Here is your glossary of acronyms and terms for your volunteers that may not be familiar with the sports industry.
IOC – International Olympic Committee. This is the body that administers the Olympic Games every two years (alternating between the Summer and Winter Games).
USOC – United States Olympic Committee. The USOC is a member of the IOC and governs all Olympic, Paralympic, and Pan American sports in the United States.
NGB – Stands for “National Governing Body”. An NGB is the recognized sports organization for an official Olympic, Paralympic, or Pan American sport. NGBs often start with “USA” and many have their own acronyms as well (examples: USAB is USA Badminton, USAV is USA Volleyball, etc.).
Event Rights Holder – Not to be confused with an NGB, a rights holder is a non-Olympic sanctioned entity that owns and operates events. Like NGB events, rights holder events are often bid on by cities, and drive significant economic impact and overnight hotel stays to the host community.
USSSA – United States Specialty Sports Association. Often recognized as “U-Trip” USSSA is one of the largest event rights holders in softball and baseball among other sports.
AAU – Amateur Athletic Union. For over 120 years AAU has been one of largest sports organizations in the country. AAU is also an event rights holder that conducts national championships in 33 different sports.
LOC – Local Organizing Committee. An LOC is a group of local citizens that are put in place to help coordinate a championship event in that community.
CVB – Convention and Visitor Bureau. Many cities house their sports tourism and event efforts within a CVB.
NASC – National Association of Sports Commissions. The NASC is an association of over 900 members including CVBs, sports commissions, NGBs, event rights holders, and companies that support the sports tourism and events industry.
NCAA – National Collegiate Athletic Association. Think larger 4-year schools like Alabama, Ohio State, USC. The NCAA governs the Final Four along with 80-plus other championships across three divisions. There are also a myriad of NCAA conferences that have acronyms of their own (examples: SEC is the Southeastern Conference, ACC is the Atlantic Coast Conference, etc.).
NAIA – National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Think smaller 4-year liberal arts colleges and universities. The NAIA membership includes over 250 schools that stretch across the country in the form of 21 conferences.
NJCAA – National Junior College Athletic Association. Their membership encompasses all 2-year colleges outside of California (due to a high volume of schools, California has its own 2-year college league). 2-year schools are often called “JUCOs”.
NFL – National Football League. All of the professional leagues have their own acronym (MLB is Major League Baseball, NHL is the National Hockey League, NBA is the National Basketball Association, MLS is Major League Soccer).
PGA – Professional Golf Association. The PGA runs the PGA Tour which has professional golf tournaments on almost every week of the calendar. The Ladies’ version is the LPGA, which is a separate entity from the PGA. Note that not ALL golf tournaments are governed by the PGA Tour (example: the United States Open is governed by the USGA – the United States Golf Association).
HOF – Hall of Fame. There are hundreds of halls of fame for nearly every sport, state, or sports related industry.
