| National Association Of Intercollegiate Athletics |
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| intercollegiate athletics in the united states | |
| 1940 establishments | |
| national association of intercollegiate athletics | |
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The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (better known as the '''NAIA''') traces its roots to the '''National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball'''. The NAIB was established on March 10 , 1940 in Kansas City, Missouri . Currently, the headquarters are located in the Kansas City suburb of Olathe, Kansas . The association got its start three years after a men’s Basketball Tournament was held in Kansas City. The tournament was started by James Naismith and others who wanted 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 . In 1948 , the NAIB became the first national organization to open their intercollegiate postseason to black student-athletes. In 1952 , the NAIB was transformed into the NAIA, and with that came the sponsorship of additional sports. The NAIA began sponsoring intercollegiate championships for women in 1980 , the first coed national athletics association to do so. The NAIB/NAIA was formed on the grounds that the older, larger NCAA was predominantly oriented toward larger institutions, particularly those which played "big time" College Football . Sports: cross country, Football (men), Soccer , Volleyball (women), Basketball , Swimming , Track And Field , Wrestling (men), Baseball (men), Softball (women), and Tennis . Ice Hockey (men) was sponsored until 1984 . SEE ALSO
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