Hope College - Athletics

Athletics

Hope College competes in the MIAA conference, and is a Division III member of the NCAA. It currently fields 18 men's and women's varsity teams and in 2012-13 will add women's and men's lacrosse as varsity sports. The college has constructed several new outdoor athletic venues in recent years—DeVos Fieldhouse (2005), Boeve Baseball Stadium (2008), Wolters Softball Stadium (2008), Van Andel Soccer Stadium (2009) and Heeringa-Vand Poel Tennis Stadium (2012). For football, the city will soon be acquiring Holland Municipal Stadium and installing an artificial playing surface. In 2006, the women's basketball team won the National Championship in its division, the second in school history. The 2008 men's basketball team was third in the nation.

Hope has won the MIAA All-Sports/Commissioner's Cup Championship more than any other member school. Winners of the All-Sports championship 26 times since 1980, Hope has won the honor a league-leading 33 times, including the championship in the 2010-11 school year. In 2010-11 Hope athletes and/or teams qualified for eight NCAA championships.

The school's athletic teams are called the Flying Dutchmen (men) and the Flying Dutch (women). The school colors are blue and orange (possibly chosen because the Dutch royal family is the House of Orange-Nassau). The college sponsor club sports teams in ice hockey, and men's and women's lacrosse, in addition to 27 competitive intramural sports teams. The ice hockey team, led by coach Chris Van Timmeren, have become the staple of Hope College athletics over the past half decade, averaging above a 80% winning percentage.

National Championships:

• 1990 - Women's Basketball (NCAA Division III)
• 2006 - Women's Basketball (NCAA Division III)

National Runners-up:

• 1994 - Women's Swimming and Diving (NCAA Division III)
• 1995 - Men's Swimming and Diving (NCAA Division III)
• 1996 - Men's Basketball (NCAA Division III)
• 1998 - Men's Basketball (NCAA Division III)
• 2010 - Women's Basketball (NCAA Division III)

Club Team National Runners-up:

• 2003 - Men's Ice Hockey (ACHA Division III)
• 2010 - Men's Ice Hockey (ACHA Division III)
• 2011 - Men's Ice Hockey (ACHA Division III)

The men's and women's basketball teams also take part in a notable rivalry, the Calvin–Hope rivalry.