Formation 1961 Headquarters Richmond Hill, Ontario Membership 56 schools | Legal status Association Region served Canada CEO Graham Brown | |
U Sports is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Some institutions are members of both bodies for different sports.
Contents
- Sanctioned sports
- 2016 Rebrand
- Athletic funding
- Championships
- Members
- Basketball
- Football
- Mens ice hockey
- Womens ice hockey
- Mens soccer
- Womens soccer
- Mens Volleyball
- Womens Volleyball
- References
The name until October 20, 2016 was Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and in French was Sport interuniversitaire canadien (SIC). On that date, the organization rebranded as "U Sports".
The original Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) Central was founded in 1906 and existed until 1955, composed only of universities from Ontario and Quebec. With the collapse of the CIAU Central in the mid-1950s, calls for a new, national governing body for university sport accelerated. Once the Royal Military College of Canada became a degree granting institution, Major W.J. (Danny) McLeod, athletic director at the RMC directed the establishment of the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CIAU) in 1961. Major McLeod ran the CIAU from his office at RMC as the first CIAU Secretary-Treasurer. In the 1960s the CIAU functioned as a voluntary, autonomous, educational sport organization which represented by the various universities from coast to coast. In 1978, the CIAU changed its name to the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union. It changed its name to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) in June 2001 due to growing misconceptions about the name of the organization since the term "athletic" was associated with track and field and "union" with labour movements.
According to the organization, the name change to "U Sports" came about in part due to a desire for a brand that was "instantly recognizable and identical in both French and English." The rebrand was accompanied by a new approach to presentation of Canadian University sports, its teams, and its players. The new, singular logo and name came with a new website to better present stories taking place throughout the athletics programs U Sports governs, bolstered by a new approach to social media.
Sanctioned sports
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2016 Rebrand
On October 20, 2016, CIS announced that it would be changing its name to U Sports, accompanied by a new logo and approach to Canadian University sports. The name was chosen in part to better represent Canada as a bilingual nation with a united name as opposed to separate acronyms. The new name and look are also intended to increase the marketability of Canadian University sports through a more marketable presentation.
Signifying a major shift in the presentation of Canadian University sports, U Sports aims to better engage with Canadian sports fans and present the athletes it governs. To do so, U Sports aims to promote the stories of its key athletes through a new approach to social media as well as a new website in order to "create a massive change in the way Canadians see university sports in the digital era".
Athletic funding
The U Sports member institutions offer athletic scholarships known as Athletic Financial Awards (AFA); subject to minimum academic requirements. The AFA's are capped and may not exceed the value of the tuition and compulsory fees for the student-athlete. Universities also may provide additional non-athletic awards including academic scholarships and needs-based grants for athletes in addition to this cap, provided the additional awards do not include athletic criteria. In 2008/2009 one in two U Sports athletes was receiving an athletic scholarship
Increasingly, U Sports schools are offering booster-support programs, where alumni, parents and/or corporations can donate money to a targeted fund especially designed to off-set a student-athlete's tuition and living costs. The University of Windsor has an Adopt-A-Lancer program, for example. U Sports has no regulations regarding how much each school can provide to teams through private support. The Université Laval's Rouge et Or football team, winner of seven the last 12 Vanier Cups, is so successful with fund raising, the team trains in Florida during the spring.
Canadian Hockey League teams offer financial support for their graduates – who attend school within two years of playing major junior – who choose to play for a U Sports school after graduating from major junior hockey. Hockey players who play in the CHL are ineligible for NCAA athletic scholarships, although many attend a CHL training camp. However, they can only stay a max of 48 hours and can not dress in any games.
Championships
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Members
There are 56 member Universities in U Sports.
The 56 member universities of U Sports are currently organized into the four following regional associations. In some of these sports, these associations are sometimes referred to as conferences.
Basketball
In sports with heavy university participation, like basketball, some of the conferences have divisions. CWUAA has two divisions: Pioneer and Explorer; while the OUA has four: North, East, Central, and West. As of the 2016-2017 U Sports season, 47 of the 56 member institutions have both men's and women's basketball teams.
The U Sports men's and women's basketball teams are organized in the following way:
Football
27 of the 56 member schools participated in the 2016 CIS football season.
The U Sports football teams are organized in the following way:
As of the 2017–18 academic year, the two U Sports members in Sherbrooke compete in separate leagues in football only. Bishop's football moved from RSEQ to AUS, and Sherbrooke remains in RSEQ football.
Men's ice hockey
35 of the 56 member schools participated in the 2016-17 Men's Ice Hockey season.
Women's ice hockey
33 of the 56 member schools participated in the 2016-17 Women's Ice Hockey season.
Men's soccer
49 of the 56 member schools participated in the 2016 Men's Soccer season. U Sports has been a stepping stone for some national team players like Pat Onstad.
Women's soccer
53 of the 56 member schools participated in the 2016 Women's Soccer season.
Men's Volleyball
32 of the 56 member schools participated in the 2016-17 Men's Volleyball season. Three teams compete in the AUS and three compete in the RSEQ, so those conferences regularly play interlock games. 13 teams compete in Canada West and another 13 compete in the OUA, split between an East and a West division.
Women's Volleyball
39 of the 56 member schools participated in the 2016-17 Women's Volleyball season. Six teams compete in the AUS and six in the RSEQ. Another 14 compete in the OUA, split between an East and a West division. The Canada West conference is the only one to have matching women's and men's teams among its participating schools with 13 women's volleyball teams. St. Francis Xavier and Cape Breton previously had programs, but they were cut due to budgetary reasons in 2013 and 2015, respectively.