The university offers 8 sports for women and 9 sports for men.[5] Additionally, there are 2 sports clubs offered: men's baseball[6] and women's fastpitch.[7]
As of the 2015–16 season, the Lancers have won 33 national titles and 87 provincial titles.[8] From 2010 to 2016, the Lancers have won more national championships than any other Canadian university.[citation needed]
Since 1990, the Windsor Lancers track and field teams have done well provincially and nationally, with the men's team winning 23 OUA titles and 9 national titles and the women's team winning 17 OUA titles and 11 national titles respectively.[9][10]
Varsity teams
The Windsor Lancers participate in the following varsity sports:
The Windsor Lancers football team began competing in the Central Canada Intercollegiate Football Conference in 1968, and have continued play uninterrupted since then. The team plays on Alumni Field out of University of Windsor Stadium located on the campus grounds at the University of Windsor. The program is notable for featuring three Hec Crighton Trophy winners, most recently being former Canadian Football Leaguerunning back, Daryl Stephenson, when he won the award in 2006. The Hec Crighton Trophy was also claimed by Andrew Parici in 1972, becoming just the second quarterback to win the award, and Scott Mallender, also at quarterback, in 1979. The football team itself has won a Yates Cup championship in 1975.
The Windsor Lancers women's basketball program is led by Head Coach Chantal Vallée, a native of Montreal, has become one of the top women's basketball programs in the country, having capturing five straight CIS national titles in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
In 2008–09, Vallée and the Lancers made history as she led her team to a 21–1 record, their first ever OUA Provincial Championship title and a trip to the CIS National Championships in Saskatchewan, where they finished fourth. In 2010–11, the Lancers won their first ever CIS National Championship title in the program's 50th year. With a 20–2 regular season record, the Lancers were ranked in the top two in the CIS Top Ten all year long and claimed their third straight OUA Provincial Championship. At Nationals, her Lancer squad defeated the Quebec champion Laval Rouge et Or, the AUS champion Cape Breton Capers and the Canada West champion Saskatchewan Huskies to claim the CIS National Championship. With the win, the Lancers became the first host school to ever win a CIS national championship title in women's basketball at home and were also the first team outside of the Canada West Conference to win the Bronze Baby Trophy in the last 19 years.
In 2011–12, Coach Vallée and the Lancer women's basketball team captured their second straight CIS national title with a 69–53 over the second seeded UBC Thunderbirds. Ranked fourth heading into the national tournament, the Lancers defended their 2011 title by defeating AUS champion Acadia in the quarter-final, host Calgary in the semi, and the Canada West winner Thunderbirds to take the Bronze Baby back to Windsor.
In 2012–13, Vallée's squad made program history as they completed an undefeated regular season with a 21–0 record and the No. 1 ranking in Canada. It was the first time in OUA women's basketball history that a team has gone undefeated since moving away from the 12-game schedule and placed first overall in the OUA west division for the fourth consecutive year. In the playoffs, Windsor became only the fourth team in CIS women's basketball history to capture three straight CIS national titles. Coach Vallée's Lancer squad held off Carleton to win their fourth provincial title in five years, and capped off their undefeated season at the national championships with a convincing win over the host Regina Rams in the gold medal game.
In 2013–14, Coach Vallée led her team to an incredible fourth straight CIS national championship title, winning at home for the second time in four years. The Lancers finished the regular season with a sparkling 21–1 record and the No. 1 ranking in Canada. After capturing their fifth OUA title in six seasons, the Lancers knocked off Laurier, Fraser Valley and Saint Mary's to capture the prestigious Bronze Baby trophy as national champions for the fourth consecutive year.
In 2014–15, the Lancers won a historic fifth straight CIS national championship. They finished with an impressive 19–1 conference record and their sixth OUA title in the past seven seasons. Ranked #1 heading into nationals, the Lancers knocked off Laval, Saskatchewan, and McGill to make history and claim their fifth consecutive Bronze Baby trophy as national champions, becoming only the second team in CIS history to do so. The Lancers extended their CIS post-season win streak to 21–0 and Chantal Vallee was honoured as the CIS women's basketball coach of the year for the second consecutive season.
In March 2020, Lancers basketball alumnae Jessica Clemencon, Miah-Marie Langlois and Korissa Williams were named to the list of the Top 100 U Sports Women's Basketball Players of the Century (2011–2020).[11]
Windsor Lancers track and field
The Lancers are the most successful track and field program in Canadian Inter-University Sport history.[citation needed]
Led by head coach Dennis Fairall, the Lancers have captured 25 Canadian university cross country and track and field championships (20 track and field, 5 cross country), in addition to the 46 Ontario University championships (39 track and field, 7 cross country).
In his 29 seasons at the helm of the program, Coach Fairall has been honoured 65 times as either the CIS national coach of the year or the OUA Provincial Coach of the Year in Track and Field and Cross Country.
As of 2015–16, the Lancers have won 23 of the past 25 OUA provincial championships in men's track and field, and 17 of the past 25 OUA provincial championships in women's track and field.
The Lancer track and field program has featured a number of high-profile athletes over the years including national standouts O'Brian Gibbons, Andrea Steen, Mike Nolan, Ryan McKenzie and most recently Melissa Bishop. Bishop, who is still coached by Dennis Fairall, won a gold medal at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, Ontario. She also set a new Canadian record in the 800 metres in the summer of 2015 while also capturing a silver medal at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.
