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CIS championships: University Cup returns to UNB, Final 8 to Halifax
OTTAWA (CIS) - Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Thursday
morning the hosts for eight national championships in 2010, 2011
and 2012, with a pair of marquee men's events returning to Atlantic
Canada and two women's tournaments venturing into uncharted
territory.
The University of New Brunswick landed the 2011 and 2012 University
Cup men's hockey tournaments; Atlantic University Sport will host
the CIS men's basketball Final Eight in Halifax the same two years;
the CIS women's hockey championship will make a one-year stop at
Wilfrid Laurier University in 2011 before moving to the University
of Alberta in 2012; Trent University will host women's rugby in
2010 and 2011, marking CIS' first-ever visit to Peterborough,
Ontario.
"The quality of all the bids was first rate," said CIS Chief
Executive Officer, Marg McGregor. "The student-athletes who
participate in these championships in years to come can be assured
of well-planned and well-attended events with the student-athlete
experience being the focus for the hosts.
"CIS is returning to familiar territory and venturing into new
uncharted waters. We are especially delighted to have an
opportunity to partner with Trent University to showcase and
profile CIS in a part of Canada that has not hosted a CIS
championship in the past. We are also really looking forward to
returning to sites that have previously hosted exceptional
events."
UNB hosted two of the most successful University Cup tournaments in
recent history back in 2003 and 2004, when all 16 games over the
two years were played in front of sellout crowds at Fredericton's
Aitken Centre.
The school's team, the Varsity Reds, is a perennial national
contender, having reached the CIS gold-medal final six of the past
12 seasons including University Cup titles in 2006-07 and
1997-98.
Before returning to Fredericton, the tournament will be played at
Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., in 2009 and 2010.
Atlantic University Sport and Halifax have a long history of
hosting high-profile CIS men's basketball championships. The event
was staged in Nova Scotia's capital for 24 consecutive years from
1984 to 2007, including the last 20 at the Metro Centre.
The Final Eight tourney will be organized by Carleton University at
Scotiabank Place in Ottawa for two more years before returning to
Halifax.
Laurier and Alberta, home of two of the top CIS women's hockey
programs, will both be hosting the national championship for the
first time. The event will take place at the Waterloo Memorial
Recreation Complex in 2011, when Wilfrid Laurier University
celebrates its 100th anniversary, and at Clare Drake Arena in
Edmonton the following year.
Alberta is the most decorated team in CIS women's hockey history,
the Pandas claiming six national titles and a pair of silver medals
since the sport was added to the CIS program in 1997-98. The
Laurier Golden Hawks have captured the last five OUA banners and
have won one CIS championship (2005) and three silver medals over
the past seven years.
The CIS tournament will be staged by St. Francis Xavier University
in Antigonish, N.S., in 2009 and 2010 before moving to Waterloo and
Edmonton.
Trent will host a CIS championship for the first time in school
history.
The Excalibur women's rugby program is on the rise having enjoyed
back-to-back winning seasons in the OUA, while the school's newly
constructed stadium was the site of the world women's Under-19
field lacrosse championship in 2007.
The CIS tourney will make a stop in Vancouver (UBC) next fall
before moving to Peterborough in 2010 and 2011.
NOTE: The championship sites have been selected pending the
successful signing of a championship agreement by both parties.
CIS championship schedule:
Men's basketball
2009 & 2010: Carleton University
2011 & 2012: Atlantic University Sport, in Halifax (awarded in
December 2008)
Women's hockey
2009 & 2010: St. Francis Xavier University
2011: Wilfrid Laurier University (awarded in December 2008)
2012: University of Alberta (awarded in December 2008)
Men's hockey
2009 & 2010: Lakehead University
2011 & 2012: University of New Brunswick (awarded in December
2008)
Women's rugby
2009: University of British Columbia
2010 & 2011: Trent University (awarded in December 2008)
-CIS-
