Okay, so I was curious about how many baseball teams are part of the NAIA. You know, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics? It’s not as big as the NCAA, but it’s still a pretty significant chunk of college sports. I was wondering about the NAIA cause there’s a lot to explore in collegiate baseball other than the NCAA, so that’s how I started.
First, I did was hit up Google. Just typed in “how many NAIA baseball teams are there” and started scrolling. Found some interesting stuff right off the bat. Apparently, there are a bunch of these teams scattered across the U.S. and even some in Canada. I read it’s like a mix of schools, some smaller private ones and some bigger public universities.
Then I dug a little deeper. Found a few different numbers being thrown around, which is pretty typical, right? One source said around 212 NAIA baseball colleges, while another mentioned over 180 programs. So, it seems like the real number is somewhere in that ballpark.
I also stumbled upon some details about scholarships. It’s different from the NCAA, from what I gathered. NAIA schools can offer up to 12 full-ride scholarships for baseball, and they can split those up among more players. Seems like it gives more athletes a shot at getting some financial help, which is cool.
One thing that caught my eye was a mention of the “2024 ABCA-Rawlings NAIA Baseball Gold Glove Team.” Sounds pretty prestigious. It made me realize that even though the NAIA might be considered “smaller,” there’s some serious talent in these programs.
I was initially a bit confused when I saw a mention of “1,600 college baseball teams” in the NAIA, along with Canada and the United States. That seemed way too high, so I figure it might be a typo or I misunderstood something there.
- So, after all this digging, here’s what I’ve got:
- There are probably somewhere between 180 and 212 NAIA baseball teams.
- These teams are at a variety of schools, both private and public.
- NAIA baseball offers a decent number of scholarships, which is a big deal for student-athletes.
- There are some real standout players in the NAIA, as evidenced by things like the Gold Glove Team.
Overall, it was a fun little research project. Learned a bit more about college baseball and the NAIA. It’s always interesting to see how many opportunities are out there for athletes beyond the big-name leagues. And it’s pretty impressive how many schools are involved in NAIA baseball – definitely a bigger scene than I initially thought!
