Palo Alto College - NJCAA Palo Alto College Athletics

NJCAA ATHLETICS History This affiliation was christened the National Alliance. By 1958, the scope of the NJCAA had been recognized by other national organizations and the association was asked to participate in various national projects. These included (1) the People to People Sports Committee, a foundation to promote international goodwill through sports, (2) President Eisenhower's Physical Fitness Commission, (3) a study on equipment and supplies for physical education, athletics and recreation, sponsored by the Athletic Institute and the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, and (4) the publication for the first edition of the Blue Book of Junior College Athletics by McNitt, Inc. Baseball entered the national program during this year when the NJCAA Invitational Tournament was held at Northeastern Oklahoma A & M College, Miami, Oklahoma. The legislative assembly of 1959 approved a National Championship Baseball Tournament, with the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce and Mesa College of Grand Junction Colorado, as the first co- sponsors of the event. Authorization was also granted to conduct National Invitational tournaments in golf, tennis, wrestling and cross country. Odessa, Texas; Rochester, Minnesota; Farmingdale, New York; and Alfred, New York, were chosen as the sites for these events. National Invitational Meets in swimming and rifle were sanctioned in 1960. These and other recent additions to the national program pointed to a need for a revised handbook. Money was allocated for its printing in 1961. In addition to the printing and distribution of the new handbook in 1961, the JUCO REVIEW publication site was changed from Ogden, Utah, to Buffalo, New York. A newspaper known as "Junior College Sports" was published in Grand Junction, Colorado, and the NJCAA played an important supporting role in this new venture. The year 1961 was also the first NJCAA Invitational Soccer Tournament in Middletown, New York. Source: http://www.njcaa.org/todaysNJCAA_History.cfm?category=History 21

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