The West Chester Golden Rams represent

West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public university, public research university located in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university i ...

, which is located in

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,671 at the 2020 census. West ...

, in

intercollegiate sports College sports or college athletics encompasses amateur sports played by non-professional, collegiate and university-level student athletes in competitive sports and games. College sports have led to many college rivalries. College sports trace t ...

. They compete in the

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The conference was originally formed in 1951 as the State Teachers C ...

(PSAC) in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division II. The university currently fields 23 varsity Division II men's and women's teams. The men's basketball team is coached by Damien Blair and won its first NCAA Division II Tournament game in 2018. In 2019–20, the team was ranked eighth and began the season on a 13-game win streak. The Men's soccer team is coached by Michael Benn, who has been with the Golden Rams for 10 years. He has led them to the NCAA Division II Tournament 4 times, one trip seeing them go to the National final and the PSAC conference tournament 7 times as of 2021.

Facilities

* John A. Farrell Stadium (Football/Outdoor Track & Field) *Hollinger Field House (Men's & Women's Basketball/Volleyball/Men's & Women's Indoor Track & Field/Men's & Women's Diving) *Serpico Stadium (Baseball) *Rockwell Field (Men's & Women's Soccer) *Vonnie Gros Field (Field Hockey & Lacrosse)

Varsity athletic teams

Men's *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

* Basketball * Cross-Country * Football * Golf * Soccer * Swimming & Diving * Tennis * Track & Field Women's * Basketball * Cheerleading * Cross-Country * Field Hockey * Golf * Gymnastics * Lacrosse * Rugby * Soccer * Softball * Swimming & Diving * Tennis * Track & Field * Volleyball

National championships

The West Chester University Golden Rams have won a total of 14 team national championships.

NCAA national team championships

AIAW/DGWS national team championships

Prior to the NCAA sanctioned women's sports, West Chester University's women's teams competed for national championships under the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and its predecessors, the Division for Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS) and the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW).

Notable athletes

Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team. He holds the NCAA basketball records for wins and winning percentage with a mi ...

(B.A. 1981) – University of Connecticut women's basketball head coach and member of both the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

and the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

Dana Linn Bailey Dana Linn Bailey is an American IFBB Pro Women's Physique Competitor. She is the winner of Joe Weider's Olympia in 2013. Career Dana was recruited to play soccer for West Chester University as a starting defender. She helped lead her team to ...

— former starting defender for West Chester University's women's soccer team, current IFBB professional bodybuilder and fitness and figure competitor ( physique category), 2013 winner of Joe Weider's Olympia * Damien Blair (1991–1995) — Collegiate men's basketball coach * Darwin Breaux — Football, golf, and wrestling coach *

Ken Campbell Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English actor, director and writer. He was known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre". Campbell achieved notoriety ...

– Former professional football player * Michael Costa (Master's 1981) — Former college football coach * Dan DePalma – Former professional football player * Tony DiMidio – Former professional football player and coach * Gertrude Dunn – Professional shortstop in the

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley, which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the Uni ...

, which was made famous by the

1992 film The year 1992 in film involved many significant film releases. Highest-grossing films The top 10 films released in 1992 by worldwide gross are as follows: Events * August 24 – Production begins on ''Jurassic Park''. * October 29 – After ...

A League Of Their Own ''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). It stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Ma ...

'' * John Edelman – Former MLB pitcher * Timothy Ferkler (B.A. 1986) – Quarterback of 1984 National Championship team * Kevin Higgins (1973–1976) — College football and former professional football coach, currently both Chief of Staff and Pass Game Specialist at

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (), or App State, is a public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dou ...

* Joe Iacone (1960–1962) – Former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player * Kevin Ingram – former professional football player * Pat Kelly – Major League Baseball Player - Second Baseman for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

John Mabry John Steven Mabry ( ; born October 17, 1970) is an American former professional baseball outfielder, broadcaster, and coach, who currently serves as a senior advisor for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He had 898 career hit ...

– 14-year MLB career * Don Peters – former

United States women's national artistic gymnastics team The United States women's national artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in FIG international competitions. As of 2024, the U.S. team is the reigning World team champion and the reigning Olympic team gold medalists, with the f ...

head coach *

Glenn Robinson Glenn Alan Robinson Jr. (born January 10, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Dog" and "the Chosen One", he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1994 to 2005 for the Milwaukee Bucks, Atl ...

(1967) — Former collegiate basketball coach, all-time wins leader in Division III men's basketball history with over 900 career victories *

Cathy Rush Cathy Rush (born Cathy Cowan; April 7, 1947) is a former basketball coach at Immaculata from 1972 to 1977. She led Immaculata to three consecutive AIAW national titles from 1972–1974. She led the Mighty Macs to six consecutive final four a ...

(B.S. 1968, M.Ed. 1972) – Former Immaculata University women's basketball head coach * Joe Senser (1979) – Former NFL tight end, Minnesota Vikings * Al-Hajj Shabazz (2011–2015) – Former NFL cornerback * Bill Sharpe —

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

competitor: 3-time Olympian, gold medalist at the

1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games, officially known as the IV Pan American Games () and commonly known as São Paulo 1963, were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted b ...

, first place at the 1956 NCAA Track and Field Championships * Karen Shelton (B.S. 1979) – Olympic medalist field hockey player and coach, three-time winner of the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

for the nation's best field hockey player *

Bill Shockley William Albert Shockley Jr. (March 13, 1937 – December 7, 1992) was an American football kicker and halfback who played for four seasons for four different teams, the New York Titans, Buffalo Bills, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played c ...

– Former professional football player * Marty Stern (B.S. 1959) — 5-time NCAA Division I cross-country team national championship coach * Nancy Stevens (1972–1975) — former collegiate field hockey coach, winningest collegiate field hockey coach of all time, two-time field hockey national champion coach * Ralph Tamm (B.S. 1988) – Former NFL offensive guard * Cindy Timchal — prolific national-champion collegiate women's lacrosse coach, member of the

National Lacrosse Hall of Fame The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum, is located in Sparks, Maryland, at the USA Lacrosse headquarters. Prior to moving to its present location in 2016, the hall of fame and museum was located in Baltimore, Maryland, on the Homewood c ...

Marian Washington Marian Elizabeth Washington (born August 26, 1946) is a former women's basketball coach, mostly known for her career at the University of Kansas, a post she held for over 30 years. Throughout her career, Washington achieved multiple awards and a ...

(1970) – Former University of Kansas women's basketball head coach * Mike Washington – 2008 Philadelphia Sports Writers Association "Outstanding Amateur Athlete" * Chuck Weber – Former professional football player * Ed Weichers — boxer, 1973 winner of the 190-pound championship for West Chester University, 19-time national collegiate boxing championship coach with the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

* Joey Wendle – Major League Baseball All-Star for the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

* Don Williams (1963) – Center forward on the 1961 National Championship soccer team, three-time All-American *

Christina Wilson Christina Michelle Wilson (born January 15, 1979) is an American chef and reality television personality. She was the winner of Hell's Kitchen (American TV series) season 10, season 10 of the Fox Broadcasting Company, FOX Network's reality telev ...

— former West Chester University basketball player, current chef and reality television personality *

Lee Woodall Lee Artis Woodall (born October 31, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1994 to 2001. He played college football for the West Chester Golden ...

(1993) – Former NFL linebacker, San Francisco 49ers *

Jerry Yeagley Jerry Yeagley (born January 10, 1940, in Lebanon, Pennsylvania) is an American former soccer player and coach. He was the coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer team from 1973 to 2003. His teams won six NCAA Championships and a Division I rec ...

(1961) – Coached

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

to five NCAA Soccer Championships

References

External links

* {{National Intercollegiate Rugby Association