Lamar Cardinals and Lady Cardinals

The Lamar Cardinals and Lady Cardinals (variously Cardinals or Cards) refers to the college athletics teams of Lamar University, in Beaumont, Texas. The teams compete in all seventeen Southland Conference indoor and outdoor sponsored sports and fields fifteen teams, seven men's teams and eight women's teams. The Cardinals compete in NCAA Division I sports. The school has participated in practically every level of collegiate athletics from its inception as a junior college in 1923 to its realization as a university in 1971. The newest teams are the reinstated football team which returned in 2010 and Women's softball which returned in the 2013 season. The adoption of the nickname "Cardinals" dates back to the school's name change to Lamar in 1932.

General history

Athletics at Lamar University began when the school opened as South Park Junior College in September 1923. Initially the school was using the name "Brahmas" as its mascot. When the school changed its name in 1932 to reflect that it served a much wider area than just South Park, a contest was held to determine the school's name. When Lamar was finally chosen, John Gray — head coach and athletic director at the time dropped the old athletic nickname "Brahmas" and chose a new name, "Cardinals."