By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — NJCAA President and CEO Christopher Parker sees the relationship between the association and Hutchinson as strong going into the 2021 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament on Monday.
"It's growing every day," Parker said. "This year alone has put so much pressure on both the NJCAA, the local chamber and convention and visitors bureau to make sure that we're here today to have a tournament. It's just continued to build a relationship in the strongest way possible. I'm really proud of everybody who has played a part in getting us on the court today."
The timing has turned out to be good here locally regarding the virus.
"It's been a guessing game," Parker said. "Luckily, pushing this tournament back a month allowed that more spacing and time for everybody to regroup to see how things went with other things. Like I said, we're just excited to be here today."
This semester is presenting challenges the association hasn't seen before just because of the number of sports they have going on at once.
"We have about 52 national championships every year," Parker said. "This year, the fun part is doing about 32 of those all in one semester which has, of course, never been done, due to COVID-19. We're making progress and proud of all of our team and all of our partners around the country for making that happen."
Find out more about the National Junior College Athletic Association at njcaa.org.