Western Mustangs


The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 46 varsity teams. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. and the school colours are purple and white. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference and the national U Sports organization. Western University offers 21 varsity sports for men and 19 for women which compete in the OUA conference. The university also offers cheerleading, women's ringette, women's softball, table tennis and ultimate frisbee, which compete outside the OUA conference, in sport-specific conferences and divisions.
The current athletic director is Christine Stapleton, who started at the university in 2017. Her predecessor, Therese Quigley, held the role for 8 years starting in 2009.
Many Western varsity programs lead Canadian universities in the number of championships won. The women's volleyball team has won 10 provincial championships, the rowing team has won 23 provincial championships, the basketball teams have won 24 provincial championships, the football team has won 31 provincial championships and the men's squash team has won 45 provincial championships, with 36 being consecutive. The Western Mustangs football team has won eight Vanier Cup national championships, in 1971, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1989, 1994, 2017 and 2021.
Additionally, the cheerleading team has won the national championship 33 times, including 24 consecutive. The university also has the largest university marching band in Canada.

Varsity teams

The University of Western Ontario's Athletics program currently supports 46 varsity programs.
While technically not considered a varsity team, Western has a university ringette team which competes annually in the Canadian national University Challenge Cup.
Men's sportsWomen's sports
BadmintonBadminton
BaseballBasketball
BasketballCross Country
Cross CountryCurling
CurlingFencing
FencingField Hockey
FootballFigure Skating
Figure SkatingGolf
GolfIce Hockey
Ice HockeyLacrosse
LacrosseRingette
RowingRowing
RugbyRugby
SoccerSoccer
SquashSoftball
SwimmingSquash
Table TennisSwimming
TennisTable Tennis
Track & FieldTennis
UltimateTrack & Field
VolleyballUltimate
WaterpoloVolleyball
WrestlingWrestling

Badminton

Badminton started in the early 1930s at Western as a club, but transitioned to a varsity sport once recognized in the OUA. The team consistently places in the top 3 during OUA championships, and has won 10 OUA championships, with the last one being in 2014.
During the 1970s, the team saw much acclaim. Jamie Paulson attended Western at this time and dominated in both singles and doubles at OUAA tournaments in the 1970–71 season, winning 33 out of 36 matches. This streak continued even after Paulson's departure, and Western won the OUAA badminton championships in 1970–71, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, and 1977–78 seasons. More recently, former alumni Alex Bruce competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics as well as win a gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games.

Baseball

The OUA adopted baseball into the conference in 2001 and since then, the men's baseball team have won 6 total OUA championships in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015 and 2016. The current head coach is Mike Lumley, a former Detroit Tigers fifth round draft pick. Lumley has been named OUA Coach of the Year in 2001, 2004, 2005, and 2009.

Basketball

Men's basketball

The men's basketball team plays its home games in Alumni Hall gymnasium. The Mustangs last won a conference championship in 2001–02, for a total of 25 OUA conference titles since 1908. The men's team has won 1 national championship in the 1990–91 season. The current head coach of the Mustangs is Brad Campbell, who has been the head coach since 2006. Campbell took over after the previous coach Craig Boydell. Boydell had a 16-year reign and brought the team to their only national title in the 1990–91 season.
Men's basketball originally started in 1903 as a team of medical school students. The team entered into the Ontario Amateur Basketball Association in 1911. Western arts students started a team in 1912. Western officially formed a unified Athletic Association and created one central team to represent the university as a whole in 1914.

Women's basketball

Western's women's basketball team has won 3 conference championships, in 1971–72, 1972–73 and 1973–74. The 1973–74 season became notable as the team was undefeated in league play.

Football

The Western Mustangs football team first started in 1929 and has become one of the most successful football teams in Canadian university sports. The team has won 8 Vanier Cup national titles and appeared 15 times at the championship, with the last win being in 2021. The Mustangs have also won 33 provincial Yates Cup titles, with 49 appearances.
Notable former players include: Joe Krol, Frank Cosentino, Andy Fantuz, Dick Suderman, Bob McFarlane, Frank Turville, Vaughn Martin, Daryl Waud and Tim Tindale.
The current coach is Greg Marshall and has been with the team since 2007. As of recent years, the team has been posting a 76–11 regular season record between 2008 and 2018.

Ice hockey

Men's hockey

Women's hockey

Rowing

Both the men's and women's team compete in the OUA provincial league as well as a part of the national Canadian University Rowing Association. These teams have become dominating powers in Canadian university rowing, achieving 56 provincial OUA titles and 14 national titles combined. The program has also included over 45 Canadian Olympic team members as athletes, coaching staff and trainers.
The teams are based out of the Doug Wells Rowing Centre on Fanshawe Lake.
In 2019, it was announced that Western will be the hosting university for the 2022 International University Sports Federation World University Rowing Championship. The competition will be based out of Fanshawe Lake in London, Ontario.

Men's rowing

The men's varsity rowing team joined the OUA in 1957 and since then has become a dominating team in the league. The team has won 29 provincial OUA championships, with the last one being in the 2018–19 season. The team competes nationally as part of the Canadian University Rowing Association and has won 6 national titles since 1997.
Over 20 Western rowing athletes and coaching staff have competed in the Olympics. Notable Western rowing Olympians include Roger Jackson, Al Morrow, Mike Murphy, and Phil Monckton.
On February 8, 2019, 10 members of the team won a rowing world record for the fastest time to row 1 million meters. This group rowed on an indoor erg machine for 62 hours, 27 minutes and 7 seconds, with an average pace of 1:52.4. The record category was for men's 19-and-under age group.

Women's rowing

The women's rowing team is the most decorated team in the OUA women's rowing league and has won 27 provincial titles, with the longest consecutive win-streak of 6 from 2013 to 2019. The team first started in 1969 as a recreational club, but then joined the OUA as a varsity program in 1973, once the league added the sport. They have also won 8 national titles, with the last one being in 2016.
Notable Olympians include Lesley Thompson-Willie, Heather Clarke, Angela Schneider, Silken Laumann, Marnie McBean, Heather Mandoli, Rachelle Viinberg, and Wendy Wiebe.

Volleyball

Men's volleyball

The men's volleyball team first joined the OUA in the league's inaugural 1965–66 volleyball season and are currently part of the West division. They currently play home games in Alumni Hall. The team has won 5 provincial OUA conference championships, in 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1975–76, and 1978–79. In 2013–14, the Mustangs won an OUA silver medal, then lost to Alberta in the Canadian U Sports championship final, bringing home a national silver medal.
The current coach of the Mustangs volleyball team is Jim Sage, who has been coaching the team since 1997. He won the OUA Coach of the Year title in 2003.

Women's volleyball

The women's volleyball team plays in the OUA West division. The team has won 11 provincial OUA conference championships, with the last one being in 2010–11. They have also won three national U Sports championships, in 1971–72, 1974–75, and 1975–76.
Prior to the OUA and U Sports recognizing women's volleyball in 1971–72, Western was known to be successful in the national Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union. The team joined this league in 1949 and won 13 national titles from 1953 to 1970. Former Western Mustangs athletic director Therese Quigley played on the 1973–74 championship team.

Sport clubs

The Recreation Sport Clubs at Western are administered by the Western Campus Recreation, a division of the Athletics Department. There are 18 sport clubs and include alternative sports such as martial arts. Each club is a student-led organization, with some additional assistance from the Athletics Department. The clubs are sanctioned under the department and have student executive leadership teams who handle all club operations, financing, activities, and equipment.
The sport clubs at Western include:
  • Aikido
  • Badminton
  • Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
  • Cricket
  • Curling
  • Dragon Boat
  • Equestrian
  • Fencing
  • Judo
  • Karate
  • Kendo
  • Outdoors
  • Seikido
  • Squash
  • Table Tennis
  • Taekwondo
  • Triathlon
  • Tennis