On March 17th, 1900, a meeting was organized at the McAdoo House of Greensboro between the leading athletic colleges of North Carolina to attempt to answer the issues of playing professional or adult football players and the organization of games and rules in the state of North Carolina. Led by Charles Baskerville, of North Carolina, Samuel H. Hodges, of Guilford, Albert Whitehouse of Trinity (now Duke), and J. Allen Holt of the Oak Ridge Institute, the meeting was organized out of a desire to "see purer athletics among the schools of North Carolina." The initial meeting featured A&M, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Trinity, the William Bingham School (of Mebane, NC), Horner Military School (of Oxford, NC), the Oak Ridge Institute (of Oak Ridge, NC), and Guilford College (The Greensboro Evening Telegram, March 10th, 1900, p. 1; The Greensboro Evening Telegram, March 17th, 1900, p. 4). The inclusion of Wake Forest was particularly intersting, as their school did not field a football team at the time, and would not again until 1908.

The North Carolina Athletics Association started off with big goals. The first meeting voted President Winston, of A&M, chairman of the NC Athletics Association, and J. M. Oldham, of Horner, secretary. Other participants included Dr. Charles Baskerville, of North Carolina; Profs. J. Allen Holt, M. H. Holt, and Wright, of Oak Ridge; Profs. Whitehouse and Durham, of Trinity College; Dr. Sikes, of Wake Forest; Dr. Hobbs and Profs. Wilson and Hodgin, of Guilford College; and Prof. Johnson, of the William Bingham School. Though Dr. Baskerville said "He thought the institutions a little too suspicious of each other," the meeting was reportedly productive, and many of the participants claimed they were "highly pleased with the enthusiasm manifested and the headway made." The meeting was primarily focused on the issue of professionalism in college sports, with the main mission being "to confine college athletics strictly to the bonafide students of the college." There was some discussion of the "summer player" (students who played on professional teams, mainly in baseball, during the summer as a way to earn money and travel) and whether or not they should be barred from competing. Prof. Durham, of Trinity, also discussed the idea of accepting a student into a college simply to become an athlete and called the practice "simply murderous."

One interesting discussion during the meeting was whether teams, especially those of prep schools and high schools, should allow teachers to play on a team against college student. Prof. Wilson, of Guilford, said that teachers should not be allowed to play on any football teams, with the paper saying "He has been doing so but didn't think he would keep it up." Prof. Wright, of Oak Ridge, disagreed, saying that he thought "each high school team should have at least one teacher on the team."

After their initial discussions, the delegates voted on several topics. First, they decided that the decisions of the committee would have no impact on the current track and baseball seasons. Second, they voted to meet again on May 5th in Durham to form a constitution and set about rules to govern athletic contests. Finally, they agreed on a series of recommendations to adopt at the next meeting. Prof. Durham recommended that the "Harvard definition" of professionalism be voted on at the next meeting. The Harvard definition was among the more stringent rules on professionalism, barring anyone who had ever received compensation of any kind or had ever played on a professional team or instructed one in a professional capacity. Other recommendations included defining a "bona fide college student" as someone who passed their entrance requirements and maintained "satisfactory pursuit of his literary or scientific course," to include "dissinterested officials" for championship games, that students be barred from taking inducements to attend the college for the purpose of athletics, that students had to wait a year between transferring schools to play a sport, and that "all non-degree conferring institutions" should be allowed to play a teacher in any contest against "degree conferring institutions" "provided they are amateurs according to our definition" (The Greensboro Evening Telegram, March 19th, 1900, p. 1).

As promised, the committee met again on May 5th. After gaining Elon College and losing the William Bingham School, both for unmentioned reasons, the Association was officially organized. Notably, North Carolina was still participating in meetings but not a member of the Association. The Tar Heel explained the decision not to join by saying "To abide by these rules would seriously cripple the University," calling their rules "very strict and unusual." The paper mainly cited fears that their team would lose marquee games against SIAA schools such as Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Virginia, due to a clause stating that no member of the NC Athletics Association would be allowed to play against a team "who would not abide by their laws." North Carolina and Davidson were the only two of the "prominent colleges" who did not join. This clause prevented the Tar Heels from playing most teams in the state in 1900, a fact which can be seen reflected in their schedule: the only in-state team they played was the North Carolina Deaf and Dumb Institute, who was not a member of the Association. Choosing between the "narrow, untried rules" of the State Association, and the SIAA, "an organization of experience and stability" of which they were (very briefly) a member, the Tar Heels chose the SIAA, "however much genuine regret we must feel" (The (Wilmington) Semi-Weekly Messenger, May 8th, 1900, p. 1; The Tar Heel, October 3rd, 1900, p. 1).

The full rules of the first constitution can be read here, but the constitution more or less agreed upon the ideas set forth at the first meeting. An Executive Committee was formed, composed of a representative of each school in the association, a membership application process was created, an annual convention was decided upon, officials in all contests could not be "an alumnus of" or have "ever been connected with" either school, and similar articles not dissimilar from the norm of the time. One particularly interesting rule was Article X, Section 4, which stated "No institution in this Association shall engage in any athletic contest whatsoever with an institution that has once been a member of the Association and has either withdrawn (without the consent of two-thirds of the members), or has been suspended or expelled from the same until such institution shall have been reinstated as a member." The Tar Heels in particular disagreed with the very stringent Article IX, especially Section 8, which banned games against teams with a "professional" as deemed by the Association, and Article VIII, which limited players to four years of eligibility on a college team, plus a final year as a post-grad, if desired. The Tar Heel wrote that the rules were "very stringent" and that there was "positively no way of enforcing them" (News and Observer, May 13th, 1900, p. 2).

The students of A&M were purportedly against the decision to join the league, though, with the students in a letter to the News and Observer writing "The general opinion is that the [A&M] college students joined the North Carolina State Athletics Association of their own accord.... We wish to say that this is not true. At the convention... the student body was represented by one who did so without their consent." The paper went on to write "The students have always been opposed to an association of this kind, because they thought it would cripple college athletics in this state." If a similar article was published in the Red and White, the athletic publication of A&M, it has been unfortunately lost to history (News and Observer, November 3rd, 1900, p. 5).

In late December, members of the Association met at the Yarborough House. The meeting, which took place on the evening of the 27th, was called to "settle certain points as to the interpretation of rules of eligibility." Though the meeting had no power to change the rules, it did clarify the meaning of some rules, as well as allow the coming baseball season to not follow Article IX, Section 4, which required students to have enrolled within 30 days of the semester during which the sport took place, due to a "misunderstanding on the point." At the December 1900 meeting, the Association also urged the SIAA to change their rules so that the SIAA teams could meet the rules set forth by the NC Athletics Association and allow teams from both leagues to play (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, December 27th, 1900, p. 2).

After the December meeting, the Association met again, this time on May 4th, 1901, at the Hotel Carrolina in Durham. They elected to retain the same officers as previously elected and to have the following meeting again at the Hotel Carrolina on the first Saturday in the May of 1902. Much of the changes to the constitution of the Association were fairly trivial, adding a "however" here or a "but" there, but there were some major changes. They did, however, make less broad the definition of "professional" players, removing language barring people who had "competed for any prize against a professional." The so-called "summer players" were, however, banned from the league," and most importantly, broadened the definition of acceptable opponents to include members of the SIAA, but still required that a certificate signed by the president of the college be presented to the Association's president after every game (The Durham Sun, May 4th, 1901, p. 4; The Durham Sun, May 6th, 1901, p. 2).

After a meeting by the Athletic Association of the A. and M. College on September 24th, 1902, A&M voted to withdraw from the NC Athletics Association. Citing the fact that the Farmers had "outgrown preparatory schools" and that they "ought to belong to an association of colleges and universities," in addition to the "rules for the special protection" of prep schools, and the fact that the only other college of the Association who actively fielded a team was Guilford (Trinity and Wake Forest having banned football in the mid 1890s and Elon having not yet started their football program). The Red and White's athletic board voted to instead apply to be a member of the SIAA, and despite several papers (in addition to the Red and White) wrote that the team planned to do such, it appears as if the team never filed an application to join given a lack of announcements in the local papers, though Trinity was admitted to join at the end of 1902 (Red and White, Vol. IV, No. 1 (Oct. 10, 1902), p. 11; The (Raleigh) Morning Post, September 25th, 1902, p. 5; News and Observer, September 25th, 1902, p. 5; News and Observer, December 21st, 1902, p. 1). Perhaps not coincidental in the fact that A&M did not join the SIAA was the fact that North Carolina, who had been suspended from the SIAA in late May for playing two professoinal men, voted to withdraw from the SIAA for good the day after A&M's decision to leave the NC Athletics Association (The (Wilmington) Morning Star, May 6th, 1902, p. 4; The Wilmington Messenger, September 25th, 1902, p. 4).

Vice-President of the NC Athletics Association J. A. Holt was interviewed following A&M's withdrawal and said that though the decision "was not unexpected," saying the decision "marks the end of the effort pure athletics in the State." Holt went on to dismiss many of A&M's claims for leaving, saying there was "nothing whatever" in their claims that preparatory schools were unfairly aided. The interview also foreshadowed the end of the Association, with Holt claiming "[Oak Ridge] had expected to [continue in the Association], but if there is a feeling that the preparatory schools should get out so as not to handicap the colleges, we will cheerfully withdraw." Holt closed the interview by saying he "look[ed] for chaos in athletics" in the coming years (The Farmer and Mechanic, September 20th, 1902, p. 6). It is true that A&M could have taken the route of Trinity, who was a member of both the SIAA and the NC Athletics Association after December 1902, but the A&M Athletic Association decided to leave the State organization in its entirity.

The 1902 meeting was not initially held for unspecified reasons. Reportedly, president of the association E. W. Sikes did not send out an invitation to the meeting. Despite the lack of invitation, Prof. J. A. Holt, of Oak Ridge, and Prof. Crittendon of Wake Forest, showed up in Durham, but were met with no convention. It was decided to instead move the date of the Association's meeting to coincide with the meeting of the Teachers' Assembly, which was to be held later that year in Morehead City, North Carolina (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, May 4th, 1902, p. 6).

On June 14th, members of The Whitsett Institute, Horner Military School, Trinity Park High School, the Oak Ridge Institute, A&M, Wake Forest, and Trinity met in Morehead City. The president of Guilford College was also present but could not participate in much of the NC Athletics Association's meeting due to the fact that he was also Guilford's representative at the Teachers' Assembly. The delegates talked for two hours, with comments mainly focusing on the "not wholly satisfactory" results of the previous year, in addition to "a few unfortunate failures to enforce some of the rules of the association." Dr. E. W. Sikes was again voted to be president, with J. H. Holt remaining Vice-President and Dr. W. P. Few, of Trinity, being voted in as secretary. They agreed to hold the next meeting at the following year's Teachers' Assembly (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, June 15th, 1902, p. 2). I could not find any details of changes made to their constitution or rules, and no comments pointed towards any truly major changes, with the changes made being described as "slight."

The Athletic Association continued to forge ahead despite the dwindling support it received. A meeting involving delegates from Oak Ridge, Wake Forest, the William Bingham School, Trinity, and Guilford took place in Greensboro on March 21st with the purpose of "the elevation and control of athletics in schools," but reportedly "no action of any importance was taken." The seven local schools were the only attendees, with just under half of the schools in attendance represented by governing members of the association, despite the fact that "All schools and colleges in North Carolina" were invited (The Greensboro Patriot, March 18th, 1903, p. 1; The Greensboro Patriot, March 25th, 1903, p. 7; News and Observer, March 15th, 1903, p. 6).

The end was nigh for the NC Athletics Association. The Teachers' Assembly, which was this year held in Wrightsville Beach, ran from June 9th through June 12th, 1903, did not formally feature the NC Athletics Association, but instead featured a speech by Dr. W. P. Few, of Trinity, entitled "Athletics In Schools and Colleges." Dr. Few's speech, which was made on the final day of the Assembly, was later published in its entirity in the Charlotte Daily Observer. After a lengthy exposition discussing the process of development in states and countries and the hurried rate at which North Carolina was advancing, Dr. Few got to the "notorious fact that athletics holds a very prominent place" in American colleges. He then went on to cite some of the positive aspects of sports, including "a wholesome love for sports and the out-of-door life," the improved national physique, and the development of self-control. Few then went on to talk at quite a great length about the benefits the sports brought, especially highlighting the importance of camaraderie, working as a team, sportsmanship, and the growing effeminacy present in American education. After that, Dr. Few discussed the dangers of intercollegiate athletics, including "excess and the spirit that would win by unfair means," calling these evils "manifestations of American life" and reflections of the American psyche. He described the college students' overindulgence in athletics "a distraction to large bodies of students" and a stressor in the lives of students. Finally, Dr. Few began to touch on the need for "a regulation of athletics in college." After explaining the historical need for rules on professionalism, eligibility, and entrance exams, Dr. Few wrote "The time ought to be at hand when in North Carolina it will be a discredit to any school or college to send out a team composed of men who are not real students," especially in the case of when the college tries to conceal that fact. He also said that "colleges should exert themselves to keep their graduates out of professional athletics" because "that is a business unworthy of a college man." Unfortunately, the NC Athletics Association was mentioned only very briefly in his speech, with much of the remainder focusing on the work of the SIAA and of Northern Athletic Associations, mainly bemoaning the fact that many schools in the state of North Carolina refused to join any such organization, unmistakably singling out the Tar Heels and perhaps even A&M (The Wilmington Messenger, June 7th, 1903, p. 5; Charlotte Daily Observer, June 14th, 1903, p. 2).

After that year, I was unable to find any announcements from the North Carolina Athletics Association. The organization likely folded after 1903 due to conflicts in scheduling matches, disagreements on the usage and implementation of the rules, and in general a lack of interest in maintaining the body. The league was not very major and was quickly forgotten, even just a few years after its inception. In 1907, Joel Whitaker, prominent figure in NC State's early football history, wrote the following of the NC Athletics Association: "In the year 1900 the State Colleges drew up resolutions to govern the eligibility of players; this being brought about principally by Dr. Winston, of the A. & M., and by Prof. Holt, of Oak Ridge. This compact between the colleges died a quiet death in a year or two, but was greatly responsible for the Faculty Committee being formed to aid the captain and manager" (Red and White, Vol. IX, No. 4 (December 1907), p. 156).