Old Dominion Monarchs | |
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University | Old Dominion University |
Conference | Sun Belt (primary) MAISA (sailing) |
NCAA | Division I (FBS) |
Athletic director | Camden Wood Selig |
Location | Norfolk, Virginia |
Varsity teams | 18 |
Football stadium | S.B. Ballard Stadium |
Basketball arena | Chartway Arena |
Baseball stadium | Bud Metheny Baseball Complex |
Soccer stadium | Old Dominion Soccer Complex |
Aquatics center | J.C. Scrap Chandler Natatorium |
Lacrosse field | L.R. Hill Sports Complex |
Golf course | Lambert's Point Golf Course |
Rowing venue | ODU Rowing Center |
Sailing venue | ODU Sailing Center |
Tennis venue | Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center |
Volleyball arena | ODU Volleyball Center |
Mascot | Big Blue |
Nickname | Monarchs |
Fight song | Fight, Old Dominion! [1] |
Colors | Slate blue, silver, and light blue [2] |
Website | odusports |
The Old Dominion Monarchs are composed of 18 intercollegiate athletic teams representing Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk, Virginia. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf, sailing, soccer, swimming, and tennis. Women's sports include basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, golf, sailing, soccer, swimming, tennis, rowing, and volleyball. The Monarchs compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and are members of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC); the university joined the conference on July 1, 2022. [3]
In 2017, the university announced it would add Women's Volleyball as a scholarship sport, slated to compete beginning in 2020. [4] The university discontinued wrestling in April 2020 after a study on the athletic department's sport sponsorship, combined with added financial pressure from the coronavirus pandemic. [5]
Men's sports | Women's sports |
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Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Field hockey |
Football | Lacrosse |
Golf | Golf |
Sailing | Sailing |
Soccer | Soccer |
Swimming | Swimming |
Tennis | Tennis |
Rowing | |
Volleyball |
The Old Dominion University Monarchs men's basketball team have captured six CAA championship titles (1992, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2010, and 2011) since their conference admission in 1992, which is the most among all CAA schools. The Monarchs received an at-large bid to the 2007 NCAA tournament when the team went 24–8 and finished 37th in RPI. That season included a notable 13-point win at eighth ranked Georgetown. They received an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA tournament after capturing the 2010 CAA title. During the tournament, the 11th seeded Monarchs managed a 1-point first-round upset over the sixth seeded Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
In 2002, ODU opened the Ted Constant Convocation Center (now Chartway Arena) for the 2002–2003 basketball season. "The Ted" seats 8,639 for basketball games with 7,319 fully cushioned seats, 862 upper club seats, and 16 suites. [6] In addition to home basketball games, the arena hosts family-oriented events, concerts, lectures, and commencement ceremonies.
Old Dominion awarded the first athletic varsity scholarship to a female in the state of Virginia to Nancy Lieberman for Monarchs women's basketball.
The Old Dominion Lady Monarchs basketball team has won three national championships. In 1979 and 1980, the Lady Monarchs were AIAW Champions. In 1985, they won the NCAA Division I National Championship after defeating the Georgia Lady Bulldogs 70–65. In addition, the Lady Monarchs won five Sun Belt conference championship titles (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1990) and 17 CAA championship titles (1992–2008).
The ODU Monarchs field hockey team is second to the North Carolina Tar Heels for being the winningest NCAA college field hockey program with nine national titles. Overall, the team has won 17 regular season conference titles and 15 conference tournament titles with eight straight CAA regular season and tournament titles from 1996 to 2003. [7] From 1990 to 1993, the Monarchs won 66 straight games including three national titles. As of 2013, 50 different Monarchs have been named All-Americans.
The history of football at ODU began with the Norfolk Division, which had a football team until 1941 known as the Norfolk Division Braves. The program dissolved due to a rule against freshman players and a $10,000 debt. [8]
On June 14, 2005, its Board of Visitors approved by a 14–0 vote the creation of an NCAA Division I team, which began play on September 5, 2009.
On February 9, 2007, ODU's Athletic Director Jim Jarrett announced that Bobby Wilder, the associate head football coach at the University of Maine, would be the head football coach at Old Dominion University. The team signed its first class in 2008. As is the case with many new football programs, all players on the 2008 Monarchs football team were redshirted, and when added with the 2009 signing class and transfers from I-A schools, formed the nucleus of the school's first football team. Initially, ODU competed as an FCS program (formerly I-AA), and was independent for two years before joining the Colonial Athletic Association for the 2011 season.
The final record for Old Dominion's 2009 football program was 9–2, at the time the best winning record ever for a first-year collegiate football program. This record is now held by Mercer University who finished 10–2 in 2013. [9] Old Dominion's football program had continued success in 2010 finishing 8–3. In the following years, Old Dominion's football program finished their 2011–2012 season with a 10–3 record, and an 11–2 record for their 2012–2013 season which gained national attention. As the school's football program began to grow along with the university itself, Old Dominion's potential was realized by several commissioners for college football, particularly by Conference USA. Old Dominion officially joined Conference USA (C-USA) on July 1, 2013, leaving behind their former conference affiliation with the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). [10] They won their first C-USA game against Rice on September 20, 2014. [11]
Foreman Field (now S.B. Ballard Stadium) was formerly the field hockey and women's lacrosse teams' home venue before renovating to accommodate the new football program in 2009. Field Hockey and women's lacrosse teams were relocated to L.R. Hill Sports Complex.
As of the 2015 season, Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium sold out 48 consecutive home games.
The ODU Rowing Club (ODURC) has been under the Recreational Sports department since 1985. The club is fully student-run and is funded largely by the student members of the club. The men's rowing club won the ACRA national championship in May 2008. [12] In 2008, rowing also became a varsity sport for female students, and a full-time coach was hired for the new women's team. Within their first year at varsity level, the women's team placed at a national competition. The decision to elevate only the women's team to varsity status was made to keep ODU compliant with Title IX regulations, providing balance to the increased spending on men's athletics that a football program brought. [13]
Current conference | Sports affiliated |
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Sun Belt Conference | Men's and Women's Basketball Baseball Football Men's and Women's Golf Men's and Women's Soccer Women's Swimming and Diving Men's and Women's Tennis Women's Volleyball |
American Athletic Conference | Women's Lacrosse |
Atlantic Sun Conference | Men's Swimming and Diving |
Big 12 Conference | Women's Rowing |
Big East Conference | Field Hockey |
MAISA | Sailing |
The football team played their 2013 season as an independent as part of the transition to FBS. Following, ODU competed as a full football-playing member of C-USA from 2014 to 2021-22 school year before joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2022.
Old Dominion's field hockey team competes in the Big East Conference. The field hockey program had previously announced that it would join the original Big East for the 2013–14 school year. However, following the split of the original Big East, the two successor conferences, the new Big East and the American Athletic Conference, agreed that The American would not sponsor field hockey and the new Big East would take in all of The American's programs in those sports as associate members. The women's lacrosse team spent their 2013–14 season as an independent before joining the Atlantic Sun Conference as an associate member effective July 1, 2014. Old Dominion women's lacrosse team joined the American Athletic Conference in 2020.
In 2014, the women's rowing team became an associate member of the Big 12 Conference, which effectively took over sponsorship of that sport from C-USA. [14] Later, the university announced that the rowing team would change its conference affiliation and compete in the American Athletic Conference beginning in the 2018–19 school year. [15]
Following the move to Conference USA, the men's swimming and diving team competed for two years as an independent, as C-USA did not sponsor the sport. On July 16, 2015, the team announced it would join the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association, later renamed the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association, beginning with the 2015–16 season. [16]
Led by head coach Carmen Harris, the Old Dominion University cheer squad performs at all football home games and men and women's basketball home games. The ODU cheer team began competing at the NCA College Nationals in Daytona, FL in 2016. They placed first in the Division 1A Intermediate All-Girl Division in 2017. [17]
Old Dominion Monarchs wrestling was established in 1957. The school's departure from the CAA forced the wrestling team to become an associate member of the Mid-American Conference, as Conference USA does not sponsor wrestling. It also was a catalyst that caused the CAA to stop sponsoring the sport. Practices took place at the Wrestling Facility and dual meets and tournaments were held at the Chartway Arena located on campus. [18] Old Dominion's most recent head wrestling coach was Steve Martin, who served for ten seasons with the program. [19]
Former Monarch wrestlers who went on to compete in mixed martial arts include Brandon Vera (formerly UFC) and Shanon Slack (Bellator).
On April 2, 2020, Old Dominion Athletics Director Camden Wood Selig announced that the wrestling program would be cut "immediately" based on the conclusion of a six-month study by outside consultant Richard Sander, staff member of East Tennessee State Athletics Department. According to the study, discontinuing varsity wrestling at Old Dominion would save the department $1 million and help offset recent budget cutbacks due to declining enrollment at the university. [20]
On October 26, the Old Dominion Monarchs and in-state rival James Madison Dukes announced the official beginning of the "Royal Rivalry". [22] As the Virginia-based schools within the Sun Belt Conference, they will compete for an all-sports trophy that contains a football component and draws its name from the royal inspiration of both schools' mascots.
Along with the Monarchs, the Norfolk State Spartans are the only NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports teams that are based in Norfolk, Virginia.
The VCU Rams are primarily ODU's rival in men's and women's basketball as both schools competed in the CAA and were once part of the College of William & Mary. [23]
Old Dominion played as a division of the William & Mary Tribe before gaining independence in 1962. Following, both schools competed in the CAA.
The Old Dominion Athletic Foundation (ODAF) is the official booster club for Old Dominion Athletics. the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation was previously known as the Big Blue Club, or The Old Dominion University Intercollegiate Foundation. The change from those to ODAF occurred March 1, 2011. The Old Dominion Athletic Foundation has a 501-C-3 designation as a non-profit organization. [24]
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members located in Illinois, Indiana, and New York. For football, the MAC participates in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision.
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located mostly on the East Coast and Midwest of the United States: Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states, from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universities, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond. The CAA was historically a Southern conference until the addition of four schools in the Northeastern United States after the turn of the 21st century, which added geographic balance to the conference.
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic powers, with large budgets, more elaborate facilities and more athletic scholarships than Division II and Division III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
The Drexel Dragons are the athletic teams of Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school's athletic program includes eighteen NCAA Division I sports including nine men's and nine women's teams, with most sports teams competing in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). Drexel's athletic department was ranked first in gender equity by U.S. News. The university has demonstrated a high level of student-athlete academic performance, with a 10-year NCAA graduation rate of 91% compared to a national average of 85%.
The Northeastern Huskies are the athletic teams representing Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. They compete in thirteen varsity team sports: men's and women's hockey ; men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's field hockey and volleyball, swimming, and men's and women's soccer, and men's and women's rowing, track and cross-country.
The James Madison Dukes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent James Madison University (JMU), in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The name "Dukes" is derived from Samuel Page Duke, the university's second president. The Dukes play as members of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), which sponsors sports at the NCAA Division I level. In football, JMU participates in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of Division I, formerly known as Division I-A. JMU was a charter member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA),. The Dukes officially left the CAA and joined the SBC in 2022, participating in Division I FBS football and other sports sponsored by the conference.
The Old Dominion Monarchs men's basketball team represents Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, United States in NCAA Division I men's competition. The school's team currently competes in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Old Dominion Monarchs football program represents Old Dominion University in U.S. college football. The first iteration of the team created in 1930 was known as the William & Mary Norfolk Division Braves. Founded in 2009, the current Monarchs team competed as an FCS independent for their first two seasons. In the 2011 season, they joined the Colonial Athletic Association and added conference games to their schedule, playing there until joining the Conference USA of the FBS in 2014. They joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2022.
The Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball team represents Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The team currently competes in the NCAA Division I as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the 11 full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and Midwest metropolitan areas. The conference was officially recognized as a Division I multi-sport conference on August 1, 2013, and since then conference members have won NCAA national championships in men's basketball, women's cross country, field hockey, men's lacrosse, and men's soccer. Val Ackerman is the commissioner.
The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and six affiliate member universities that compete in The National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Member universities represent a range of private and public research universities of various enrollment sizes located primarily in urban metropolitan areas in the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States.
The 2010–2013 Colonial Athletic Association realignment refers to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), renamed in 2023 to the Coastal Athletic Association, and Colonial Athletic Association Football Conference dealing with several proposed and actual conference expansion and reduction plans among various NCAA conferences and institutions from 2010 to 2013. Some moves affected only the all-sports CAA; others affected only CAA Football; and still others affected both sides of the CAA. Moves that involved the overall CAA were part of a much larger NCAA conference realignment.
The Old Dominion Soccer Complex is a soccer-specific stadium located on the campus of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. The 4,000-seat stadium is home to the Old Dominion Monarchs soccer teams. The Monarchs compete in the Sun Belt Conference. The stadium is also the host of the annual Stihl/ODU Soccer Classic.
The Old Dominion Monarchs field hockey team represents Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The team currently competes as a Big East Conference affiliate of NCAA Division I field hockey.
The 2019–20 Old Dominion Monarchs men’s basketball team represented Old Dominion University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Monarchs, led by 7th-year head coach Jeff Jones, played their home games at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia as members of Conference USA.
The 2019–20 Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball team represented Old Dominion University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The team was led by third-year head coach Nikki McCray-Penson, and played their home games at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia as a member of Conference USA (C-USA). The Monarchs finished second overall in their conference but could not compete in the 2020 C-USA women's basketball tournament due to its cancellation as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Old Dominion–William & Mary rivalry refers to the U.S. college rivalry games between the Old Dominion Monarchs of the Sun Belt Conference and the William & Mary Tribe of the Coastal Athletic Association. They are the two largest and most historically tenured NCAA Division I rivals in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
The Royal Rivalry refers to the college rivalry games between the James Madison Dukes and the Old Dominion Monarchs of the Sun Belt Conference. It is an intra-conference match-up between two Div. I FBS public universities, James Madison University and Old Dominion University, in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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