Western Mustangs

Western Mustangs
University	University of Western Ontario
Association	U Sports
Conference	Ontario University Athletics
Athletic director	Christine Stapleton
Location	London, Ontario
First year	1913; 111 years ago (1913)
Varsity teams	46 (23 men's and 23 women's)
Football stadium	Western Alumni Stadium
Arena	Thompson Arena
Baseball stadium	Labatt Park
Soccer field	Mustang Field
Aquatics center	Western Student Rec Centre.
Rugby field	Alumni Field
Other venues	Doug Wells Rowing Centre
Mascot	J.W. the Mustang
Nickname	Mustangs
Fight song	"Western"
Colours	Purple and White
Website	www.westernmustangs.ca

The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 46 varsity teams. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. and the school colours are purple and white. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference and the national U Sports organization.^[1][2] Western University offers 21 varsity sports for men and 19 for women which compete in the OUA conference.^[1] The university also offers cheerleading (co-ed and all-girls), women's ringette, women's softball, table tennis (men's and women's) and ultimate frisbee (open-class and women's), which compete outside the OUA conference, in sport-specific conferences and divisions.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

The current athletic director is Christine Stapleton, who started at the university in 2017.^[9] Her predecessor, Therese Quigley, held the role for 8 years starting in 2009.^[10]

Many Western varsity programs lead Canadian universities in the number of championships won. The women's volleyball team has won 10 provincial championships, the rowing team has won 23 provincial championships, the basketball teams have won 24 provincial championships, the football team has won 31 provincial championships and the men's squash team has won 45 provincial championships, with 36 being consecutive. The Western Mustangs football team has won eight Vanier Cup national championships, in 1971, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1989, 1994, 2017 and 2021.^[11]

Additionally, the cheerleading team has won the national championship 33 times, including 24 consecutive.^[12] The university also has the largest university marching band in Canada.^[13]