Looking for some North Carolina team apparel? This is the place to get it all.

Buy all of your Carolina Blue
right here, and not just basketball shorts and jerseys either. Click on any of the links and you’ll be directed to everything from the classic t-shirts, pullovers and jackets, to women’s soccer jerseys. Wondering what to get, keep reading and you’ll see that North Carolina athletics is more than men’s basketball.

To start with, the University of North Carolina participates in the NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision) and is an original member of the ACC (founded in1953).  UNC’s  football rivalry against the University of Virgina is known as the South’s Oldest Rivalry, having played 118 times (as of Nov 2009) since their first game back in 1892 (this is one game more than the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, Georgia vs Auburn).  Unfortuately, the importance of this rivalry is its longevity, neither team being known for its dominance on the gridiron. In fact, out of the 27 National team championships that the University of North Carolina has won, none are for football.

A somewhat less historical, but more intense rivalry currently exists in men’s basketball among the schools of the Raleigh-Durham area, including NC State, Duke and Wake Forest. The most bitter of these is with Duke University and is known as the Battle of Tobacco Road.  Currently rated as the #1 Hottest Rivalry in men’s college basketball by Sports Illustrated, this twice annual clash with the Duke Blue Devils is made even more intense not only by their proximity (the campuses are only 8 miles apart) but by both school’s consistency as a national power. North Carolina has won 5 NCAA National Championships (the most recent in 2009) and been to the Final Four a total of 18 times. Additionally, UNC is the #2 winningest team of all time, only a few victories behind #1 Kentucky.

North Carolina plays its home basketball games at the Dean Smith Center (commonly known as the Dean Dome), named after legnedary basketball coach Dean Smith who led the team from 1961 – 1997. The first game in the Dome on Jan 18, 1986 featured #1 UNC against #3 Duke, with Carolina winning 95 – 92. The Dean Dome is one of the most significatn home court advantages in all of college basketball with UNC compiling a record of 285 – 52 through the 2008 -09 season. Some of the more notable alumni to wear the Carolina Blue are James Worthy, Vince Carter, Tyler Hansbrough,  Antawn Jamison, Phil Ford and possibly the greatest basketball player in history – Michael Jordan.

So naturally, if someone asked you what the most successful North Carolina Tar Heels sports program was, you’d probably think of men’s college basketball, which would be a pretty good guess; but wrong.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is home to a college sports program that is 4x more successful than its basketball program, having won a total of 20 National Titles.

I’ll give you a hint: Mia Hamm

That’s right, UNC’s Women’s soccer team is one of the most successful collegiate teams in all of NCAA sports.

Originally established by students as a club for players seeking competition, they eventually petitioned the UNC Athletic Director for Varsity status. Anson Dorrance (then the mens soccer coach) was hired to coach the team, who played their first competitive season in 1978. In 1979, the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) established a national women’s soccer program. With only a limited number of collegiate teams competing in the early years, UNC was able to recruit some of the best players in the nation. Finally, by 1982 the NCAA recognized women’s soccer as an inter-collegiate sport. UNC won the first three NCAA championships and has gone on to win 20 of the 28 championships through the 2009 season (if you include their 1981 AIWA National title, UNC has won 21 of the 30 women’s National Championships ever played). In the early 90’s the University of North Carolina soccer team had a 101 game unbeaten streak which included 5 consecutive National Titles.

Several players from UNC (most notably Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Karla Overbeck) formed the core of the first US National soccer team (along with coach Anson Dorrance) that would go on to win 2 World Cups (1991 & 1999) and 3 Olympic Gold Medals (1996, 2004 & 2008).

Mia Hamm’s 158 goals is the most in national competition by a man or woman. Mia was also one of only two women named to FIFAs list of the 100 Greatest Living Footballers, as chosen by Pele.

Although Tobacco Road looms large in the history of North Carolina athletics, the emergence of women’s sports and the influence of Title IX has turned this basketball crazy college into a multi sport powerhouse.

Check out Mia Hamm scoring some unbelievable goals.