The Calvin Knights are the Calvin University athletics teams. Calvin University fields 11 men's and 11 women's varsity intercollegiate teams that participate in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III level.[2] Men's volleyball is the newest varsity sport, having been added for the 2024 season (2023–24 school year); since the MIAA sponsors volleyball only for women, that team plays in the single-sport Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League.[3]
History of the name
Between 1920–21 and 1926–27, the school's athletic teams were known as the "Calvin-ites.[4] The first reference to the "Calvin Knights" appeared in 1926–27.[4]
Teams
There are currently both men's and women's varsity athletic teams participating in basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving,[a] tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor),[2][b] and volleyball. There are also men's varsity baseball and women's varsity softball teams.[2]
Calvin also fields a club-level men's ice hockey team in the American Collegiate Hockey Association.[2]
Athletic facilities
The Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex is home to the combined health, physical education, recreation, dance and sport department. In Spring 2007, the college began a $50 million construction project to renovate and expand the Calvin Fieldhouse. The fieldhouse reopened in Spring 2009 as the Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex. The 362,000 square feet (33,600 m2) facility includes a new 5,000-seat arena (Van Noord Arena) which is currently the largest arena in a Division III school, an Olympic-regulation swimming pool (Venema Aquatic Center) which seats about 550, a tennis and track center (Huizenga Tennis and Track Center) containing 4 tennis courts and a 200-meter track, 14,000 square feet (1,300 m2) of weight training rooms and a custom made rock climbing wall.[5] The Hoogenboom Health and Recreation Center contains the original renovated gym that is now used for basketball, volleyball, PE classes, intramurals, and many concerts. The Hoogenboom Center also has two dance studios as well as racquetball courts and exercise science laboratories.
Calvin–Hope rivalry
In 2005, ESPN polled its staff about what they thought were the nation's greatest college basketball rivalries, and the Calvin–Hope rivalry was voted fourth in all college basketball.[6][7]
Championships
Calvin has won 11 NCAA Division III national championships and one club sport (ACHA Division III) national championship.[2]
| Year |
Sport |
Association
|
| 2016 |
Women's Volleyball |
NCAA III
|
| 2013 |
Women's Volleyball |
NCAA III
|
| 2010 |
Women's Volleyball |
NCAA III
|
| 2006 |
Men's Cross Country |
NCAA III
|
| 2004 |
Men's Cross Country |
NCAA III
|
| 2004 |
Men's Ice Hockey |
ACHA III
|
| 2003 |
Men's Cross Country |
NCAA III
|
| 2000 |
Men's Cross Country |
NCAA III
|
| 2000 |
Men's Basketball |
NCAA III
|
| 1999 |
Women's Cross Country |
NCAA III
|
| 1998 |
Women's Cross Country |
NCAA III
|
| 1992 |
Men's Basketball |
NCAA III
|
