Department website: https://www.vanguardlions.com/

Jeff Bussell, Athletic Director

Mission: The Intercollegiate Athletic Program is dedicated to the holistic growth and development of all student athletes, teaching them to lead Christ-centered lives on and off the field of competition. The program encourages a high standard of academic and athletic excellence that embraces character building. Along with the specific-sports instruction, the department seeks significance by providing the student athlete with the knowledge to impact his/her world through a lifetime of service to Christ.

Vanguard University participates in intercollegiate athletic programs that include competition in eighteen sports. Women’s sports include basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, stunt, track and field and volleyball. Men’s sports include: baseball, basketball, cross country, dance, golf, soccer, track and field, volleyball and wrestling. The Athletic Department is affiliated with the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) for most of the sports, as well as Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) for wrestling and USA Cheer for stunt. 

The Vanguard University Athletic Department adheres to the Champions of Character standards endorsed by the NAIA. The program is founded on the five core values of respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship. One goal of the program is to provide application models for coaches, student athletes, fans, parents, and game officials: application models that can be taught in practice and modeled in competition. These models enable coaches and athletic personnel to intentionally teach and build teams of character.

Vanguard University has coaches that are certified Champions of Character instructors plus student athletes trained, engaged, and equipped to provide character base presentations for any school, team, youth organization, or business organization in the community. All incoming student-athletes participate in a Champions of Character course which develops them not only in the ways of being a good representation of the core values of the NAIA, but also on reflecting the mission of the University and the Department of Athletics.