University University of Waterloo Location Waterloo, Ontario | Athletic director Roly Webster Football stadium Warrior Field | |
Association Canadian Interuniversity Sport Conference Ontario University Athletics | ||
The Waterloo Warriors are the athletic teams that represent the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The Warriors have found success over certain spans in football, hockey, rugby, golf and basketball among others, and the Warriors have won national championships in hockey (1974), basketball (1975), and women's swimming (1975). For many years from the 1960s through the 1990s, Warrior basketball games attracted the largest and rowdiest basketball crowds in the country. The Warriors Football teams have won two Yates Cup Championships, in 1997 and in 1999. The team's 2010 season was cancelled after a steroid scandal, the biggest ever in CIS Football history.
Contents
- Varsity teams
- Waterloo Warriors football
- Season by season record
- Waterloo Warriors in the CFL
- References
Waterloo's teams were originally known as the "Mules" after the school's founding in 1957, and for a while the women's teams were the "Mulettes", a name that was almost universally despised and ultimately replaced by "Athenas". Today the women's teams also use the nickname Warriors. University Stadium was originally built for the Warriors Football program, but was sold to the City of Waterloo in 1974 when UW could not afford to repair the stadium. The stadium was later sold by the City of Waterloo to Wilfrid Laurier University in 1992, where it is now the home of the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. The Warriors now play at Warrior Field, which was renovated to be ready for the 2011 football season.
Varsity teams
Waterloo Warriors teams compete in:
Waterloo Warriors football
The Waterloo Warriors football team has been in operation since 1957, winning two Yates Cup conference championships in 1997 and 1999. Currently, they are one of six teams to have never appeared in a Vanier Cup game and the longest tenured program in the OUA to have never qualified for the national championship game.
In recent years, the program has struggled to compete in the OUA, having not qualified for the playoffs since 2002 and not having a winning record since 2001. The program then made national headlines in 2010 after it was discovered that a student athlete was in possession of steroids and human growth hormone in March 2010. The school then conducted a steroid investigation that had led to all 65 members of its team tested for steroids on March 31, with three positive results. Consequently, on June 14, 2010, the school announced that the program would be suspended for the 2010 season. While the football team returned for the 2011 season, it proved difficult as many players transferred to other schools after they learned they would not be able to play at Waterloo that year. Consequently, the Warriors finished winless in eight games in their return to the OUA. The team was coached by Dennis McPhee, who is the former head coach of the St. Francis Xavier X-Men football team where he won Atlantic University Sport coach of the year in 2002. McPhee resigned as head coach on November 22, 2011.
A highlight for the long-suffering Warriors was a 35-21 playoff win over the Western Mustangs in 1999 in the last game ever played at Western's J. W. Little Stadium. Waterloo is battling through the after effects of a steroid scandal, that shut down the programs ability to compete in 2010. In 2011, they experience the growing pains associated with a year off of football, and losing most starters and veterans to transfers. In 2012, most expected the Warriors to be at the cold cellar of CIS, however, they surprised the football community with convincing wins against the York Lions and a huge upset victory over the Windsor Lancers. They won one game in 2013 against the expansion Carleton Ravens and another in 2014 against the Lions, which were both away games. After finishing their 2015 and 2016 seasons winless, the Warriors have not won in their home stadium since their win against Windsor in 2012.
Season-by-season record
The following is the record of the Waterloo Warriors football team since 2003:
Waterloo Warriors in the CFL
As of the start of the 2016 CFL season, former Warriors players on CFL rosters include: