The Air Force Academy athletic program is one of the most extensive to be found in any academic institution in the nation.

The goals of the athletic program are to enhance the physical conditioning of all cadets, to develop the physical skills necessary to be an Air Force officer, to teach leadership in a competitive environment and to build character.  There are three subdivisions of the athletic program: intercollegiate athletics, intramurals and physical education.

The intercollegiate program has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams, facing some of the top competition in the nation.  Men’s teams are football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, cross-country, fencing, golf, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track, lacrosse, rifle, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo and wrestling.  The Academy fields women's teams in basketball, cross-country, fencing, gymnastics, rifle, indoor and outdoor track, swimming and diving, soccer, tennis and volleyball. In addition, the Academy sponsors two non-NCAA programs; boxing and cheerleading.

The majority of the Academy’s men’s and women’s programs compete at the NCAA Division I level in the Mountain West Conference. The Falcons compete in this conference against teams from Brigham Young, New Mexico, Colorado State, San Diego State, TCU, Wyoming, Utah and UNLV.  All sports also compete against non-conference opponents, including many nationally-ranked teams.

The football team competes annually for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, which is emblematic of service academy football supremacy. The Falcons have won the trophy 16 times, which is more than Army and Navy combined. The winner of the annual rivalry visits with White House to have the trophy presented by the President of the United States.

General Facts

· Athletics is part of the overall mission of the Academy and the athletic department is one of the Academy’s mission elements.

· The athletic program enhances the physical conditioning and skills of cadets, builds character and teaches leadership in a competitive environment. Athletic competition at the highest level, Division I, is one of the best leadership teaching laboratories in the country.

· In addition to Division I intercollegiate athletics, the athletic department is responsible for administering the Academy’s Physical Fitness Test (PFT), intramural athletics and physical education courses.

· Air Force has 27 NCAA intercollegiate athletic teams comprised of 17 men’s and 10 women’s sports, plus boxing and cheerleading. Cadets compete in the following:

Cadets must participate in an intercollegiate or intramural sport each semester and each Cadet must take 10 physical education courses during their time at the Academy.

There are 15 intramural sports, including eight fall sports and seven spring sports. The fall sports include: boxing, soccer, tennis, flickerball, mountain biking, basketball, wallyball and flag football. The spring sports include: soccer, rugby, softball, cross country, racquetball, team handball and volleyball.

Teams compete in the Mountain West Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Atlantic Hockey, Western Wrestling Conference, Western Water Polo Association and the Great Western Lacrosse League.

Roughly 25 percent or 1,000 cadets are intercollegiate athletes.

The Air Force Academy is one of only six schools nationally to receive a 10-year NCAA certification.

Over 3,600 USAFA graduates were varsity letter winners.

There have been 18 cadet-athletes hold the position of Cadet Wing Commander, the highest ranking cadet at the Academy. The Wing Commander is the equivalent to a student-body president at a civilian school. The most recent athlete to hold the position is football player Andy Gray in 2006.

Facilities

Falcon Stadium seats 46,692 and is situated on the base of the Rampart Range of the Rocky Mountains and sits in the middle of campus. FieldTurf was installed in 2006 and a new scoreboard sound system was installed in 2007. The elevation at the stadium is 6,621.

The Cadet Field House is home to Clune Arena for basketball and seats 5,856 and the Cadet Ice Arena which seats 2,502.

Other athletic facilities include a baseball stadium, soccer stadium with lights and natural turf, a lighted FieldTurf football/lacrosse stadium and 57 athletic fields located on 143 acres.

Completed in 2003 is the $19 million Falcon Athletic Center which provides 161,000 square feet and houses sports medicine and weight facilities, locker rooms, meeting rooms, offices and areas for equipment storage and issue. In addition, as part of the same military construction project, an $11 million renovation of the Cadet Field House took place.

Academics and Athletics

Cadet-athletes have earned 66 NCAA post-graduate scholarships, the second-most nationally in Division I athletics.

Cadet-athletes have earned 10 Rhodes Scholarships, the most recent being Delavane Diaz in volleyball in 2004.

The football team has won 13 National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame scholarships.

Cadet-athletes have earned more than $300,000 in post-graduate scholarships in the last 15 years.

Air Force has had six athletes inducted into the Academic All-American Hall of Fame, more than any other school in the country. Athletes inducted include: Brock Strom (football), Rich Mayo (football), Michelle Johnson (women’s basketball), Chad Hennings (football), Chris Howard (football) and Lance Pilch (baseball).

The women’s cross country team earned NCAA Academic All-American team honors in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006.

361 athletes earned Academic All-Mountain West Conference honors since the fall of 2003.

Collectively, there have been 166 cadet-athletes earn CoSIDA and Coaches Academic All-American honors a total of 240 times.

Inside the Numbers

The Academy has produced 169 individual national champions, the most recent being fencer Seth Kelsey in the epee in 2003 and track and field star Dana Pounds in the javelin in 2005 and 2006.

The Academy has had 578 individual athletes achieve athletic All-American status a total of 1,247 times. Over 184 individuals have earned NCBA All-American honors in boxing a total of 266 times since 1979.

The Academy has produced five consensus football All-Americans. They include: Brock Strom (1959), Ernie Jennings (1970), Scott Thomas (1985), Chad Hennings (1987) and Carlton McDonald (1992).

Chad Hennings was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006, joining Brock Strom from the Academy.

Women’s swimming has produced 70 individual All-Americans a total of 414 times in both Division I and II competition since 1976.

Men’s swimmer Chris Knaute has won nine MWC titles which is tied for the most by an athlete in the conference’s history.

Current as of May 2008