Águilas Blancas (), also known as Politécnico when representing the entirety of

National Polytechnic Institute National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, founded as Águilas Blancas de la

ESCA The anglerfish are fish of the teleost order Lophiiformes (). They are bony fish named for their characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified luminescent fin ray (the esca or illicium) acts as a lure for other fish. The luminescence ...

- ESIQIE, is a Mexican

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

team based in the Casco de Santo Tomas neighborhood of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. ''Águilas Blancas'' participate in the Green Conference as part of the National Student Organization of American Football (ONEFA). It is one of the most successful college football teams in

having won five

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

throughout their history. They maintain a fierce rivalry with teams from the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

particularly with its

Coyoacán Coyoacán ( , ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre-Hispanic vil ...

based team from Ciudad Universitaria,

Pumas Dorados de la UNAM Pumas CU UNAM, also known as "Pumas Dorados", "Pumas", or "Universidad" is the varsity American football team representing the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Spanish: ''Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico'', or ''UNAM''). It is o ...

. The team plays in

Estadio Wilfrido Massieu Estadio Wilfrido Massieu is an outdoor stadium located north of Mexico City, within the "Adolfo Lopez Mateos" campus of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN). It was built in 1959 and has a capacity of 15,000 spectators. The stadium is the home ...

, and Enrique Zárate is the head coach since 2014.

History

This squad is the heir of the

Burros Blancos IPN ''Burros'' is a 2021 American short drama film written and directed by Jefferson Stein and starring a cast of first-time actors from the Tohono O'odham Nation where it is set. Eva Longoria serves as an executive producer. The film held its wor ...

that was one of the oldest institution with an ancient

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tradition in

(the other and their main competitor is the

), the beginning of this squad can be traced to the late 1940s. The modern age started in the sixties and the origin of this squad as we know it now was in the late sixties, when the

decided to create three squads to represent its different schools: the Búhos (Owls) representing the ESM (School of Medicine) and the ENCB (Biological Sciences School), the Cheyennes representing the ESIME (School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering) and the ESIA (School of Engineering and Architecture), and the Águilas Blancas representing the ESCA (School of Commerce and Administration) and the ESIQIE (School of Chemical Engineering). Águilas Blancas was the best ranked team of the IPN during the first years after the foundation. The first championship came in 1973; later from 1974 to 1980 the squad found a lot of ups and downs; in 1981 came the second championship and in 1982 the third championship. In 1986, due to the critical economic situation in

, the IPN authorities decided to merge the three teams and then came the foundation of Poli Guinda. 1988 was the year of the fourth championship and this time the relevance was large, because Águilas Blancas (now revived) defeated the

at the final match. In 1992 came the fifth and last championship of the team. From 1998 to 2006; the team did not reach any post season game, the season 2000 was the worst of its history. Today the team is in a renewal process and is one of the mayor candidates to win the championship of the new Green Conference (Conferencia Verde). After the 2011 season, head coach Jacinto Licea left Águilas Blancas after coaching the team during its entire existence.

Enrique Zárate era (2014–present)

In 2014 Enrique Zárate, who previously was part of the Borregos CEM coaching staff, assumed as the new head coach of Águilas Blancas. Zárate played his college career with the Águilas Blancas. In 2019 the Águilas Blancas reached a final again after 26 years, but lost against the Burros Blancos 17–24.

Championships

National championships

Rivalry

The team has an historic rivalry with

, due to both of them being the biggest public universities in the country. More recently, another mayor rivalry arise with

Borregos Salvajes Monterrey The Borregos Salvajes Monterrey (English: ''Monterrey Wild Rams'') team represents the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (variously Tec de Monterrey or ITESM) in the sport of American football. The Borregos Salvajes are one of ...

Borregos Salvajes CEM The Borregos Salvajes CEM (English: ''CEM Wild Rams''), or simply Borregos CEM, was an American football team representing the State of Mexico campus of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM). The Borregos Salvajes co ...

Aztecas UDLAP Aztecas UDLAP is the name of the sports teams that represent the Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP). American football History In 1947 the team began its life as the American football squad of Mexico City College with the nickname ''lo ...

and recently with the

Venue

The team plays at the

, built in 1959 and renovated in 1994. The stadium has a seating capacity of 15,000. It is located north of

, within the Unidad Profesional Adolfo Lopez Mateos, IPN's main campus.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguilas Blancas American football teams in Mexico Instituto Politécnico Nacional 1960s establishments in Mexico Sports clubs established in the 1960s