The UQTR Patriotes are the athletic teams that represent the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The university features teams in swimming, golf, hockey, soccer, cross-country, volleyball and cheerleading. Notably, the men's ice hockey team has won four University Cup national championships since the program was first established in 1969. The men's soccer team has won one national championship, coming in 2019. History In 1969, the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières was established along with its athletics program. The team name "Patriotes" was selected following a contest where it was suggested by Gérald Baril, a history student and hockey player, because of its sense of rallying, dynamism and commitment to the environment. Originally, the team colours were blue, orange, and white, but was change to green, orange, and white in 1976 when the Université du Québec system assigned a distinct colour to each of the universities in their network. The Patriotes began with an offering of four sports programs, football, men's and women's basketball, and men's hockey. However, with the shifting landscape of philosophy regarding education and sports, football and both basketball programs were all dropped by the 1980s due to a financial crisis. A women's hockey program operated from 1976 to 2000 while the men's and women's soccer programs began in 1985 and 1987, respectively. The women's volleyball program operated from 1978 to 1981 but was the only currently-operating varsity program at UQTR to be revived as the sport was brought back in 2004. With the construction of the Centre for Physical Activity and Sport (CAPS), the Olympic-size swimming pool welcomed the first swimming team at UQTR in 1996. Golf was added in 2000 and cross-country and cheerleading were added as programs in 2010. The Patriotes introduced a new logo in 2019 for the program's 50th anniversary. Varsity teams Men's hockey The Patriotes men's ice hockey team has been the only program in continuous operation since UQTR was first established in 1969. The team competed in the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Conference (OSLC) for their first two seasons before moving to the Quebec Universities Athletic Association (QUAA) in 1971. The Patriotes won their first conference championship in 1986 and made their first appearance in the University Cup tournament where they finished with a silver medal as the runner-up. The next year, in 1987, the Patriotes repeated as QUAA champions and won the CIAU national championship over the Saskatchewan