The District of Columbia Firebirds (also UDC Firebirds) are the athletic teams that represent the

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C., United States. The only public university in the city, it traces its origins to 1851 and opened in its current form in 1 ...

, located in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

intercollegiate sports. The Firebirds compete as members of the

East Coast Conference The East Coast Conference (ECC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located primarily in the state of New York, with a single ...

for all nine sports.

Varsity teams

Men's sports (4) *Basketball *Lacrosse *Tennis *Soccer Women's sports (5) *Basketball *Lacrosse *Tennis *Cross Country *Track and field

History

The Firebirds have experienced recent success in men's and women's tennis winning the East Coast Conference team titles their first season as a part of the conference; with the women's tennis team making it all the way to the "Sweet Sixteen" in the NCAA Division II tournament. The Firebirds also excelled on the hardwood in 2011–12 where both men's and women's basketball teams made it to the East Regional Quarterfinals in the 2012 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament. The university sponsored football in the past but discontinued the sport. Pastorally, the Firebirds have excelled at intercollegiate athletics highlighted most notably by the men's basketball team winning the 1982 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament, under the tutelage of Coach Wil Jones. The Firebirds attempted and fell just short of repeating as champions but had to settle for runner-up in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Administration

Since December 2008, the athletic department has been headed up by Patricia Thomas, who is the university's first female

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to serve in this position. Thomas came to University of the District of Columbia with over 30 years of experience in intercollegiate athletics, including many years serving as a senior associate athletic director at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, where she also served on the NCAA Division I Management Council. The department also has five associate athletic directors, Joseph Lang (Compliance), Mike Riley (Internal Operations), Patrick Knapp (External Operations), Matthew Rienzo (Marketing & Communications), and Kendra Greene (Academics/ Senior Woman Administrator).

Notable coaches

Jeff Ruland (Iona College, 1991) was the coach of the Firebirds men's basketball team from 2009 to 2013. Ruland most notably is remembered for his years as a center in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA), where he played for the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

and was an All-Star Selection in the 1982–83 season. Ruland came to The University of the District of Columbia from an assistant coaching position with the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

References

External links

* {{East Coast Conference navbox *