The Alabama–Huntsville Chargers (also UAH Chargers) are the athletic teams that represent the University of Alabama in Huntsville, located in Huntsville, Alabama, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Chargers have primarily competed in the Gulf South Conference since the 1993–94 academic year.
Alabama–Huntsville competes in fifteen intercollegiate varsity sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, and track and field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field (indoor and outdoor), and volleyball.
UAH was the host institution for the 2012 Frozen Four at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida.
History
Student athletic clubs for crew, soccer, and basketball had formed when UAH became an independent institution in 1969. The original team mascot, selected through student contest, was the Uhlan, a non-traditional nickname containing the letters U, A, and H. The name was amended to Uhlan Chargers for the war horses the Uhlans rode, and as a nod to the electricity generated in the Tennessee Valley region through the Tennessee Valley Authority. Over time, the use of the name Uhlan faded, leaving Chargers as the official mascot. The students chose blue and white as the colors to avoid similarity to the crimson and white of UAH's parent school, the University of Alabama.
In 1973, UAH's elevated its crew, men's soccer, and men's basketball, to varsity status, and the university became a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
Women's basketball was added in 1977. Men's ice hockey was elevated from club to varsity in 1985, along with the addition of men's and women's cross country.
UAH became a Division II member of the NCAA beginning with the 1986–87 academic year, along with the addition of volleyball and tennis programs. Men's and women's cross country was suspended in 1987 because of proration, but were reinstated in 1992.
UAH joined the Gulf South Conference in 1993. Baseball, softball and women's soccer were added in 1996.
The creation of track and field programs for women (2001) and men (2004) raised the number of programs to 14.
Men's and women's lacrosse began play in the spring of 2016.
Former UAH varsity programs are men's golf (eliminated in 1987), crew (relegated in club status), men's hockey, men's tennis, and women's tennis (the latter three being eliminated in 2020).
Conference affiliations
NCAA
Gulf South Conference (1993–present)
Varsity teams
Ice hockey
The UAH ice hockey program started in 1979 as a club program and quickly became a national power, winning national championships in 1982, 1983 and 1984. The program was elevated to varsity status in 1985.
After one season in NAIA competition, the Chargers played at the NCAA Division II level for 1986–87, and then Division I from 1987–92. UAH returned to Division II play in 1992, and won national championships in 1996 and 1998.
UAH returned to Division I in 1999 as a charter member of College Hockey America, where the Chargers won two tournament titles and earned berths in the NCAA tournament in 2007 and 2010. Following the folding of the CHA in 2010, UAH played as a Division I independent program until they began play in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in the 2013–14 season.
UAH was the host institution for the 2012 Frozen Four at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida.
In May 2020, due to financial hardships cause by the coronavirus, UAH announced that it would be ending the ice hockey program. The decision was reversed one week later after private fundraising efforts raised more the $750,000 to support the program for another year. The program was indefinitely discontinued in May 2021 as the team had not managed to join a conference.
Men's basketball
Varsity basketball at UAH began in 1973 under coach Kayo Willis, who turned the Chargers into an NAIA power. Willis compiled a 205–136 record over 11 seasons as the Chargers won or shared five Southern States Conference titles, and won five SSC Tournament titles. The Chargers earned four NAIA tournament berths (1976, 1977, 1981, 1983) as NAIA District 27 champions. In 1980-81, UAH finished 30-7, losing in the NAIA championship game to Bethany Nazarene College (now Southern Nazarene University) 86–85 in overtime.