text: The most important sporting event at the academy is the annual Army–Navy Game. The 2014 season marked Navy's 13th consecutive victory over Army. The three major service academies (Navy, Air Force, and Army) compete for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, which is awarded to the academy that defeats the others in football that year (or retained by the previous winner in the event of a three-way tie).
  Participation in athletics is, in general, mandatory at the Naval Academy and most Midshipmen not on an intercollegiate team must participate actively in intramural or club sports. There are exceptions for non-athletic Brigade Support Activities such as YP Squadron (a professional surface warfare training activity providing midshipmen the opportunity to earn the Craftmaster Badge) or the Drum and Bugle Corps.
  Varsity-letter winners wear a specially-issued blue cardigan with a large gold "N" patch affixed. If they belong to a team that beats Army in any sport designated "Star" competition, they are also awarded a gold star ("N-Star") to affix near the "N" for each such victory.
  Teams
  The United States Naval Academy sponsors varsity teams in seventeen men's, ten women's, and three coed NCAA-sanctioned sports:
  ‡ = Men's heavyweight rowing is sanctioned by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association; men's lightweight rowing is sanctioned by the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges; neither is sanctioned by the NCAA.