The Army Black Knights are the athletic teams that represent the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

, located in

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

. In sports contexts, since 2015, the teams are commonly referred to as Army. The Black Knights compete at the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) Division I level as a non-football member of the

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...

, a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision independent school and a member of

Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other c ...

, the Collegiate Sprint Football League (men), the

Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League The Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League (EIGL) is an NCAA Division I college athletic conference which sponsors men’s gymnastics. It is an affiliate of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). Members :''See footnote'' * Army Black ...

(men), the

Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) is an NCAA Division I collegiate wrestling conference. It held its first championship tournament in 1905, making it the oldest wrestling conference in the NCAA; the charter members were Colum ...

, the

Great America Rifle Conference The Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rifle-only conference. The GARC was established for schools that sponsor rifle teams, but do not have rifle sponsored in their respective conferences. ...

, the

National Collegiate Boxing Association The National Collegiate Boxing Association (NCBA) is a non-profit college sports organization that organizes boxing fights for student athletes. The association falls under the auspices of USA Boxing. After 1960, the NCAA no longer sanctioned box ...

, the National Collegiate Paintball Association and the

National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association The National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association (NIWFA) is a women's collegiate fencing organization in the United States. The organization was founded as the IWFA in 1929 by two New York University students, Julia Jones and Dorothy Hafne ...

. Army is also one of approximately 300 members of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). Three of the

service academies A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

(

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

, and

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

) compete for the

Commander-in-Chief's Trophy The Commander-in-Chief's Trophy is awarded to each season's winner of the American college football series among the teams of the U.S. Military Academy ( Army Black Knights), the U.S. Naval Academy ( Navy Midshipmen), and the U.S. Air Force ...

, which is awarded to the academy that defeats the others in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

that year (or retained by the previous winner in the event of a three-way tie).

History

Since 1899, Army's

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

has officially been a

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

because of the animal's historical importance in military operations. For many years, Army's teams were known as the "Cadets." The academy's football team was nicknamed "The Black Knights of the Hudson" due to the black color of its uniforms. In 1999, Army adopted "Black Knights" as its official

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

in all sports. They may also use "Cadets" in certain circumstances. U.S. sports media use "Army" as a synonym for the academy, while in 2015, the academy declared their name to be "Army West Point." " On Brave Old Army Team", by

Philip Egner Philip Egner (April 17, 1870 – February 3, 1956) was a U.S. military bandmaster who served as longtime director of the U.S. Army's West Point Band. As a child, Egner was a musical prodigy. During his early career he performed with the Metropoli ...

, is the school's

fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...

. Army's chief sports rival is the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

, due to its long-standing football rivalry and the inter-service rivalry with the

in general. Fourth class cadets verbally greet upper-class cadets and faculty with "Beat Navy", while the tunnel that runs under Washington Road is named the "Beat Navy" tunnel. In the first half of the 20th century, Army and Notre Dame were football rivals, but that rivalry has since died out.

Sports sponsored

Football

The Army Black Knights football program are one of the few NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision independent schools (not in a conference). Army was recognized as the national champions in 1944, 1945 and 1946. The annual Army-Navy Game between the Black Knights of Army and the Midshipmen of the Naval Academy at Annapolis (Navy) is among the most storied rivalries in all of college sports and currently marks the end of regular season play for college football each year. ArmyNavyLax2009

Men's golf

The men's golf team has won 21 conference championships: *

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and N ...

(9): 1982–88, 1989 (spring), 1989 (fall) *

(11): 1991–93, 1994 (spring), 1994 (fall), 1995, 2002, 2004–05, 2011, 2016, 2019

Men's soccer

Men's ice hockey

Every year, Army faces the

Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...

(RMC)

Paladins The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers, are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's royal court, court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of F ...

in the annual

West Point Weekend West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

hockey game. This series, conceived in 1923, is the longest-running annual international sporting event in the world.

Men's rugby

Army rugby plays college rugby in the Division 1–A Eastern Conference. The Black Knights play their home games at the Anderson Rugby Complex on the campus of West Point. Rugby is a relatively popular sport at Army; for example, the 2012 game against

was attended by 2,000 fans. Army is led by Director of Rugby Matt Sherman. Army has one of the most successful college rugby teams in the country. Army played in three consecutive national championship games from 1990–1992 and reached the national semi-finals four consecutive years from 2000–2003, twice in a row in 2009 and 2010. College rugby More recently, Army reached the quarterfinals in 2013. Army also plays in the

Collegiate Rugby Championship The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is an annual college rugby sevens tournament. The CRC is the highest profile college rugby sevens competition in the United States, with the tournament broadcast live on NBC from 2010–2017, on ESPN News an ...

for rugby sevens, the highest profile college rugby tournament in the U.S., reaching the finals in 2011. The Collegiate Rugby Championship had been played every year in early June near Philadelphia and was broadcast live on NBC. It has been played in New Orleans since 2021. Army won the Division 1-A rugby national championship in XVs in 2022, defeating St. Mary’s of California, 20-8. The team defeated three perennial powerhouses in a row by earlier defeating both Life University and Lindenwood University in the tournament.

Wrestling

The Army Black Knights Wrestling team host home dual meets, tournaments, workout, and practice in the state of the art facility Arvin Gymnasium on campus. The team currently competes in the

(EIWA) since Army is a member of the non-wrestling

. In 2014, Kevin Ward, a former Oklahoma State All-American, took over the program. Ward is best known for starting the

Ouachita Baptist University Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) is a private Baptist university in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. The university's name is taken from the Ouachita (pronounced WAH-shi-tah) River, which forms the eastern campus boundary. It is affiliated with the Arka ...

wrestling program in 2010, the first NCAA wrestling program in Arkansas.

Non-varsity sports

Boxing

In intercollegiate competition, both the men's and women's boxing teams compete in the

, though the women's team was part of the

United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association The United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association (USIBA) is a nonprofit amateur collegiate boxing league founded in 2012 and formed, in part, to address perceived safety and fairness issues present in the National Collegiate Boxing Association ...

from 2013 until 2015. The men's team won the national NCBA tournament from 2008-2011, from 2013-2014, and from 2016-2019; the women's team won the first-ever USIBA women's championship in 2013 (also the very first national collegiate women's boxing tournament in the U.S.), won again in 2014, and won the NCBA championship in 2017 and 2018.

Handball

The Army handball team has at least 31 men and 18 women National Championship titles.

Awards

Lt. Raymond Enners Award The Lt. Raymond Enners Award is an award given annually to the NCAA's most outstanding player in men's college lacrosse. The award is presented by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) and is named after 1st Lt. Raymond J ...

(national men's lacrosse award; named for a member of the Class of 1967) *

Maggie Dixon Award The Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year Award is an award given annually since 2007 to the head coach in women's college basketball in the NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I competition who achieves great success in their first year as ...

(national women's basketball rookie coach award; named for Army women's basketball coach) *

NCAA Award of Valor The NCAA Award of Valor is presented by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to recognize "courageous action or noteworthy bravery" by persons involved with intercollegiate athletics. Potential recipients of the Award of Valor are c ...

: ** 2007 — Derek Hines (Class of 2003), who demonstrated valor in Afghanistan before being killed there. ** 2008 — Emily Perez (Class of 2005), who died after an improvised explosive device exploded near her vehicle in Iraq and whose U.S. Army unit recognized her for her leadership after her death. * NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award: ** 1967 —

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

(football) ** 1973 — Omar Bradley (baseball)

Hall of Fame

For a list of members by name, sport, class year, or induction year, see footnoteFor the 2004 induction year, go to , select "By Induction Year", press the black "Sort" icon (which will then produce a list of members by induction year (starting with the most recent year), and then scroll down to the bottom (for the first group of inductees, the Class of 2004). The Army Sports

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

consists of displays in the Kenna Hall of Army Sports, which is located within the Kimsey Athletic Center. The first set of members was inducted in 2004.

Footnotes

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Army Black Knights, color=white , list = {{Patriot League navbox {{NCAA Division I FBS independents navbox {{Atlantic Hockey {{Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association navbox {{National Intercollegiate Rugby Association {{Great America Rifle Conference navbox {{NewYorksports {{New York Sports