Athletics and Recreation

Fitness and Recreation Facilities

The cost to access campus fitness centres is included in your tuition, so don't just sit there. Climb a rock wall. Take a dance class. Give yoga a shot! If you’ve got the energy, we’ve got a program for you.

Waterloo Athletic Complex

The Athletic Complex in Waterloo includes an Olympic-size pool, a triple gymnasium, dance studios, a climbing wall and a large fitness centre. Outside, Ansley Alumni Field offers a full-sized, FIFA-certified, artificial surface for both intramurals and club teams. University Stadium is home to Golden Hawk football, soccer, rugby and lacrosse.

Laurier Brantford YMCA

The Laurier Brantford YMCA has an aquatics centre with a two-tank pool, a double and a single gym, a fitness centre with state-of-the-art equipment and Wi-Fi capabilities for fitness programs, three studios, multi-purpose spaces, and a lounge for Laurier students.

Intramurals and Sport Clubs

Every year, half our student body participates in our award-winning intramural program. Whether you want to lace up your sneakers for dodgeball, sharpen your skates for ice hockey, or don a swimsuit for inner tube water polo, there is an intramural sport for everyone.

Looking for a social sporting experience? Check out our sport clubs, run by students for students. With more than 20 different clubs available, you can participate in a wide variety of competitive and recreational sports and activities, including men’s lacrosse, ball hockey, equestrian and field hockey.

Varsity Sports

Laurier has 550 varsity athletes on 22 varsity teams, including baseball, basketball, curling, football, soccer, hockey, lacrosse, rugby, swimming, cheerleading and more.

Cheer on our Golden Hawks as they compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference – Laurier has won 16 national and 81 provincial championships in the last 10 years alone.

Many of our varsity teams are based in Waterloo, but in addition to two varsity teams, Laurier's Brantford campus also has “extramurals” – tournament-based competitive sports – where the Golden Hawks compete in five sports against other colleges and universities across Ontario.

Interested in Varsity Sports?

Visit laurierathletics.com/recruiting and complete the recruiting form, which will be sent directly to the coach. Except for football, every team hosts open tryouts, so don’t hesitate to come out and give it your all.

Varsity Highlights

• In 2024, men’s curling became OUA champions with an unprecedented fourth straight and 13th championship overall.
• In 2023, women's golf became OUA champions with the first title in women's program history and men's golf became OUA bronze medalists.
• In 2023, Lauren Bevan became the OUA women’s golf individual champion, the first in program history, and Kristi Godkin, a silver medalist. Conor Gaudet was an OUA men's golf silver medalist.
• The cheerleading team won bronze at both world and national competitions.
• Sammi Hessels was named OUA women's rugby rookie of the year.
• Taylor Elgersma was the OUA football most valuable player and a finalist for the Hec Crighton Award.
• Jeff Colley, Michael Faulds, and Cathy Pardy were named OUA coaches of the year for women's golf, football, and swimming, respectively.
• Laurier women's hockey alum Ashley Stephenson became just the second woman inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in June 2024.