9 Schools•Division III•Est. 1888
The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association was founded on March 24, 1888, which makes it the first collegiate athletic conference in America. Delegates gathered in Jackson, Michigan, a week earlier, and James Heckman of Hillsdale College, remembered as the father of the MIAA, is the one who pushed the idea of a permanent league. Albion, Hillsdale, Olivet and the State Agricultural College of Michigan signed the original constitution. That first summer brought Field Day to East Lansing with competition in baseball, track and tennis. Albion has held membership continuously ever since.
The early programs read like a museum piece. Bicycle racing, Indian club swing, tug of war and sparring shared a card with the sprints and the shot put. Basketball did not yet exist. What survived was the idea itself: full season championships, decided on the field, every year without interruption.
Rivalry is the league's signature. Calvin against Hope has been ranked among the greatest rivalries in all of college basketball and the finest in Division III. The New York Times once sent its Knicks beat writer to Holland to cover a game, and a national docuseries built an episode around it. When the two met at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, they drew the largest crowd in Division III history.
Excellence runs wider than one gym. Kalamazoo men's tennis built one of the longest championship streaks in American college sports, and the league once claimed the men's and women's Division III basketball titles in the same season. Albion's Lee Bartlett won an NCAA javelin title as a student and went on to three Olympic Games. Nine private colleges across Michigan and Indiana play for the Commissioner's Cup, an all sports award presented since the 1930s.
Official Website
The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association was founded on March 24, 1888, which makes it the first collegiate athletic conference in America. Delegates gathered in Jackson, Michigan, a week earlier, and James Heckman of Hillsdale College, remembered as the father of the MIAA, is the one who pushed the idea of a permanent league. Albion, Hillsdale, Olivet and the State Agricultural College of Michigan signed the original constitution. That first summer brought Field Day to East Lansing with competition in baseball, track and tennis. Albion has held membership continuously ever since.
The early programs read like a museum piece. Bicycle racing, Indian club swing, tug of war and sparring shared a card with the sprints and the shot put. Basketball did not yet exist. What survived was the idea itself: full season championships, decided on the field, every year without interruption.
Rivalry is the league's signature. Calvin against Hope has been ranked among the greatest rivalries in all of college basketball and the finest in Division III. The New York Times once sent its Knicks beat writer to Holland to cover a game, and a national docuseries built an episode around it. When the two met at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, they drew the largest crowd in Division III history.
Excellence runs wider than one gym. Kalamazoo men's tennis built one of the longest championship streaks in American college sports, and the league once claimed the men's and women's Division III basketball titles in the same season. Albion's Lee Bartlett won an NCAA javelin title as a student and went on to three Olympic Games. Nine private colleges across Michigan and Indiana play for the Commissioner's Cup, an all sports award presented since the 1930s.
Official Website