San Francisco State Gators
| San Francisco State Gators | |
|---|---|
| Logo | |
| University | San Francisco State University |
| Conference | California Collegiate Athletic Association |
| NCAA | Division II |
| Athletic director | Charles Guthrie |
| Location | San Francisco, California |
| Varsity teams | 11 |
| Football stadium | Cox Stadium |
| Basketball arena | Main Gymnasium |
| Nickname | Gators |
| Fight song | "State Victory Song" |
| Colors | Purple and gold[1] |
| Website | www |
The San Francisco State Gators are the athletic teams that compete at San Francisco State University in San Francisco, California. The nickname applies to the college's intercollegiate NCAA Division-II teams and club sports. The nickname was published in the student newspaper "the Leaf",[2] but was long referred to in media alternatively as the "Staters"[3] and the "Golden Gaters".[4]
The Gators have had a total of 275 athletes earn All-American honors and 32 athletes earn Academic All-American honors. 14 Gators have earned an individual national title in their respective sport.[5]
The college has men's teams in basketball, baseball, cross country, soccer and wrestling and women's teams in basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, track & field and volleyball.[6] Most teams compete in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, but the wrestling team competes in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The school also offers a number of club sports.
Teams
| Men | Women |
|---|---|
| Basketball | Basketball |
| Cross Country | Cross Country |
| Soccer | Soccer |
| Baseball | Softball |
| Wrestling | Track & Field |
| Volleyball |
Basketball
In the late 70’s and early 80’s, the women’s basketball team had a string of nine straight postseason appearances.[5]
Baseball
San Francisco State Baseball has a long history going back well into the 1930s when coached by Hal Harden and having a "record-breaking" season in 1938 according to the Berkeley Daily Gazette[7]
Football
San Francisco State fielded a football program from 1931 until it was discontinued in 1994.[8] The SF State Men's Football team were Far Western Conference Champions in '51, '54, '56, '57, '58, '59, '62, '63, '65, and 1967[9]
Wrestling
Wrestling competes in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at the NCAA Division II level. With 31 seasons as head coach at his alma mater, Lars Jensen has become synonymous with the success of the San Francisco wrestling program. Since taking the reins prior to the 1983–84 season, Coach Jensen has maintained a tradition of excellence, with the Gators finishing among the nation’s elite in NCAA Division II wrestling on an annual basis. In 1997, Jensen led the first-ever NCAA Division II national championship team at SF State, and has coached three Division I national qualifiers.[10]
Club sports
Rugby
San Francisco State has fielded a co-ed club rugby side, the Gators Rugby Football Club, founded in 2005.[11] The Gators side hope to be accepted into the Northern California Rugby Football Union division, needing to play every weekend with a full team, receive a unanimous vote in by all coaches in the division in order to be brought in. After meeting all the requirements thus far, with a current record of 16–2 this season,[when?] the side is expecting to be inducted into the Division II NCRFU. After a long effort to achieve activation through affiliation with the university as a club sport, competing at Ocean View Park,[12] both the men's and women's' sides were able to attain affiliation by 2009.[13] The student-run clubs compete against both university and non-university sides, including the SF Fog, St. Mary's, USF, and Santa Clara.[14]
Sailing
In the 1980s, SFSU had a Sailing team that consisted of two Flying Junior FJ Collegiate racing boats made by Vanguard. The boats were kept on a trailer in the "Corp Yard", behind the Arts building.
SFSU sailed as a member of the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference
Sailing at SFSU was recognized as a "club sport". However the team was eligible to compete at the varsity level with other schools in the area and enjoyed strong representation from 1983-1988. Collegiate racing at the time had a rule that to race two boats in Varsity, one skipper had to be female. SFSU had a rotation of female skippers throughout the mid-1980s racing seasons.
SFSU participated in the "Northern Series" which included racing against UC Berkeley (CAL), California Maritime Academy (CMA), Stanford, Sonoma State University, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and UC Davis.
References
- ^ "Color System | Identity System | San Francisco State University". Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ^ "SFSU Centennial History: 1931". Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ "Dave Cox Resigns as Staters Coach". Berkeley Daily Gazette. Aug 31, 1935. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ UP (Dec 19, 1939). "San Jose Plans Casaba Tourney". Berkeley Daily Gazette. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ a b "San Francisco State University Intercollegiate Athletics" (PDF). Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ "SF State Gators". Retrieved 2011-05-06.
- ^ "S.F. Staters Start Baseball Campaign". Berkeley Daily Gazette. Feb 22, 1939. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ "San Francisco St. (CA) Records by Year". Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ http://sfstategators.com/documents/2010/8/9/football.pdf?id=1199
- ^ "SFSU Wrestling DII". San Francisco State University Athletics. Retrieved 2016-09-05.
- ^ McFadden, Matt (March 16, 2010). "Rugby team fights for union spot". Golden Gate Xpress. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ Goldman, Chelena (October 29, 2008). "SFSU rugby lacks funding". Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ Goldman, Chelena (May 6, 2009). "SF State rugby: Not just a boys' club". Golden Gate Xpress. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ Peoples, Katie (October 19, 2006). "Rugby Club Makes Contact at SF State". Goden Gate Xpress. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
