Brandeis Judges
Encyclopedia
Brandeis Judges is the name given to intercollegiate sports teams of Brandeis University
. They compete in the NCAA's Division III in the University Athletic Association
conference. The team colors are blue and white, and the their mascot is Ollie the Owl, named after the Supreme Court jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
The centerpiece of Brandeis athletics is the Joseph P. and Clara Ford Athletic and Recreation Complex, one of the largest and best-equipped, multipurpose, indoor athletic facilities in the Northeast.
Bud Collins
coached the men's tennis team from 1959 to 1963. Chris Ford
(2001–03) was the third former Boston Celtics
player to become head coach at Brandeis, following Bob Brannum
(1970–86) and K.C. Jones (1967–70). Benny Friedman
, who was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
in 2005, served as athletic director from 1949 to 1961 and head football coach from 1951 to 1959, when the football team was disbanded due to high costs.
The golf team was also suspended at the end of the 2009-2010 season.
, a former Major League Baseball
player for the Chicago White Sox
and Atlanta Braves
is the current head coach of the baseball team. Nelson Figueroa
, who pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies
in 2010, is the first Brandeis graduate to play in Major League Baseball.
('00) won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Men's team Saber
in Beijing, China. Brandeis consistently sends many fencers
to the New England Regional NCAA championships, often with several continuing on to the NCAA National Championships.
Championship in the 2006/2007 season.
which used to be a varsity sport, rugby union
, ultimate
, crew
, lacrosse
, field hockey
, squash
, men's volleyball and martial arts
. Staff and faculty are allowed to play on intramural teams.
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
. They compete in the NCAA's Division III in the University Athletic Association
University Athletic Association
The University Athletic Association is an American athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. Member teams are located in Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Ohio, and New York...
conference. The team colors are blue and white, and the their mascot is Ollie the Owl, named after the Supreme Court jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
The centerpiece of Brandeis athletics is the Joseph P. and Clara Ford Athletic and Recreation Complex, one of the largest and best-equipped, multipurpose, indoor athletic facilities in the Northeast.
Bud Collins
Bud Collins
-External links:*** 2001 interview with Collins*...
coached the men's tennis team from 1959 to 1963. Chris Ford
Chris Ford
Christopher Joseph Ford is a former professional basketball player and head coach. A 6-foot-5 guard, he played high school basketball at Holy Spirit High School in Absecon, New Jersey,...
(2001–03) was the third former Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
player to become head coach at Brandeis, following Bob Brannum
Bob Brannum
Robert Warren Brannum was an American basketball player.A 6'5" center from Winfield, Kansas, Brannum attended the University of Kentucky and Michigan State University before playing professional basketball....
(1970–86) and K.C. Jones (1967–70). Benny Friedman
Benny Friedman
Benjamin "Benny" Friedman was an American football quarterback who played for the University of Michigan , Cleveland Bulldogs , Detroit Wolverines , New York Giants , and Brooklyn Dodgers .He is generally considered the first great passer in professional football...
, who was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
in 2005, served as athletic director from 1949 to 1961 and head football coach from 1951 to 1959, when the football team was disbanded due to high costs.
Recent Budget Cuts
Early in 2008, the Lindsey Pool was closed due to mechanical problems. Because the team did not have a practice facility, and possibly due to budget issues, the team was suspended indefinitely at the end of the 2009-2010 season. As of now there is no plan to fix the pool, and little discussion about building a new facility has occurred.The golf team was also suspended at the end of the 2009-2010 season.
Men's Athletics
- BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
- BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- Cross CountryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
- FencingFencingFencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
- Soccer
- SwimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
& DivingDivingDiving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one... - TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- Track & Field (Indoor and Outdoor)
Women's Athletics
- BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- Cross CountryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
- FencingFencingFencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
- Soccer
- SoftballSoftballSoftball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
- SwimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
& DivingDivingDiving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one... - TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- Track & Field (Indoor and Outdoor)
- VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
Baseball
Pete VarneyPete Varney
Pete Varney , born April 10, 1949 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, was a Major League Baseball player for the Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves....
, a former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
player for the Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
and Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
is the current head coach of the baseball team. Nelson Figueroa
Nelson Figueroa
Nelson Walter Figueroa, Jr. is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. He attended Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts where he pitched for three years and earned a bachelors degree in American Studies...
, who pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
in 2010, is the first Brandeis graduate to play in Major League Baseball.
Fencing
Tim MorehouseTim Morehouse
Tim Morehouse is an United States fencer who won a Silver Medal competing in the men's sabre as a member of the United States fencing team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Morehouse is coached by Yury Gelman....
('00) won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Men's team Saber
Sabre (fencing)
The sabre is one of the three weapons of modern sport fencing, and is alternatively spelled saber in American English. The sabre differs from the other modern fencing weapons, the épée and foil, in that it is possible to score with the edge of the blade; for this reason, sabreur movements and...
in Beijing, China. Brandeis consistently sends many fencers
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
to the New England Regional NCAA championships, often with several continuing on to the NCAA National Championships.
Cross Country
The cross country team is currently coached by sub-4:00 miler, John Evans. The 2009 men's cross country team saw junior Paul Norton earn All-American status at the NCAA Division III National Cross Country Meet, the best performance by a male cross country athlete in over a decade.Soccer (men's)
The men's soccer team won the ECACEastern College Athletic Conference
The Eastern College Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 21 sports . It has 317 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from Maine to North Carolina and west to Illinois...
Championship in the 2006/2007 season.
Soccer (Womens's)
The women's soccer team followed up in the 2007/2008 season with their first ECAC Championship since the program started. In 2010, the soccer team made program history; reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament.Facilities
The Gosman Sports and Recreation Center is the main athletic center on campus and includes indoor and outdoor facilities for the sports offered at the university. Since the building opened in 1991, the university has hosted four NCAA championships. The Gosman Center also served as the pre-season training home and practice facility of the Boston Celtics between 1991 and 1999.Club Sports
Brandeis also has 20 club sports and numerous intramural sports, including sailingSailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
which used to be a varsity sport, rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, ultimate
Ultimate (sport)
Ultimate is a sport played with a 175 gram flying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in American football or rugby...
, crew
Sport rowing
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
, men's volleyball and martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
. Staff and faculty are allowed to play on intramural teams.