George Washington Revolutionaries

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.gwsports.com

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.

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.

The 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.

The 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.

The 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.

The women's gymnastics team is coached by Margie Foster Cunningham and assisted by both Barry Kistler and Jeff Richards.

The 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).

The 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.

In 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]

George 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]

Source^[12]

• Official website