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The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the athletic teams of the University of New Hampshire. The wildcat is the school's official mascot, the colors are UNH Blue and white. There are 21 varsity sports at the University, 25 sport clubs and 23 different Intramural sports.

The men's and women's varsity teams compete at the NCAA Division I level; in football, it competes in the second tier of Division I, the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). The Wildcats compete in the America East and Hockey East Conferences, with their football program playing in the Colonial Athletic Association. In September 2006, UNH will be in compliance with Title IX for the first time due to four sports being cut and one trimmed in size because of budget constraints.

Contents 1 Sports 1.1 Former sports 2 Facilities 3 Mascot & nickname 3.1 'Wildcats' 3.2 Live mascots 4 Official colors 5 Fight songs 6 Radio & Television 7 External links

UNH is a member of the America East Conference for basketball, cross country, track and field, skiing, soccer, swimming & diving, and tennis; and women's crew, field hockey, lacrosse, and volleyball. They also compete in Hockey East in men's and women's ice hockey, and at the Division I FCS level in the Colonial Athletic Association for football.

In 1997, the University cut baseball, softball, men's and women's golf, and men's lacrosse from its program.

On January 31, 2006, Athletics Director Marty Scarano announced in the 2006 academic year the University was cutting women's crew, men's swimming & diving, and men's and women's tennis at the varsity level, and trimming the size of the men's ski team from 27 to 12. The reason given was the Athletic Department would save $500,000 towards a $1,000,000 budget shortfall, and be in compliance with Title IX for the first time.

The Football team plays on Mooradian Field in Cowell Stadium (widely believed to be the worst stadium in I-AA football). Bremer Field is home to both soccer teams. Memorial Field is home to lacrosse and field hockey. Hockey is played in the Towse Rink at the Whittemore Center Arena. The Lundholm Gymnasium is home to basketball, gymnastics, volleyball. Henry C. Swasey Pool is home to the swim teams. The Reggie F. Atkins Track Facility is the site of outdoor track, while the Paul Sweet Oval is home to indoor track. The Lundholm Gym, Paul Sweet Oval and Swazey Pool are all located in the Field House. The Tennis Courts, located next to the Field House, are where the tennis teams compete.

The official mascot and nickname is the Wildcats. The Athletic Department holds annual mascot try-outs for selecting male and females to wear the "Wild E. Cat" costume at various sporting events and occasional university functions. Those selected as the athletic department's icon are cheerleaders.

The Wildcat became the official college mascot and nickname in February 1926. Students cast their votes using a ballot which appeared in the February 26, 1926, edition of The New Hampshire. The "Durham Bulls," a nickname given to the Hockey team by the local media, was a close runner-up. Other votes for the mascot included a husky, an eagle and even a unicorn. It was argued in an opinion piece in The New Hampshire, in part that: The Wildcat is small and aggressive -- like New Hampshire. The actions of the wildcat are more symbolic of a New Hampshire team on the field than those of the sluggish bull. Furthermore, the actual mascot, if a wildcat, could be more easily transported from place to place than a bull.

The first live mascot of the University was "Mazie," a cat who was captured by a farmer in Meredith, New Hampshire. Maizie made her first appearance at the 1927 Homecoming game, and died in 1929. The second mascot, "Bozo", was purchased in 1932 but disappeared in Spring 1933.

The third cat was purchased in 1934, and was to be named for the first New Hampshire player to score in the game against Maine. Charles scored the first touchdown, but Henry kicked the first field goal; neither name was chosen and the cat was named "Butch III." Butch III lived behind the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house in a cage and was the only mascot to be stolen by a rival school. Butch III was stolen in 1939, a week before a football game against Harvard and just after the Wildcats beat Tufts. There were no claims of responsibility, but the cat was found in a garage in Woburn, Massachusetts with "HARVARD 60, N.H. 0," written on the top of the cage.

"Butch IV" was the fourth mascot and was purchased in 1940, but lived only a week. Since 1940, the only live mascot has been "Wild E. Cat," a cheerleader dressed in a wildcat costume. However, in 1970, a fan's pet wildcat appeared at some football games.

UNH Blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#00337F
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(0, 51, 127)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(216°, 100%, 50%)
Source		[Unsourced]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The official colors of the University and used by the athletic teams are UNH Blue and white. UNH Blue is a dark blue matching Pantone color 288. [1]

The recognized fight song of UNH is "On to Victory," the most current version of which was arranged by Tom Keck, Director of Athletic Bands from 1998-2003. In 2003, "UNH Cheer (originally titled "Cheer Boys")" was resurrected from the University archives by Erika Svanoe, former Director of Athletic Bands. Based on the school song "Old New Hampshire", not to be confused with the New Hampshire state song of the same name, "UNH Cheer" currently serves as a secondary fight song and is often performed immediately following "On to Victory."

Currently the Wildcats are carried by a network of radio stations (Known as The UNH Sports Network) across New Hampshire, achored by WTSN Dover. Select home games are also carried by campus radio station WUNH. Games are seen on television on New Hampshire Public Television, NESN, WMUR and CN8.

• Official Site
• UNH Athletics Press Release - UNH Announces Athletic Reorganization - January 31, 2006
• UNH Museum - The Wildcat Mascot
• UNH Magazine - Fall 2004, pg 64 (PDF)

v • d • e America East Conference
Albany • Binghamton • Boston University • Hartford • Maine • New Hampshire • Stony Brook • UMBC • Vermont Associate Member: Fairfield (field hockey)

v • d • e CAA Football Conference
Northern Division: Hofstra • Maine • UMass • New Hampshire • Northeastern • Rhode Island Southern Division: Delaware • James Madison • Old Dominion (effective 2009) • Richmond • Towson • Villanova • William & Mary

v • d • e Hockey East Association
Men's: Boston College Eagles (Kelley Rink)  • Boston University Terriers (Agganis Arena)  • Maine Black Bears (Alfond Arena)  • Merrimack College Warriors (J. Thom Lawler Arena)  • Northeastern Huskies (Matthews Arena)  • Providence College Friars (Schneider Arena)  • UMass Minutemen (Mullins Center)  • UMass Lowell River Hawks (Tsongas Arena)  • New Hampshire Wildcats (Whittemore Center)  • Vermont Catamounts (Gutterson Fieldhouse)
Women's: Boston College Eagles (Kelley Rink)  • Boston University Terriers (Walter Brown Arena)  • Connecticut Huskies (Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum  • Maine Black Bears (Alfond Arena)  • Northeastern Huskies (Matthews Arena)  • Providence College Friars (Schneider Arena)  • New Hampshire Wildcats (Whittemore Center)  • University of Vermont Catamounts (Gutterson Fieldhouse)
NCAA  • List of champions: (Men's)/(Women's)  • Whittemore Center (conference tourney site)