Community Service Campus Events

Athletics and Intramurals

Stanford’s Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation offers programs of the highest quality that give all students opportunities for athletic participation and physical fitness at all levels of skill and interest. More than 80% of students take advantage of the extensive athletic facilities and programs offered at the intercollegiate, club sport, intramural, and instructional levels.

Stanford promotes excellence in both academics and athletics. Stanford has won 70 NCAA team championships since 1980 (leading the nation), as well as ten consecutive NACDA Director's Cup titles, awarded annually to the nation's most successful athletics program. From 1990 to 2002, Stanford athletes won 47 Olympic Medals and 39 individual NCAA championships.

Stanford maintains 1 million gross feet of indoor facilities and 94 acres of outdoor fields. Among Stanford facilities are the 6,800-yard Stanford Golf Course; the 7,600-seat Maples Pavilion; the 4,000-seat Sunken Diamond; the 14-court Taube Family Tennis Stadium; the 2,500-seat, four-pool Avery Aquatic Complex; and the 50,000-seat Stanford Stadium, the largest privately owned college football facility in the United States.

Other Cardinal sports facilities include:
  • The 6,786-yard Stanford Golf Course, located in the foothills and ranked as the 91st best golf course in the country by Golf Week magazine. PGA greats Tom Watson and Tiger Woods played golf for Stanford.
  • The 2,500 seat, four-pool Avery Aquatic Center, boasting spectacular swimming and diving facilities. Among the largest aquatics facilities in the nation, the complex is home to the Cardinal swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming teams, all considered to be among the elite teams in their respective sports. Among other Olympic medal winners, Jenny Thompson, Summer Sanders, Misty Hyman and Pablo Morales swam for Stanford.
  • 4,000-seat Sunken Diamond, home to Stanford baseball, also among the top teams in the nation.

T-shirts say it all for seniors awaiting the start of the Big Game against arch-rival Cal. Photo: L.A. Cicero


Photo: L.A. Cicero
Thousands of students each quarter take part in Stanford's extensive intramural program. A variety of sports is offered, ranging from basketball and bicycle racing to table tennis and inner tube water polo. Teams are affiliated with various campus residences, organizations and departments.

Related information:

Stanford Cardinal Website

Students playing ultimate frisbee on one of Stanford's recreation fields defy gravity -- at least for a moment. Photo: L.A. Cicero