Intercollegiate Athletics

     West Chester University offers a wide range of varsity athletic programs for men and women, with competition in 24 different sports. Minority students and women are strongly encouraged to participate in intercollegiate athletics at WCU. Intercollegiate athletes have the opportunity to compete in national and regional championships as members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), conference championships as members of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), and regional championships as members of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). The West Chester University Division I field hockey program competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference, while the Division II women’s rugby team competes in the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (EPRU) and the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union (MARFU).

     To participate in intercollegiate sports, all freshman student-athletes and anyone not previously registered with the NCAA Initial Eligibility Center must have their initial academic eligibility and amateurism certified through the NCAA Initial Eligibility Center. To continue participation you must be a full-time student making satisfactory progress toward a specific baccalaureate degree and have passed 24 semester hours every academic year. A minimum of 12 semester hours, full-time status, must be maintained while participating.  Athletic and academic eligibility is certified annually.

     The athletic program includes a variety of team and individual sports. West Chester University has participated in numerous conference, regional, and national championships. West Chester has won national championships in women’s basketball, women’s lacrosse, women’s swimming, women’s field hockey, and men’s soccer. In addition, the Golden Rams’ football team boasts the second most-winning, all-time record among NCAA Division II football playing institutions, and in 2004 advanced to the NCAA Division II national semifinals for the first time in school history.

     From major league baseball to the Super Bowl, from the U.S. National Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse teams to the Olympics, former WCU student-athletes have enjoyed a variety of successful athletic careers. WCU’s coaching staff has stretched its outstanding reputation to national and international levels and many former student-athletes have become coaches themselves.

     To challenge our student-athletes, WCU annually creates some of the toughest Division II schedules in the country.

     The following is a listing of WCU’s athletic teams and the phone extensions for its West Chester athletic coaching staff (all phone extensions are preceded by 610-436- unless otherwise noted):

     Athletic schedules are distributed seasonally throughout the campus and the local community and are available to all students in addition to being posted on the Web site. For updates on scores and schedules, students should call the Golden Rams Sports Hotline at 610-436-2100 or sign up for text messaging by visiting the University’s official Web site at www.wcupagoldenrams.com. Information about West Chester University’s athletic teams is also updated regularly on the World Wide Web.