Northwest Iowa Community College Begins Athletics in ICCAC
Northwest Iowa Community College of Sheldon, Iowa, has officially joined the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference and will begin competing in athletics starting this August. Nicknamed the Thunder, Northeast Iowa is a public community college that was founded in 1966 and has an enrollment of undergraduate students averaging around 2,800.
Northwest will be the 16th member of the ICCAC competing. NCC is the second school in two years to join Region 11 after the addition last year to Western Iowa Tech in 2023. The Thunder will continue to participate in Sports Shooting and add Division II Men's and Women's Soccer this season.
Their athletic department will be headed by Eric Francis, who will serve as the school's director of athletics. Francis, an Iowa Central alum, brings experience from Pocahontas High School where he served as their athletic director.
"NCC is looking forward to the opportunity to join one of the more accomplished Junior College conferences in the nation," Francis said.
Francis assumed his role on July 1. Prior to his arrival, Greta Giese and Beth Sibenaller-Woodall were instrumental in laying a foundation for the NCC athletic department.
"Our goal for athletics is to bring increased notoriety to our area and community college," Francis continuted. "We want to provide NCC with a brand from an athletic standpoint, along with opportunities for our students learning in our classrooms to display their passions on the competition fields. Our hope is to bring in students with different passions, such as soccer, to our college campus and enroll in our many outstanding areas of academics and careers."
The Thunder will participate in ICCAC conference scheduling for their respective sports but due to NJCAA rule, are ineligible from postseason play for the 2024-25 season. Upon approval from the ICCAC Presidents in Spring of 2024, Northwest would be eligible for postseason play in 2025-26.