Georgia Northwestern announced it joined the National Junior College Athletic Association this summer, according to a press release.

In a signing ceremony held at The R.A.C., Rossville Athletic Complex on July 19, Bobcat Athletics officially made its intentions known to enter the Georgia branch of the NJCAA.

“We are entering our fourth year of athletics at Georgia Northwestern and we see the promise this brings our college and its students,” said Stuart Phillips, Vice President of Student Affairs at Georgia Northwestern. “Varsity athletics is a rallying point for community and student life at our campuses. From intramurals to collegiate-level varsity competition, we have seen campus life really blossom to a whole new level.”

In November of 2007, Bobcats Men’s Head Basketball Coach David Stephenson made a career changing phone call to the Office of Marketing and Public Relations showing interest for the top coaching spot at the college. “We made it all happen in a limited amount of time the first season,” said Stephenson. “We’ve taken a slow growth philosophy over these first three seasons. Right now, administration has asked us to begin working on a seven-year plan.” said Stephenson.

This season, Bobcat Men’s Basketball and Lady Cats Women’s Basketball expect to take part in the initial probationary period of membership with the GJCAA Division III. The next varsity athletic program to begin action will be the Lady Cats Volleyball program this September. Lady Cats Women’s Head Coach Tricia Goodwin and her squad will continue varsity athletic participation within the TCSGAA, Technical College System of Georgia.

Lady Cats Basketball enters its first year of action beginning this fall at Georgia Northwestern. Based on the Floyd County Campus, the Lady Cats will see its first official action along with the Bobcats at the TCSGAA Jamboree in Carrollton, Georgia on October 30. Players from across North Georgia and Southeast Tennessee have shown interest and participated in the first leg of tryouts for the historic venture.

“I believe making this move will help give our programs more recognition, especially outside of our region,” said Stephenson. “It will also give our student-athletes a chance to possibly play for championships beyond the state of Georgia. This was the next logical step in the growth of Bobcat Athletics.”