A Guest Blog by Author Mike Frascogna
How did JUCO football begin?
Mississippi’s Junior College (now called community colleges) began in the 1920s, when the State Legislature approved agricultural high schools adding a thirteenth and fourteenth grade. The typical junior college in those days was a boarding school, still with a concentration on agricultural studies.
Most of the students grew up working hard in tough environments–helping make crops or cutting timber on their family farms or taking odd jobs if they lived in town. These raw-boned farm boys were naturally drawn to the rough sport of football. Almost as soon as the first classes began, these young men began playing football among themselves.
They soon mastered the basics and grew tired of playing against each other. So they sent an invitation–probably more like a challenge–to the boys from the junior college a few counties over. The winners of the first game would seek out yet another opponent to play, while the losers were honor bound to avenge their loss through a rematch. Soon these matches became more frequent and this led to the need for schedules.
Schedules led to fixed seasons, which in turn led to the naming of champions. Football fever took hold and has never let up. The result is Mississippi’s current system of junior/community college football referred to as “JUCO ball.”
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