Organization and Governance of the NCAA

The organization we know today as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the policy arm for a wide range of sports, schools, and organizations throughout North America. Yet the NCAA as it exists today is the offspring of the early chaotic and homicidal organization with which football began (Crowley, 2006). As the United States was taking shape in the early post-Civil War era, America was also experiencing a growing interest in the game of football. In 1873 the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA) was created, and it was the organization's rule changes to the early game that began the transition from a sport resembling soccer to one being played more like rugby, a rougher, more physical sport (Crowley, 2006). The first-ever championship football game was held in New York City in 1876 (Morris, 2004). Its popularity reached new heights by 1878 when a total of 4,000 people came to watch the Yale-Princeton game (Lindquist, 2006). Although the function of the IFA appeared to be strong initially, schools began dropping football, which weakened the organization, rendering it obsolete by the 1890s (Crowley, 2006; Morris, 2004). The IFA was followed by the brief existence of the American Football Rules Committee (AFRC). Despite further rule changes, the game was still brutal, and the complexity associated with controlling the game grew, as did its fan base and the institutional desire to win.