By Jon Roe
A decision by the American National Collegiate Athletic Association Jan. 14 may change the face of Canadian university sports. The NCAA approved a ten-year pilot program at its 2008 membership convention, opening the door for Canadian Interuniversity Sport schools to seek membership in division two, the second highest competitive division in the NCAA. Three CIS Canada West conference schools–chiefly the University of British Columbia and to a lesser extent the University of Alberta and Simon Fraser University–have expressed interest but have yet to formally apply for NCAA membership. The University of Calgary, which also plays in Canada West, will likely not scramble for membership in the American association.
“At this point, absolutely not,” said U of C Dinos sports information director Ben Matchett. “We are very happy with our current position in CIS and we have no plans to apply the NCAA right now.”
The NCAA’s decision may still affect the U of C if any of the three competing schools head south. CIS will be conducting a membership survey and acting to rectify any problems.
“The landscape has changed as a result of this decision,” said CIS CEO Marg McGregor. “We will be revisiting our membership criteria and we’re going to look at what is our philosophical position of who members are of CIS and who we want to be members of CIS in the future.”
Though there is currently a cap on membership in the top NCAA division, the goal of any school heading to the NCAA would be to move up from division two. Matchett noted that, in some cases, a move to division two could be a step down athletically. McGregor agreed.
“In my view, [moving to division two is] a lateral move at best,” commented McGregor.
If a school did reach the upper echelon of the NCAA, division one membership in any sport would likely increase donor support and both U of A and UBC have said there are interested donors should their teams compete in the NCAA.
Student financial compensation could also improve if a Canadian team joined the NCAA. Both of the top NCAA divisions allow more athletic financial awards than the CIS and in the NCAA, students can receive as much as a so-called “free-ride” scholarship, where tuition and living expenses are covered. This could allow the transplanted Canadian schools to attract high-quality Canadian athletes who currently attend NCAA schools rather than stay in Canada. Currently the CIS only allows athletic financial awards to cover tuition and compulsory fees.
Despite this, McGregor noted that the notion that the CIS doesn’t offer any scholarships for students is untrue.
“CIS does give out millions of dollars of athletic scholarships each year,” said McGregor. “In fact, division two is not the glamour alternative it may have been portrayed as in the media.”
Nearly $7 million in athletic financial awards were given out by CIS members during the 2006-07 school year, including $248,595 by the U of C for its 309 CIS athletes, the ninth-highest total in the country. The University of Regina provided the most athletic scholarships, doling out $455,335. Up the road in Edmonton, the U of A provided $385,819, the second-most in the country.
If they are going to apply for NCAA, the Canadian schools have until Jun. 1. In the event of teams moving down, the CIS has yet to decide whether it will allow universities to continue being members of its league while in the NCAA. No decision will be made regarding dual membership until the CIS annual general meeting, Jun. 11-13, but the CIS board has already declared that it will be recommending against it.
If UBC or U of A apply and are accepted into the NCAA, and CIS decides that it won’t allow dual membership, it could be a problem for the U of C’s field hockey team. Currently, only the U of A, UBC, U of C and the University of Victoria have field hockey teams participating in Canada West. U of A or UBC dropping the sport without another school joining would put field hockey below the four-team minimum necessary to sanction a sport in Canada West. The schools that apply could begin playing in the NCAA as soon as the 2009-10 season.
Matchett noted it would be disappointing for UBC to leave–UBC was a founding member of the Canada West conference and is a rival of U of C in numerous sports–but reaffirmed that the U of C is not exploring the NCAA option.
“Our Canadian system is not perfect, [but] no system is perfect,” noted Matchett on CW and CIS. “Our opinion is, it’s better for us to try and improve the Canadian system than to give up on and try going somewhere else.”