The New Hampshire Wildcats , or 'Cats , are the athletic teams of the University of New Hampshire. The wildcat is the school's official mascot, the colors are UNH Blue and white. There are 21 varsity sports at the University, 25 sport clubs and 23 different Intramural sports. The men's and women's varsity teams compete at the NCAA Division I level; in football, it competes in the second tier of Division I, the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). The football program plays in the Colonial Athletic Association, and the men's and women's hockey teams are members of Hockey East. The other teams compete in the America East, except for the ski teams who compete in the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA). In September 2006, UNH cut four sports and trimmed another in size because of budget constraints: the controversial move brought the school in compliance with Title IX for the first time.

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Sports

UNH is a member of the America East Conference for basketball, cross country, track and field, soccer, swimming & diving, and tennis; and women's crew, field hockey, lacrosse, gymnastics, and volleyball. They also compete in Hockey East in men's and women's ice hockey, and at the Division I FCS level (formerly Division I-AA) in the Colonial Athletic Association for football.

The ice hockey teams are both perennial national powerhouses, and the football program has consistently ranked as one of the stronger teams on the Division I FCS level.

The men's basketball program has a long-standing reputation for futility even though the team has improved significantly in recent years. UNH was one of the first schools to take up the sport, but since 1903, no Wildcats team has made it to the NCAA or NIT tournaments and no ex-Wildcat player has made it to the NBA. (However, a former Wildcats coach, Jim Boylan, eventually became the head coach of the Chicago Bulls for a while.) Perhaps the most famous ex-Wildcat basketball player is the former captain Blagov Janev, who is now one of the stars of Australia's National Basketball League. The Wildcats' rivalry with the Maine Black Bears is the longest continuous basketball rivalry between any two non-Ivy League schools: the men's teams have played each other 105 seasons in a row, from 1904-1905 to the present season (2008-2009.)

Former sports

In 1997, the University cut baseball, softball, men's and women's golf, and men's lacrosse from its program.

On January 31, 2006, Athletics Director Marty Scarano announced in the 2006 academic year the University was cutting women's crew, men's swimming & diving, and men's and women's tennis at the varsity level, and trimming the size of the men's ski team from 27 to 12. The reason given was the Athletic Department would save $500,000 towards a $1,000,000 budget shortfall, and be in compliance with Title IX for the first time.

Facilities

The university's athletic facilities are concentrated on the west side of the campus, near Durham's Amtrak station.

The football team plays on Mooradian Field in Cowell Stadium, which is attached to the Field House. The Lundholm Gymnasium in the Field House is home to basketball, gymnastics and volleyball. The Field House also contains the Henry C. Swasey Pool, which is home to the swim teams, as well as the Paul Sweet Oval, which is home to indoor track. The Oval is also used as a winter training facility for other sports. The outdoor track team holds its meets at Cowell stadium. The weight room at the Field House is named after Chicago Bears great Jerry Azumah who played college football for UNH. Bremner Field, located behind Cowell Stadium, is the home to the soccer teams. The tennis courts where the tennis teams compete are also located behind Cowell Stadium.

Ice Hockey is played in the Towse Rink at the Whittemore Center Arena. (The arena is occasionally used for basketball as well.) The hockey teams' former home, Snively Arena, was incorporated into the Whittemore Center complex as a campus recreation facility. Memorial Field, located in front of the "Whit," is home to lacrosse and field hockey.

Mascot & nickname

The official mascot and nickname is the Wildcats . The Athletic Department holds annual mascot try-outs for selecting male and females to wear the "Wild E. Cat" costume at various sporting events and occasional university functions. Those selected as the athletic department's icon are cheerleaders.

'Wildcats'

The Wildcat became the official college mascot and nickname in February 1926. Students cast their votes using a ballot which appeared in the February 26, 1926, edition of The New Hampshire . The "Durham Bulls," a nickname given to the Hockey team by the local media, was a close runner-up. Other votes for the mascot included a husky, an eagle and even a unicorn. It was argued in an opinion piece in The New Hampshire , in part that: The Wildcat is small and aggressive -- like New Hampshire. The actions of the wildcat are more symbolic of a New Hampshire team on the field than those of the sluggish bull. Furthermore, the actual mascot, if a wildcat, could be more easily transported from place to place than a bull.

Live mascots

The first live mascot of the University was "Mazie," a cat who was captured by a farmer in Meredith, New Hampshire. Maizie made her first appearance at the 1927 Homecoming game, and died in 1929. The second mascot, "Bozo", was purchased in 1932 but disappeared in Spring 1933.

The third cat was purchased in 1934, and was to be named for the first New Hampshire player to score in the historical football game against Maine. Charles scored the first touchdown, but Henry kicked the first field goal; neither name was chosen and the cat was named "Butch Watson." Butch Watson lived behind the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house in a cage and was the only mascot to be stolen by a rival school. Butch Watson was stolen in 1939, a week before a football game against Harvard and just after the Wildcats beat Tufts. There were no claims of responsibility, but the cat was found in a garage in Woburn, Massachusetts with "HARVARD 60, N.H. 0," written on the top of the cage.

"Butch Watson II" was the fourth mascot and was purchased in 1940, but lived only a week. Since 1940, the only live mascot has been "Wild E. Cat" and "Gnarlz," a cheerleader dressed in a wildcat costume. However, in 1970, a fan's pet wildcat appeared at some football games.

Official colors

The official colors of the University and used by the athletic teams are UNH Blue and white. UNH Blue is a dark blue matching Pantone color 288. ^[1]

Fight songs

The recognized fight song of UNH is "On to Victory," the most current version of which was arranged by Tom Keck, Director of Athletic Bands from 1998-2003. In 2003, "UNH Cheer (originally titled "Cheer Boys")" was resurrected from the University archives by Erika Svanoe, former Director of Athletic Bands. Based on the school song "Old New Hampshire", not to be confused with the New Hampshire state song of the same name, "UNH Cheer" currently serves as a secondary fight song and is often performed immediately following "On to Victory."

Radio & Television

Currently the Wildcats are carried by a network of radio stations (Known as The UNH Sports Network) across New Hampshire, anchored by WTSN Dover. Select home games are also carried by campus radio station WUNH-FM. Games are seen on television on NESN, and WMUR. New Hampshire Public Television broadcast UNH men's hockey games from the 1972/1973 season through the 2007/2008 season, but announced in June 2008 that they would no longer do so due to budgetary considerations.