VMI Keydet Athletics

Athletics at VMI form an integral part of the school's aim to educate the whole person. The athletic program, managed honorably over many years, is critical to VMI's determination to encourage "the sound mind and sound body."

VMI fields 18 teams on the NCAA Division I level. The sports include baseball, basketball, men's & women's cross-country, football, lacrosse, men's & women's rifle, men's & women's soccer, swimming, men's & women's indoor and outdoor track, women's water polo and wrestling.

VMI, with an enrollment of 1,650 cadets, has the fourth smallest enrollment among NCAA Division I institutions, while approximately one-third of the Corps of Cadets plays on one of VMI's intercollegiate athletic teams.

VMI's proud intercollegiate athletic history dates back to 1866 with the formation of a baseball team, but the first organized squad came in 1892 when cadet Walter H. Taylor served as captain & coach of the first football team in 1891.