College athletics or college sports encompasses non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games requiring physical skill, and the systems of training that prepare athletes for competition performance.
The assimilation of sport into academic life at Cambridge University in the nineteenth century was documented by Andrew Warwick:
The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the Union Nationale des Étudiants Français. In 1957, following several previous renames, they became known in English as the World University Games.
College athletics is a major enterprise in the United States, with more than 400,000 student athletes competing annually. The largest programs participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), while other programs compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The most-watched competitions are in American football and college basketball, though there are competitions in many other sports. In the United States, college athletes are considered amateurs and their compensation is generally limited to athletic scholarships. Due to the passage of Title IX in the United States, universities must offer an equal number of scholarships for women and for men.
University sports are viewed as having a positive social impact in Canada. The Federal government is involved with university sport. Wrestling is a university sport in Canada, with the system helping to provide future and current members of the Canadian national wrestling team.
Mexican universities are affiliated with soccer teams that are professional. One such team is the Universidad Autonoma Pumas