Competing at the NCAA Division II level, the Broncos currently sponsor 11 intercollegiate sports including baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's outdoor track and field, women's indoor track & field and women's volleyball as a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
Cal Poly Pomona's athletics program dates back to 1939, when the school—then known as the Voorhis Unit of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo—formed a baseball team. The Voorhis Unit was established in 1938 at the former site of the Voorhis School for Boys in San Dimas, California as the southern satellite campus for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The baseball team played against local high schools and junior colleges until 1943, when Cal Poly abruptly closed the campus in response to declining war-time enrollment.
The campus reopened in fall of 1946, reintroduced baseball, and soon added football, basketball, track, and tennis to the athletics program. Before the war-time closure, the campus and its teams used the same nickname as San Luis Obispo: Cal Poly Mustangs. By early 1947, the San Dimas students lobbied for a name change to differentiate themselves from the main campus. The name change movement gained traction and the students voted that September to become the Broncos, the name Cal Poly Pomona students and alumni are known by to the present day.
In 1951, Cal Poly became a member of the SCIA (Southern California Independent Association) league. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Cal Poly would introduce swimming, wrestling, soccer, water polo, golf, gymnastics and cross country programs. In 1966, Cal Poly became a member of the CCAA (California Collegiate Athletic Association), part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II. That same year, the school would officially separate from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and became the 16th campus to join the California State College System.
Cal Poly Pomona admitted its first female students in 1961, although it would take several years for women's sports teams to be included in the athletics program. Women's cross country, tennis, and volleyball teams were formed first. By the early 1970s, there were women's field hockey, basketball, swimming, badminton, softball, and track and field teams. A co-ed volleyball team was formed in 1969 in addition to the men's and women's teams.
Several notable student athletes have come out Cal Poly Pomona. Track and field team member Chi Cheng set world records in the 200-meter hurdles and in the 100-meter hurdles and won a bronze medal at the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City. Football player Jim Zorn went on to play and coach for National Football League (NFL) teams. Other alumni have gone on to play for professional teams in the United States and abroad. Distinguished Cal Poly Pomona coaches include John Scolinos, who was appointed head baseball coach in 1962, served as pitching coach for the U.S. Olympic team in 1984, and retired as the winningest coach in NCAA Division II history, and Darlene May, who coached women's basketball in the 1980s and won three national championships.
All told, Cal Poly Pomona has captured 14 national team titles, more than any other current Division II institution in the state of California: Women's basketball (1982, 1985, 1986, 2001,
2002) has won five national titles, women's tennis (1980, 1981, 1991 and 1992) won four national titles, baseball (1976, 1980 and 1983) and men's cross country (1983). Most recently, the Broncos' men's basketball program
won the 2010 title with a 65-53 victory over second-ranked Indiana (Pa.) in Springfield, Mass.
Cal Poly Pomona has had 25 individual national champions in the sports of men's tennis, women's tennis, men's track & field, women's track & field, and women's gymnastics. For all sports, the Broncos have had 17 student-athletes receive national award honors, including "Player of the Year", "Rookie of the Year", "Senior of the Year" and the "Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship Award". Cal Poly Pomona student-athletes have won 465 All-America awards in the program's history.
The Cal Poly Pomona coaching staff has been well-respected among its peers with 12 "National Coach of the Year" honors.
Cal Poly Pomona is a full-time member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. In its 85th year in 2023-24, the CCAA is the most established and successful NCAA Division II conference in the nation. The CCAA leads the nation in national championship team titles with 156.
In the CCAA, the Broncos have won 68 conference titles and numerous coach and player of the year awards.Â
Each year, student-athletes face many challenges during the school year. Cal Poly Pomona student-athletes are not only successful in competition, they take pride in their accomplishments in the classroom. Overall, the student-athletes maintain a higher GPA and graduation rate than the general student body.
The department regularly hosts NCAA events and played host to the 2008 NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships. The department was honored by the Division of Student Affairs as the Department of the Year in both the 2014-15 and 2004-05 academic years.
Please click on the individual links below for information on football, softball and water polo. Alums are always welcome to submit stories, news and anecdotes in hopes of building this page with other sports that no longer are being contested. To do so, contact Assistant Athletics Director for Communications Alex Kline at
askline@cpp.edu.
Football | Softball (PDF) | Water Polo (PDF)
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