By Erin Irish
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) did not include women’s athletics until the 1980s. The governing body for women’s sports in the United States, which included almost 1,000 schools, was called the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). Conflicts arose in the early 1980s between the NCAA and the AIAW. Because of these conflicts, the AIAW lost power and deteriorated as the NCAA took over the governance of women’s collegiate sports. National championships for women were offered by all divisions of the NCAA by 1982. In 1983, the 75th Convention initiated an expansion plan for women’s athletic program services and a women’s championship program. Currently, the NCAA awards national championships for 46 women’s sports, which is more than the men’s 41.