The George Washington Revolutionaries are the athletic teams of George Washington University of Washington, D.C. The Revolutionaries compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports.
| George Washington Revolutionaries | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | George Washington University |
| Conference | Atlantic 10 Conference (primary) MAWPC (water polo) East Atlantic Gymnastics League |
| NCAA | Division I |
| Athletic director | Tanya Vogel |
| Location | Washington, District of Columbia, Arlington, Virginia |
| Varsity teams | 24 teams (11 men, 13 women) |
| Basketball arena | Charles E. Smith Center |
| Baseball stadium | Barcroft Park |
| Softball stadium | Mount Vernon Athletic Fields |
| Soccer stadium | Mount Vernon Athletic Fields |
| Rowing venue | Thompson Boat Center |
| Other venues | GW Swim Center GW Tennis Center |
| Mascot | George, the Colonial |
| Nickname | Revolutionaries |
| Fight song | "Hail to the Buff and Blue" |
| Colors | Buff and blue[1] |
| Website | www |
 | |
They were formerly known as the George Washington Colonials.[2] On June 15, 2022, the board of trustees announced that George Washington University would drop the "Colonials" nickname because it "no longer does the work that a moniker should—namely, unifying the campus behind our academic and athletic institutional aspirations." Potential new nicknames were initially narrowed down to “Ambassadors”, “Blue Fog”, “Revolutionaries”, and “Sentinels”, with the new name being announced as the Revolutionaries on May 24, 2023.[3][4][5]
While most teams play their home games in D.C., some teams, including GW baseball,[6] call neighboring Arlington, Virginia home due to the small size and urban nature of GW's campus.
Sports sponsored
edit| Men's sports | Women's sports |
|---|---|
| Baseball | Basketball |
| Basketball | Cross country |
| Cross country | Gymnastics |
| Golf | Lacrosse |
| Outdoor track and field | Rowing |
| Soccer | Soccer |
| Swimming and diving | Softball |
| Water polo | Swimming and diving |
| Tennis | |
| Track and field† | |
| Volleyball | |
| † – Women's track and field includes both indoor and outdoor | |
Baseball
editThe GW Revolutionaries baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of George Washington University.[7] The team is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The team plays its home games at Tucker Field in Barcroft Park, Arlington, Virginia. The Revolutionaries are coached by Gregg Ritchie.
George Washington's first baseball team was fielded in 1891.
Men's basketball
editThe GW Revolutionaries men's basketball team plays its home games in the Charles E. Smith Center, which is also shared with other GW Revolutionaries athletic programs. The team competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference. It qualified for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2014 for the first time since 2007 and won the NIT Tournament Championship in 2016. The Revolutionaries' head coach is Chris Caputo. The Revolutionaries are cheered on by the GW First Ladies and GW Cheer Team.
Soccer
editThe GW Revolutionaries men's soccer team competes in NCAA Division 1 Men's Soccer in the A10 (Atlantic 10 Conference) along with 13 other teams. The program began in 1967 and has earned two A10 Championships in 2002 and 2004 and two regular-season A10 titles in 1992 and 2011. The team made it to the NCAA Tournament 3 times, including the Round of Sweet 16 in 1989.
The GW Revolutionaries men's soccer team has won the DC College Cup twice, in 2007 and 2008. The cup is a competition between four Washington, D.C. universities, including George Mason University, American University, and Howard University.
Women's gymnastics
editThe women's gymnastics team is coached by Margie Foster Cunningham and assisted by both Barry Kistler and Jeff Richards.
Men's and Women's Cross Country/Track and Field
editThe Men's and Women's track and field program is coached by Terry Weir, and assisted by, Matthew Lange. George Washington competes in the Atlantic-10 conference. The Women's Cross Country team finished runner-up in the 2019 Atlantic 10 team championship. They have been represented at the NCAA National Championship five times since 2009: Megan Hogan twice in cross country (2009, 2010), Suzanne Dannheim in cross country (2019) and outdoor track (2019), Carter Day in outdoor track (2018), and Matthew Lange in outdoor track (2018).
Other sports
editThe gymnastics team competes as a member of the East Atlantic Gymnastics League. The men's water polo team compete as members of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference.
Discontinued teams
editIn July 2020, George Washington University announced plans to drop seven sports to help offset an estimated $200 million budget shortfall amid economic fallout due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] Three NCAA sports (men’s indoor track, men’s tennis, and women’s water polo), and four non-NCAA sports (men’s rowing, men’s and women’s squash, and sailing) were discontinued.[9]
Football
editGeorge Washington University's football program ran from 1881 to 1966.
The final George Washington game came on Thanksgiving Day in 1966, when the team lost to Villanova, 16–7. GW ended the season with a 4–6 record (conference: 4–3) and Jim Camp was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year.[10] On January 19, 1967, the board of trustees voted to end the football program. Poor game attendance and the expense of the program contributed to the decision. A former GW player, Harry Ledford, believed that most people were unwilling to commute into Washington, D.C., which did not have a metro rail at the time, on Friday nights to RFK Stadium. Additionally, the nearby football teams of the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia were nationally competitive, and drew potential suburban spectators away from GW.[11]
Facilities
editSource[12]
| Sport | Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseball | -
| ||
| Basketball | Charles E. Smith Center | ||
| Cross Country | - | ||
| Gymnastics | -
|
Charles E. Smith Center | |
| Golf | Laurel Hill Golf Club
|
-
| |
| Lacrosse | -
|
Mount Vernon Athletic Fields | |
| Rowing | -
|
Thompson Boat Center | |
| Soccer | Mount Vernon Athletic Fields | ||
| Softball | -
|
Mount Vernon Athletic Fields | |
| Swimming | GW Swim Center | ||
| Tennis | -
|
GW Tennis Center | |
| Volleyball | -
|
Charles E. Smith Center | |
| Water Polo | Charles E. Smith Center
| ||
References
edit- ^ The George Washington University Moniker Identity Guidelines (PDF). April 10, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ Tumin, Remy (May 24, 2023). "George Washington University Drops Colonial Moniker". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
- ^ Staff Writer (June 15, 2022). "GW to Discontinue Use of Colonials Moniker". GW Today. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
- ^ Rubin, April (2023-03-26). "George Washington University Is Moving on From 'Colonials'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "It's Revolutionaries!" (Press release). George Washington University. May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
- ^ "Tucker Field at Barcroft Park - Home of GW Baseball".
- ^ "George Washington Colonials". d1baseball.com. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
- ^ "University Efforts Streamline GW Athletics". George Washington University Athletics. July 31, 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ Goff, Steven (July 31, 2020). "George Washington University will drop seven sports amid economic fallout". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ When we played football: the GW boys of fall, 1890-1966 Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine, The GW Hatchet, August 30, 1999.
- ^ When we played football: the GW boys of fall, 1890-1966 Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine, The GW Hatchet, August 30, 1999.
- ^ "Facilities". gwsports.com. Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
