OUR STORY
How the Yellow Jackets started!
The Yellow Jackets started competing in the 1933–1934 academic season in football, men’s basketball and baseball. Men’s soccer was added just one year later. The athletic department grew to five teams in the winter of 1948 when the Yellow Jackets started their ice hockey team.
Twenty years later, AIC introduced its first women’s sport, softball. Judy Groff was introduced as the first softball coach, a position she held for 42 seasons. Volleyball, which was invented down the road in Holyoke, Massachusetts, started in the fall of 1974 with Groff also taking the reins.
In the 1977–1978 school year, AIC began competing in women’s basketball and men’s golf. It would be seven years before the athletic department grew again when they added women’s soccer for the 1985 school year.
With the emergence of lacrosse in the Northeast, the Yellow Jackets added men’s lacrosse in the spring of 1992. In 1996-97, field hockey and women’s lacrosse were added to the department to bring the women’s teams total to six.
Ten years later, the Yellow Jackets added six teams to their already extensive department in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor track, and men’s and women’s outdoor track.
In 2018, the department added women’s golf.
With the backing of USA Triathlon, American International College will become the 24th team in the nation to introduce a women’s varsity triathlon program to its athletic department, Director of Athletics Matthew Johnson announced on Tuesday, May 29 AIC expects competition to begin in the fall of 2019.[7]
During the fall of 2020, the department announced the addition of men’s volleyball as the 26th sport sponsored by the department.
AIC Athletic
Core Values
Athletic Department Core Values AICommitted As a Yellow Jacket, we have a great attitude, demonstrate loyalty to the College, the Department, our Teams and our fans. We support one another with enthusiasm and choose to be positive in promoting all the College has to offer. We are proud of AIC, of who we were, who we are and who we have the potential to become!
Purpose – Academics, sportsmanship, character, leadership, life preparation. Yellow Jackets always place the team above individuals. Responsibility – Personal and collective accountability. Yellow Jackets make the right choices and take responsibility for their actions. Integrity – Do the right thing. Yellow Jackets conduct themselves with a strong moral compass. Diversity – Equity, inclusion, culture, community. Yellow Jacket’s treat all people with respect. Excellence – Standards, growth, preparation, prominence. Yellow Jackets strive for daily excellence. #AICommitted #OneHiveOneFamily
American International College
125 Cortland St, Springfield, MA 01109
hectorjose.reyes@aic.edu
(812)-604-0170
You can fill out our QUESTIONNAIRE if you are interested to join our program!
AIC Men`s Volleyball 