• According to Sports Illustrated, Williams' rank among all Division III athletic programs
• 1
• Varsity Teams
• 31
• Junior Varsity Teams
• 14
• Club Teams
• 15
• Intramural Sports
• 9
• Percentage of Students who compete in varsity, JV, or club sports
• 50%
• Percentage of Students who do not compete in varsity, JV, or club sports
• 50%
• Miles of hiking and cross-country ski trails in the Purple Valley
• 100+
• Annual Williams Outing Club membership fees, providing access to skis, frame packs, tents, canoes, kayaks, sleeping bags, snowshoes, climbing gear, rustic cabin, weekend trips, etc.
• $10
• Attendance at March 2004 national semifinal men's basketball game between Williams and Amherst
• 2,105

Given Williams' location, you might expect us to be tops in skiing--and we are. You might not expect us to be national champions in basketball, men's and women's swimming, crew, men's and women's soccer, tennis, and cross-country, but we are. In fact, in 2006, Williams won the NACDA Director's Cup for the 10th time in the award's 11-year history, clearly establishing the College's place at the top of NCAA Div. III athletics.

In addition to the Director's Cup, Williams has also been recognized four times with the prestigious Jostens East Coast Athletic Conference award for combined athletic and academic excellence. Williams is the only school in ECAC (which includes the Ivy League, NESCAC, Penn State, Maryland, Duke, and the Patriot League) to ever win both the Director's Cup and the Jostens Award in the same year. Moreover, the National Collegiate Scouting Association ranked Williams as its top college or university for scholar-athletes in 2006; rounding out the top five were Amherst, Middlebury, Duke, and Stanford.

Our athletics programs strive to stress excellence and participation concurrently. We aim to provide top programs for student-athletes and also to have options for all interested students to take part in athletics. That is why Williams offers not only a wide array of varsity programs but also a large number of junior varsity, club, and intramural teams. Additionally, physical education classes, including dance and outdoors programs, encourage all students to find some sort of activity in their daily lives.

Roughly half of Williams' students compete on at least one varsity, junior varsity, or formal club team. Others enjoy less formal involvement in athletics by participating in physical education classes or in one of our nine intramural leagues. The College’s division of the day restricts classes and labs between 4-7 p.m., thereby allowing students to participate easily in sports activities, and away competitions are scheduled to minimize conflicts with planned class meetings. Our coaches are some of our best teachers on campus, and many have been honored as regional and national coaches of the year.

Indoors, outdoors, and all around the mountains and valley, Williams provides its student-athletes with prime training spaces. Chandler Athletic Center features a gym with three basketball courts; markings for volleyball; and an eight-lane, 50-meter pool. Lasell Gymnasium has specially designed facilities for dance, weight-training, and crew; the Simon Squash Center; and a fitness center. Towne Field House is especially popular for its Rekortan track and indoor climbing wall. Chapman Rink is used by ice skaters during the season and by tennis players before and after, when the rink converts to four indoor courts.

Outdoor facilities cover some extensive territory, beginning with 23 tennis courts (6 new tournament courts and tennis house, 5 clay, and 12 additional all-weather courts) and Weston Field, with a 400-meter, eight-lane, all-weather track, and a new all-season turf field, lit for evening use. Most other outdoor play takes place on the 35-acre Cole Field, with its own field house, lockers, and training rooms. The John A. Shaw Boathouse, located nearby, serves Williams' men's and women's crew teams. Williams also owns the Taconic Golf Club and its 18-hole championship course, ranked the nation's best college-owned course by Golf & Travel and number 28 Golf Magazine's 2006 list of "Courses You Can Play."

"About 56% of the student body participates in sport on some level. About 40% participate in Williams' intramural program or one of the physical education class offerings."

With our mountain setting, outdoor sports and recreation are natural pastimes. The mountain ranges surrounding Williamstown provide hundreds of miles of trails for mountain bikers, casual walkers, serious hikers, and downhill and cross-country skiers. Williams students get special rates for season lift tickets at nearby Jiminy Peak (downhill) and Prospect Mountain (cross-country). At 900+ members, the Williams Outing Club is the single largest student organization on campus.

All students are required to complete four quarters of physical education before graduation. Members of varsity, junior varsity, and club teams may receive credit for participation. Among the offerings are: badminton, basketball, broomball, canoeing, cycling, dance (ballet, aerobics, African, modern, jazz), diving, figure skating, golf, hiking, ice climbing, indoor lacrosse, indoor soccer, kayaking, lifeguarding, skiing (Alpine and Nordic), snowshoeing, squash, swimming, tennis, volleyball, weight training, and yoga.

Club sports offer students an opportunity to pursue athletics on an intercollegiate or recreational level. Some club sports are intercollegiate with coaches whereas others have student leaders and, in some instances, a faculty advisor. Rugby, WUFO (Williams Ultimate Frisbee Organization), Sailing, Cycling, Equestrian, and Water Polo fall into the intercollegiate category. These types of teams have well-established rivalries against other colleges and compete well, even on the national level.

Other club activities, such as Capoeira (a combination of Brazilian martial arts and Dance) or Table Tennis, do not focus on intercollegiate competition but on recreational involvement and serve to broaden the community’s awareness of and participation in the activity. Because students can easily establish new activities at Williams, the list of club sports is not static; however, the list of club sports and activities also includes: Aikido, badminton, Capoeira, cricket, curling, fencing, figure skating, martial arts, snowboarding, table tennis, men’s volleyball, and wiffleball.

The Williams College intramural program is largely student-run with supervision by a member of the athletic faculty. The fall intramural season includes flag football, soccer, and Frisbee. Winter intramurals include broomball and basketball, and the spring season offers soccer and flag football among others. Because there is a student leader for each sport, there is some variation from sport to sport in terms of how the season is organized; however, in general, an intramural season includes about 6-7 weeks of playing time and ends with a championship tournament complete with a trophy for the season’s most successful team. More than 300 students participate in each of the three intramural seasons.