Indiana University Bloomington - Athletics

Athletics

IU's intercollegiate athletics program has a long tradition in several key sports. From its beginnings with baseball in 1867, the Hoosier athletic program has grown to include over 600 male and female student-athletes on 24 varsity teams boasting one of the nation's best overall records. Sports sponsored by the university include football, men's basketball, women's basketball, cross country and track, baseball, golf, tennis, rowing, volleyball, swimming & diving and more.

The Hoosiers became a member of the prestigious Big Ten Conference on December 1, 1899. The school's national affiliation is with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). National team titles (now totaling 25; 24 NCAA, 1 AIAW) have been won in nine men's sports and one women's sport (tennis), topped by a record-setting six straight men's swimming & diving titles, seven men's soccer crowns and five titles in men's basketball. Indiana student-athletes have won 133 NCAA individual titles, including 79 in men's swimming and diving and 31 in men's track and field. In addition, IU teams have won or shared 157 Big Ten Conference championships.

The IU athletics endowment is $42 million, the largest in the Big Ten Conference. The Varsity Club, which is the fundraising arm of the Athletics Department, drew a record $11.5 million in gifts and pledges in the fiscal year 2004–05. In addition, overall annual giving has increased 8.3% in the last year and 44.8 percent in the last three years.

In addition to its rich tradition in intervarsity sports, IU also boasts a strong reputation in many non-varsity sports. Many of these "club" teams, especially those in ice hockey and rugby union, have achieved a great deal of success in intercollegiate competition. Hurling has also become more popular, with the Indiana University Hurling Club becoming the first American national champions in history. The consistent success of these athletic clubs has several times led the university to establish varsity programs in sports in which there had previously not been a team for NCAA intervarsity competition.

A large percentage of the IU student body regularly participates in both formal and/or informal intramural sports, including football, soccer, tennis, basketball, and golf. Among intramural athletics, IU's reputation for student participation and instruction in the martial arts is particularly strong.