The Bates Bobcats are the athletic teams of Bates College largely based in Lewiston, Maine and the surrounding areas. The college's official mascot has been the bobcat since 1924, and maintains garnet as its official color. The school sponsors 32 varsity sports (16 men's, 16 women's), most of which compete in the Division IIINew England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). The school's men's and women's ski teams and men's and women's squash teams compete in Division I. Bates has rivalries with Princeton in Squash and Dartmouth in Skiing and selected hockey bouts. The college also competes with its Maine rivals Bowdoin and Colby in the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium (CBB). This is one of the oldest football rivalries in the United States. This consortium is a series of historically highly competitive football games ending in the championship game between the three schools. Bates has won this championship at total of twelve times including 2014, 2015, and in 2016 beat Bowdoin 24–7 after their 21–19 abroad victory over Colby.[3][4] Bates is currently the holder of the winning streak, and has the record for biggest victory in the athletic conference with a 51–0 shutout of Colby College. The three colleges also contest the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Chase Regatta. The college is the all-time leader of the Chase Regatta with a total of 14 composite wins, followed by Colby's 5 wins, concluded with Bowdoin's 2 wins.
The Bates football, lacrosse, track & field, running, soccer, and frisbee teams all practice and compete on Garcelon Field.
Bates maintains 31 varsity teams, and 9 club teams, including sailing, cycling, ice hockey, rugby, and water polo.[5] According to U.S. Rowing, the Women's Rowing Team is ranked first in the NESCAC, and first overall in NCAA Division III Rowing, as of 2016.[6][7] In April 2005, the college's athletic program was ranked in the top 5% of national athletics programs.[8] As of 2018, the college has graduated a total of 12 Olympians, one of whom won the Olympic Gold Medal rowing for Canada.[9] The Bobcats have broken records on the state, regional and national level. In the 2015 season, the women's rowing team was the most decorated rowing team in collegiate racing while also being the first to sweep every major rowing competition in its athletic conference in the history of Division III athletics. The ice hockey team is the first team to win the NESCAC Club Ice Hockey Championships four times in a row. In 2015, the men's rowing team had the fastest ascension in rankings of any sport in its athletic conference and was named the NESCAC Rowing Champion.[10] Bates has the 5th highest NESCAC title hold, and holds the top titles in women's and men's rowing. Bates follows Bowdoin's 30 NESCAC titles with its 16, and its followed by Colby's 9 titles.
The college's main basketball courts are located in Alumni Gymnasium(pictured).
Bates College's men's basketball team is led by head coach Jon Furbush, and in 2015 he led the team to the semi-finals of the NCAA Division III Basketball Championships. He is the youngest head coach in the history of the team and was named the 2014–15 Maine Coach of the Year by the Maine Men's Basketball Coaches and Writers Association.[18]
The men's lacrosse team is led by head coach, Peter Lasagna, who has been head for the past 16 seasons. In 2015, Lasagna won his third NESCAC Coach of the Year and has led the Bobcats to five appearances in the NESCAC Championship.[27] In 2015, the team reported 156 points scored, ranking them 6th in-conference, and 5th overall.[28]
The competition has been won by Trinity College for every year it has been in the athletic conference, competing against Williams College for first spot. In 2016, breaking the pattern, Bates defeated Williams and secured the second place after a loss to Trinity.
The 2004 women's basketball team was ranked first in the United States for most of February 2005 and finished the year ranked number six by the USA Today/ESPN Today 25 National Coaches' Poll.[86] The women's basketball team earned the top seed in the NESCAC in 2005, and competed in the finals with Bowdoin for three consecutive years until 2008.[87]
The entrance placard of the Bates College Sailing Club's boathouse, 2016.
The college's sailing team is based at the Taylor Pond Yacht Club, in Auburn, Maine. The team sails in the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA) conference with its main competitors being Bowdoin, Tufts, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among the other 40+ schools in the conference.[95] The team regularly competes at the largest collegiate keelboat regatta in the Western Hemisphere, the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta (IOR) held at Larchmont Yacht Club by the Storm Trysail Foundation. The team regularly updates their website and their social media platforms.
Year
Competition
Record
Result
Cite
2018
New England Dinghy Tournament (NEISA Club Team Championship)
Informally known as the "Gray Cage", the building is the second largest athletic facility on campus, which has a batting cage and room for a full infield baseball practice.
