Santa Clara participates in NCAA's Division I and is a member of the West Coast Conference. It also participates in the West Water Polo Association for both men's and women's waterpolo. Santa Clara has 19 varsity sports (10 female, 9 male) and 18 club sports. The school colors are Santa Clara red and white (the school's football team uniforms featured gold trim) and the team mascot is the "Bronco," in past illustrations depicted as a "
bucking bronco." The school is renowned for its successful men's and women's soccer programs in addition to historically successful
men's basketball teams. Santa Clara
athletes have participated in 12 different Olympic Games.
Athletic programs On February 2, 1993, Santa Clara president
Paul Locatelli, S.J. announced the discontinuation of football at the university. For many years, Santa Clara participated in NCAA Division II in football, including reaching the NCAA Division II Championship semi-finals in 1980, because of an NCAA bylaw that allowed Division I schools to participate in lower divisions in football; however, the rule was changed in the mid-1990s, and the program was forced to move into Division I-AA (now FCS). Other teams were Division I, including the men's and women's soccer teams, both of which are past NCAA Division I National Champions. The basketball teams have made regular appearances in NCAA Division I playoffs. • The women's soccer team is consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally.
Jerry Smith is the current head coach and led the program to a national title in the 2001 and 2020
NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. The 2001 team was led by future
United States Women's National Soccer Team member
Aly Wagner. Now married to Jerry Smith,
Brandi Chastain was a member of the team's 1988 and 1989 final four seasons.
Keira Knightley and
Parminder Nagra's characters win soccer scholarships to Santa Clara in the film
Bend It Like Beckham. • The men's basketball team has participated in the NCAA tournament on several occasions in past decades; the 1992–1993 team (led by future NBA MVP
Steve Nash) was the second of seven No. 15 seeds to defeat Arizona the No. 2 seed in the tourney. On February 12, 2007, the men's basketball team snapped Gonzaga's 50-game home winning streak. At the time, it was the longest home winning streak in the NCAA. • The women's basketball team started in 1963. Their most notable accomplishment was winning the
WNIT in 1991. In 2014,
JR Payne was hired as the coach. • The men's baseball program holds the best single-season record in program history, 43–18–1, participated in the West I Regional at Fresno State. That 1988 team lost in the regional to a
John Olerud–led Washington State Cougar team, twice. The team was led by current Long Beach State coach
Troy Buckley, World Series Champion
Ed Giovanola (Atlanta Braves 1996), Detroit Tiger first round pick
Greg Gohr (1989), Kansas City Royal draft choice
Victor Cole (1988), San Diego Padres draftee Matt Toole (1989), and Wes Bliven, a California Angel draft choice (1988). During the regular season, the 1988 squad snapped the 33 game winning streak of Fresno State. That team also knocked off nationally ranked teams such as Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Loyola Marymount University, and Pepperdine University. The coach of the 1988 team was
John Oldham.
Club sports programs Sports include boxing, cycling, equestrian, paintball, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, men's
rugby, women's
rugby, men's Ultimate, women's Ultimate, men's volleyball, women's volleyball, men's ice hockey, sailing, Shotokan karate, swimming, triathlon, and women's field hockey.
Athletic facilities •
Buck Shaw Stadium: Named after
Lawrence T. "Buck" Shaw, the school's football coach (1936–1942) and an inductee into the
College Football Hall of Fame. Shaw later coached at the
University of California, Berkeley, and with the
San Francisco 49ers and
Philadelphia Eagles, whom he guided to the NFL Championship in 1960. The stadium, longtime home of Bronco football and baseball, is now entirely dedicated to SCU's soccer programs. The stadium was expanded to 10,300 seats after the 2007 season, and the soccer pitch and stadium facilities were modernized and improved. The stadium was temporarily home to
Major League Soccer's
San Jose Earthquakes, who began their return to the league in April 2008. •
Leavey Center: Santa Clara University's Arena is home to the men's and women's basketball teams and volleyball team. The Leavey Center is used as a concert venue and a hall for large lectures and speeches. The Leavey Center houses athletic department offices, a weight room, an academic center, team rooms, a video control room, lower and upper-level seating, and a suite that overlooks the court. The university's pool is adjacent to the arena. The Leavey Center has a capacity of 4,500. • SCU Softball Stadium; Located adjacent to Bellomy Field and the Leavey Center. Prior to the construction of this stadium, home games were played at
West Valley College. •
Stephen Schott Stadium: Home to Santa Clara's baseball team, the $8.6 million Stephen Schott Stadium opened in April 2005. The stadium seats 1,500 fans in the stands and has additional seating in a suite. • Degheri Tennis Center: Home to Santa Clara's Men's and Women's tennis team, the Santa Clara University tennis center opened in 1999 at a cost of $2.5 million. The facility includes nine championship-lighted courts and seats for 750 spectators. • The Sullivan Aquatic Center: Home to Santa Clara's men's and women's water polo teams, it opened in late 2008. • Wipfler Family Golf Facility: Home to Santa Clara's golf teams. It offers a lounge area, two enclosed hitting bays, and an artificial turf short game area. It opened in the summer of 2024. ==Faculty and alumni==