Simon Fraser to join NCAA
 

Simon Fraser to join NCAA


Simon Fraser University was approved Friday as the first non-U.S. member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the school said in a release.

Beginning with the 2011-12 season, after a two-year transition period, all of SFU’s Clan varsity teams will compete in the NCAA’s Division II in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The Division II membership committee approved SFU’s application during a meeting at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis.

“This is a first for a Canadian university, and it reflects SFU’s long history of competing in U.S. varsity associations and conferences,” SFU president Michael Stevenson said in a release.

“It means a high level of competition and challenge for our athletes.”

SFU currently has 19 Clan teams competing in the small-college National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in the U.S. and Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Men's wrestling team now competes in both NAIA and CIS.

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference has nine full-member schools in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, and four football-only members in Washington, California, Utah and Oregon.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle1214029/

so when is UBC following suit?

^Doesn't look like it will happen. UBC had decided to defer the decision for another year. NCAA on the surface sounds great, but the competition in Div. 2 is actually below the levels they would be competing against in the CUS.

It's time for the CUS to get its act together so that UBC doesn't need to leave.

:previous: don't you mean the CIS?

I actually think that UBC will eventually get into the NCAA, and I'm not certain that the NCAA Div 2 level is below the CIS level of competition. I think the NCAA is one of the best in north american athletics - obviously, Div I is the best, and I hope that UBC gets in, and eventually able to compete with the "big boys".

Any news with UBC yet? It has been almost a year!

“It means a high level of competition and challenge for our athletes.” So other than this, why are they moving? Was the competition really lacking in Canada?

You know absolutely nothing about the NCAA and the level of competition. CIS is equivalent to Div3/NAIA.

Simon Fraser field some of the weakest teams in CIS. Now they jump ship to help develop another nation's sports system. That's rich! SFU can go to hell.

Pile of utter rubbish.

Top CIS basketball schools have beaten teams like Louisville recently. Top CIS football schools like Western and Laval would obliterate NCAA Division 2 schools. Top CIS volleyball schools beat top NCAA Division 1 schools all the time. Same goes with swimming.

What you're trying to say is that SFU is equivalent to a Div3/NAIA school. SFU sports are a joke. It seems you know absolutely nothing about the CIS.

There's a fair resistance to the idea of joining the NCAA at UBC. It mostly stems from high athletics fees at UBC.

I'd be against joining the NCAA if it means any increases whatsoever to the amount of student fees that people have to pay for athletics at UBC. In the past 5 years I've almost $2000 into that bs and got next to nothing out of it. The gyms aren't free, facilities are lacking, and everything for the most part is crowded.

On the other hand I payed about half as much for the upass and used it almost every day to great benefit. Surely there's something better UBC can put its money to.

Troll troll troll troll.

Come on, how is that a troll? At least substantiate it.

When you go through the breakdown of what student fees get spent on, athletics takes a big chunk. UBC has the highest fees of any Canadian university in this respect.

Please get a clue, NCAA Division II is much better than CIS. CIS is equivalent to NAIA.

Probably depends on the sport.