Stanford Athletics

Photo: Stanford, CA, May 10, 2015.Stanford Women's Water Polo vs.UCLA in NCAA National Championship. Stanford won 7-6.
A TEAM EFFORT | Women’s water polo players huddle in the 2015 season’s final game. The team went on to win the NCAA championship that year.

Home of Champions

Stanford truly is the “home of champions” — its athletics program is unrivaled. As of 2016, Stanford’s 125th year, the university had won at least one national championship for a record 40 consecutive years and captured its 22nd consecutive Directors’ Cup, which honors the nation’s most successful collegiate sports program. Stanford-affiliated athletes won 14 gold, seven silver and six bronze medals at the Olympics in 2016, producing a school record of 27 medals and an all-time total of 270 Olympic medals.

Stanford’s Department of Athletics has 36 varsity sports teams — 20 for women and 16 for men. Its approximately 900 student-athletes also excel off the field, registering an overall graduation rate of 98 percent in recent years, according to the NCAA. Students also participate in 24 club sport teams and eight student organization athletic teams.

Photo: Stanford Womens Basketball team from 1892 playing hoops back when there was no backboard.
Athletic Firsts

Stanford’s innovative drive thrives in athletics. In 1896, Stanford won the first intercollegiate women’s basketball game, and in the 1920s, the powerful, new football plays of Coach Glenn “Pop” Warner captured the public’s imagination. In 1936, a Stanford athlete revolutionized basketball with his innovative running, one-handed jump shot.

The Big Game
Photo: Stanford football team celebrating with The Axe Trophy at The Big Game.

A friendly challenge between the established University of California and upstart Stanford in 1892  set off the oldest college football rivalry in the West. In 1899, Stanford introduced a lumberman’s axe to complement the rallying cry, “Give ‘em the axe.” Today, The Axe is a trophy for “The Big Game.”

Photo: Rooting section with Block S in cards from 1905.
Cardinal Spirit

Cardinal spirit reigns perennially from the field to the pool to the courts, and fan intensity often matches that of the competing athletes. Stanford’s iconic block S was shaped by cards held by enthusiastic fans as early as 1905. A Stanford volleyball player-turned-astronaut even brought a university centennial flag aboard the 1991 space shuttle flight.

 

 

 

Kiosk 21 highlighting Stanford Athletics and Club Teams.