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The Williams Ephs are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs of Williams College, based in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The school sponsors 32 varsity sports (16 men's, 16 women's), most of which compete in the Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). The school's men's and women's ski teams and men's and women's squash team compete at the Division I level. The Ephs' nickname (which rhymes with "chiefs") is a shortening of the name of Ephraim Williams, the college's founder. The Ephs' mascot is a purple cow, and their colors are purple and gold. The school's athletic director is Lisa Melendy.

Williams, along with fellow NESCAC members Amherst and Wesleyan, is part of the Little Three rivalry, one of the oldest continually contested rivalries in college athletics. The rivalry dates to 1899, when the three schools formed the Triangular League of athletic competition. Today, the three schools contest in each sport the Little Three championship, in which the program with the best head-to-head record of the three is awarded the Little Three title for its respective sport. Williams' rivalry with Amherst is particularly fierce, dating back to 1821, when then-Williams president Zephaniah Swift Moore abandoned Williams to found Amherst College. The football game played between the two is known as the "Biggest Little Game in America" and hosted College GameDay in 2007.

Williams has had success in winning the NACDA Director's Cup, an award presented annually to the most successful athletic program in each division of the NCAA. Since 1996, the year of the award's inception, Williams has won the Directors' Cup 15 out of 16 years, as of the end of the 2010-11 season (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011). For eight consecutive year from 2004-2011, the college held a dual #1 ranking in both athletics and academics, winning the Directors' Cup and placing first in the U.S. News and World Report liberal arts college rankings each year.

History
Williams was one of the 39 institutions that founded the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 1905.

Prior to the 1993-1994 school year, the NESCAC did not allow its member schools to compete for NCAA-sponsored team championships. Despite this ban, the women's swimming & diving team won the 1982 and 1983 national championships by qualifying enough individuals to outscore any other team. The ban on NCAA postseason play remains in place for NESCAC football teams, which play only a conference schedule.

On May 3, 2009, Williams' baseball team played Amherst in a vintage baseball game at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Williams won the game 8-5. The game commemorated the 150th anniversary of the first-ever college baseball game, played between Amherst and Williams on July 1, 1859. In 1859, Amherst defeated Williams 73-32 in a game that lasted 25 innings.

"Yard by Yard"
The following traditional song was once often sung at Williams sporting events, but its current use is limited.
 * Yard by yard we'll fight our way
 * Thro' Amherst's line,
 * Every man on every play,
 * Striving all the time.
 * Cheer on cheer will rend the air,
 * All behind our men.
 * And we'll fight for dear old Williams
 * And we'll win and win again.

Notable alumni

 * Ethan Brooks, class of 1996, football; former National Football League player
 * Bill Simon, class of 1973, squash; businessman and politician, whose family is the namesake of Williams' Simon Squash Center
 * George Steinbrenner, class of 1952, football and track & field; former owner of the New York Yankees
 * Khari Stephenson, class of 2004, soccer; professional soccer player, currently with the San Jose Earthquakes