The New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJIAA), formed in 1896, was the first high-school conference

Athletic conference

An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other at the professional, collegiate, or high school level. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller and smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, and was student-initiated and run. As with most student-run leagues, the students formed an alliance with adult organizations to provide facilities and officials, notably the New Jersey Athletic Club for their track and field meet. The league took in both public and private school

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

s; its public-school members being Newark Central High School

Central High School (Newark, New Jersey)

Central High School is a four-year public high school located in Newark, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Newark Public Schools.As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 862 students and 87.0 classroom teachers , for a student–teacher ratio of 9.9.The school was the...

, Montclair High School, Plainfield High School

Plainfield High School (New Jersey)

Plainfield High School is a comprehensive community four-year public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Plainfield, in Union County, New Jersey, United States. The school is part of the Plainfield Public School District, one of New Jersey's 31 Abbott Districts...

 and East Orange High School; its private-school members being Newark Academy

Newark Academy

Newark Academy is a coeducational private day school located in Livingston, New Jersey. With both lower and upper schools, this institution comprises grades six through twelve...

, Bordentown Military Institute

Bordentown Military Institute

The Bordentown Military Institute was a private high school in Bordentown, New Jersey from 1881 to 1973.-History:It was created in 1881 when Reverend William Bowen purchased the Spring Villa Female Seminary building and reopened it as the Bordentown Military Institute. In 1972 it was merged with...

, Stevens Preparatory, Pingry School

Pingry School

The Pingry School is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey, with a Lower School campus in the Short Hills neighborhood of Millburn, and a Middle and Upper School campus in Martinsville. The school was founded in 1861 by Dr. John F. Pingry.Pingry's...

, and Montclair Military Academy. The league began with a track and field contest in 1896, and then expanded with football and tennis competition. The New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association would break up into private and public conferences after the turn of the 20th century.