American International Yellow Jackets
The American International Yellow Jackets is composed of 22 teams representing American International College in intercollegiate athletics, including men’s and women's basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, track and field, and volleyball. Men's sports include baseball, football, ice hockey, and wrestling. Women's sports include field hockey, rugby, softball, and tennis. The Yellow Jackets compete in NCAA Division II and are members of the Northeast-10 Conference for all sports except ice hockey, which competes in NCAA Division I; men's volleyball, which competes as a de facto Division I member in the East Coast Conference; men's wrestling, which is an NCAA Division II Independent; and women's triathlon, which competes as a de facto Division I independent. The men's ice hockey team is a member of Atlantic Hockey Division I.[7]
| American International Yellow Jackets | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | American International College |
| Association | Division II (primary) Division I (men's ice hockey) |
| Conference | NE-10 (primary) AHA (men's hockey) ECC (men's volleyball) |
| Athletic director | Jessica Chapin[1] |
| Location | Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Varsity teams | 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) |
| Football stadium | Ronald J. Abdow Field[2] |
| Basketball arena | Henry A. Butova Gymnasium[3] |
| Baseball stadium | Richard F. Bedard Field[4] |
| Softball stadium | Judy Groff Field[5] |
| Other venues | MassMutual Center |
| Mascot | Rex |
| Nickname | Yellow Jackets |
| Colors | Black, white, and gold[6] |
| Website | www |
History
The Yellow Jackets started competing in the 1933–1934 academic season in football, men's basketball and baseball. Men's soccer was added just one year later. The athletic department grew to five teams in the winter of 1948 when the Yellow Jackets started their ice hockey team.
Twenty years later, AIC introduced its first women's sport, softball. Judy Groff was introduced as the first softball coach, a position she held for 42 seasons. Volleyball, which was invented down the road in Holyoke, Massachusetts, started in the fall of 1974 with Groff also taking the reins.
In the 1977–1978 school year, AIC began competing in women's basketball and men's golf. It would be seven years before the athletic department grew again when they added women's soccer for the 1985 school year.
With the emergence of lacrosse in the Northeast, the Yellow Jackets added men's lacrosse in the spring of 1992. In 1996-97, field hockey and women's lacrosse were added to the department to bring the women's teams total to six.
Ten years later, the Yellow Jackets added six teams to their already extensive department in men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor track, and men's and women's outdoor track.
In 2018, the department added women's golf.
With the backing of USA Triathlon, American International College became the 24th team in the nation to introduce a women's varsity triathlon program to its athletic department, Director of Athletics Matthew Johnson announced on Tuesday, May 29 AIC expected competition to begin in the fall of 2019.[8]
During the fall of 2020, the department announced the addition of men's volleyball as the 26th sport sponsored by the department. The team started play in January 2022.
Varsity sports
| Men's sports | Women's sports |
|---|---|
| Baseball | Basketball |
| Basketball | Cross Country |
| Cross Country | Field Hockey |
| Football | Golf |
| Golf | Lacrosse |
| Ice Hockey[a] | Rugby[b] |
| Lacrosse | Soccer |
| Soccer | Softball |
| Track and Field | Tennis |
| Wrestling | Track and Field |
| Volleyball[c] | Triathlon[b] |
| Volleyball | |
| † – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor | |
NCAA appearances
- Ice Hockey: 2019, 2021, 2022[9]
- Baseball: 1991
- Men's Basketball: 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1994, 2000, 2010, 2015
- Elite Eight: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1985
- Men's Cross Country: 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017
- Football: 2008, 2013
- Men's Golf: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015
- Women's Basketball: 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2016
- Elite Eight: 2002, 2006
- National Finalist: 2006
- Field Hockey: 2010, 2011
- Women's Soccer: 1998, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016
- Final Four: 2013
- Softball: 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003
- World Series: 1996, 1997
- Volleyball: 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018
- Elite Eight: 2016, 2018 [10]
Club sports
AIC also has a college rugby program that was founded in 2009 and began play in 2010.[11] The rugby program is part of the school's athletic department, has varsity status, with rugby scholarships available for students.[12] AIC plays in Division I in the D1A Conference.
Notable alumni
- Romina Bell, Austrian football defender , playing for FC Neunkirch in the Swiss Nationalliga A.
- Jim Calhoun , Hall of Fame basketball coach
- Asnage Castelly, Olympic Games 1st Haitian wrestler in Summer Olympics in the 74 kg freestyle competition also the flag bearer of the Haitian delegation for the Olympics opening.
- Mario Elie, NBA guard
- Dave Forbes, NHL hockey player
- John Gibbons, First African American U.S. Marshall for the District
- Jānis Jaks, Professional Hockey player
- Brennan Kapcheck, Professional Hockey player
- Bruce Laird, NFL safety for the Baltimore Colts
- Tom Rychlec, NFL and AFL tight end for several teams
- Gashi, rapper
