,666 Trojans 1946 Northern Grays Harbor College Aberdeen, Washington 1930 Public 2,088 Chokers 1946 Western Green River College Auburn, Washington 1963 Public 9,212 Gators ? Western Highline College Des Moines, Washington 1961 Public 18,993 Thunderbirds ? Western Klamath Community College Klamath Falls, Oregon1996PublicBadgers2025Southern Lane Community College Eugene, Oregon 1964 Public 18,678 Titans 1983 Southern Linn–Benton Community College Albany, Oregon 1966 Public 12,360 Roadrunners 1983 Southern Lower Columbia College Longview, Washington 1934 Public 8,465 Red Devils 1946 Western Gresham, Oregon 1966 Public 8,370 Saints 1970 Southern Olympic College Bremerton, Washington 1946 Public 12,285 Rangers 1946 Northern Peninsula College Port Angeles, Washington 1961 Public 10,000 Pirates ? Northern Pierce College Lakewood, Washington 1967 Public 21,643 Raiders ? Western Portland Community College Portland, Oregon 1961 Public 50,000 Panthers ? Southern Rogue Community College Grants Pass, Oregon 1970 Public ? Ospreys ? Southern Shoreline Community College Shoreline, Washington 1964 Public 13,795 Dolphins ? Northern Skagit Valley College Mount Vernon, Washington 1926 Public 5,136 Cardinals 1946 Northern South Puget Sound Community College Olympia, Washington 1962 Public 4,665 Clippers ? Western Southwestern Oregon Community College Coos Bay, Oregon 1941 Public 14,500 Lakers 1983 Southern Spokane Colleges Spokane, Washington 1963 Public 38,600 Sasquatch ? Eastern Tacoma Community College Tacoma, Washington 1965 Public 15,000 Titans ? Western Treasure Valley Community College Ontario, Oregon 1962 Public ? Chukars ? Eastern Umpqua Community College Winchester, Oregon 1964 Public 13,300 Riverhawks 1983 Southern Walla Walla Community College Walla Walla, Washington 1967 Public 13,000 Warriors ? Eastern Wenatchee Valley College Wenatchee, Washington 1939 Public 3,353 Knights 1946 Eastern Whatcom Community College Bellingham, Washington 1967 Public 11,457 Orcas ? Northern Yakima Valley College Yakima, Washington 1941 Public 10,000 Yaks 1946 Eastern

North Idaho College - Officially left the NWAC in the beginning of the 2023-2024 athletic season with basketball teams being recognized as independent, then with the start of the 2024-2025 season the remaining sports all joined the NJCAA.

Notes

Sports The NWAC sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in the following sports:

+ Conference sportsSportMen'sWomen'sBaseballBasketballCross countryGolfSoccerSoftballTrack and field (outdoor)Volleyball

Yearly football standings

References

External links