The UIC Flames are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Chicago, located in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division I level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

(MVC) since the 2022–23 academic year. The Flames previously competed in the D-I

Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in ...

from 1994–95 to 2021–22; in the D-I Mid-Continent Conference (Mid-Con, now currently known as the Summit League since the 2007–08 school year) from 1982–83 to 1993–94; as an NCAA D-I Independent during the 1981–82 school year; and in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) from 1949–50 to about 1980–81.

Branding

UIC Athletics is known as the Flames in reference to the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago, Illinois during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left mor ...

. The school's primary colors are

fire engine A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

red and

Navy Pier Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of shops, restaura ...

blue, as Navy Pier was the original location of UIC's campus. The Flames regularly incorporate the light blue and red stars of the

flag of Chicago The flag of Chicago consists of two light blue horizontal bars, or stripes, on a field of white, each bar one-sixth the height of the full flag, and placed slightly less than one-sixth of the way from the top and bottom. Four bright red stars ...

and the iconic Chicago skyline into their uniforms and branding.

History

UIC athletics began with the College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) in the 1880s with their basketball and football teams whose team colors were red (blood) and iodoform (iodine). P&S eventually affiliated with and then became absorbed into the University of Illinois forming its College of Medicine. In 1946, the Chicago Illini represented the two-year University of Illinois undergraduate division located on Navy Pier. In 1965 the Chicago Illini moved to Harrison and Halsted to represent the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle campus. Upon this move the team became known as the Chicas, a shortening of Chicago; this was changed "Chikas" due to taunting from other teams knocking them ("chicas" means "girls" in Spanish). This spelling was rationalized as being a reference to the Chickasaw tribe. It was dropped in the seventies. When the university joined the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

in 1981, it had no nickname for its athletic teams and just used the phrase "Chicago Circle". The following year, the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle merged with the University of Illinois Medical Center and became known as the University of Illinois at Chicago, dropping "Circle" and later the preposition "at" from its name. The consolidated university adopted Flames as its athletic nickname by student votes at the two predecessor schools. UIC was a charter member of the Association of Mid-Continent Universities which was established on June 18, 1982 and changed its name to the Mid-Continent Conference seven years later in 1989. It was one of six universities along with Cleveland State,

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois, with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by ...

, Wisconsin–Green Bay, Wisconsin–Milwaukee and Wright State that left the Mid-Continent in 1994 to join the Midwestern Collegiate Conference which rebranded as the

on June 4, 2001. UIC announced on January 26, 2022, that it would join the

(MVC) as its 12th member institution effective July 1 that same year. The Horizon League initially banned UIC student-athletes from its conference tournaments for the remainder of the year, but reversed its decision eleven days later. The MVC does not sponsor men's swimming and diving or men's tennis, however, so the Flames also became affiliate members of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

in men's swimming and diving as well as the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

in men's tennis, before moving that sport to the MAC the very next year as well.

Varsity teams

UIC competes in 18 intercollegiate varsity sports: men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis and track & field (indoor and outdoor); women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball.

Men's basketball

The 8,000-seat Credit Union 1 Arena is the home of the Flames' men's and women's basketball teams. The men's basketball team has earned six postseason appearances: three NCAA Tournaments (1998, 2002, 2004), one NIT (2003), one CBI (2017), and one CIT (2018). Jimmy Collins was head coach from 1996-2010 and led the Flames to four postseason appearances (three NCAAs and one NIT) and a 218-208 overall record. Howard Moore, a former assistant coach at

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, became head coach in 2010 and upset #12/14 Illinois at the

United Center The United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

in his first season. Moore was let go after five seasons in which the Flames went 49–111 overall. He was replaced by

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

assistant and former

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

head coach Steve McClain who compiled a 79-93 record in five seasons. Former

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

assistant Luke Yaklich succeeded McClain and went 47-70 in four seasons. Rob Ehsan, former head coach at UAB and assistant coach at

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, was introduced as UIC head coach on April 1, 2024.

Women's basketball

UIC women's basketball has made four postseason appearances, including the 2007 WNIT, the 2014 (champions) and 2023 WBI tournaments, and the 2024 WNIT. Missouri Tigers assistant and Oak Park, IL native Ashleen Bracey was hired as head coach in March 2022. In her first season, she led the Flames to the greatest win improvement in the history of the

and the second highest win total in program history. In year two, Bracey's squad went 18-15 and became the first in program history to earn back-to-back postseason appearances after earning a berth in the WNIT. Joanne McCarthy (basketball), sister of actress/model Jenny McCarthy, is UIC's all-time scoring leader with 1,805 points.

Men's soccer

UIC's men's soccer team is an 8-time NCAA participant and 11-time conference champion. The 2006 squad was ranked as high as #6 in the NCAA national polls and made it to the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The Flames reached the "Elite Eight" in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. UIC opened the new $5M Flames Field in fall 2020. The only collegiate grass pitch in Chicago, it features a grass pitch with state-of-the-art irrigation and drainage systems, a new video board, grass berm seating behind each goal, and a grandstand with capacity for 1,200 offering fans panoramic views of the iconic Chicago skyline.

Jay DeMerit Jay Michael DeMerit (born December 4, 1979) is an American former soccer player who played as a center back. He played college soccer for the UIC Flames and was in the Chicago Fire Premier development squad, but after not being drafted for M ...

played for UIC's men's soccer and captained the

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, and was a former captain of

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

whom he played for in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. Jay also is a former member of the US national team, whom he represented in the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. Another Flame, Pat McMahon received an offer to play in Scotland in 2009. Baggio Husidić is a former MLS player who played with Chicago Fire and

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

Baseball

UIC Baseball has made six NCAA Regional Appearances and won 12 regular season conference championships. Former Major League player Curtis Granderson was an All-American for the Flames. A three-time MLB All Star, four-time MLBPA Marvin Miller Man of the Year recipient (2009, 2016, 2018, 2019), and Roberto Clemente Award winner (2016), Granderson's $5 million gift to help build UIC's Granderson Baseball Stadium is among the largest known one-time donations by a professional athlete to his or her alma mater, according to Sports Illustrated.

Softball

UIC Softball has made 12 NCAA Regional Appearances and won 11 conference championships. The Flames' 1994 team reached the

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

Volleyball

UIC Volleyball has made 5 postseason appearances, including the 2021 NCAA Tournament and the AIAW Championship (1972, 1973, 1974, 1975). The Flames have won 3 conference championships, including the 2021 Horizon League Tournament.

Women's tennis

The Flames women's tennis program has been dominant for the past two decades, winning 19 conference championships and making 17 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Swimming and diving

UIC men's and women's swimming and diving have won more than 80 individual conference titles. The men's swim team won the Horizon League Championships in 2009. Swimming & Diving 2007 alumni Blake Booher qualified for the 2008 Olympic Swimming Trials in the 50 Freestyle. 2011 alumni Steve Yemm qualified for the 2012 Olympic Swimming Trials in the 100 & 200 Butterfly.

Discontinued sports

UIC previously sponsored a football team known as the Chicago Circle Chikas that played at

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

from 1965-1973, a men's ice hockey from 1966-1996, and men's and women's gymnastics teams until 2018-19. The Flames also previously fielded teams in wrestling, men's water polo, and men's golf.

Spirit squads

The Flames feature both UIC Cheer and UIC Dance, as well as the UIC Pep Band. Sparky is the Flames mascot. With his Fire Engine Red fur, Navy Pier Blue head spikes, and a Champions Gold flame on the tip of his tail, Sparky fully embodies the UIC Flames spirit. His number '0' jersey pays homage to UIC's roots as the Chicago Circle campus. Chicago Blue accents and custom sneakers featuring UIC’s unique perspective of Chicago’s iconic skyline firmly ground Sparky in his hometown.

References

External links

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