The purpose of this paper is to provide background on Canadian university sport and more specifically its relationship to high performance sport in Canada. The advantages and disadvantages of this sport delivery system in relation to the development of elite sport will also be discussed. This will be done from the perspective of the elected President of Canadian Interuniversity Sport but also, and perhaps most importantly, as a practitioner employed as the Athletic Director at the University of Regina. The University of Regina is located in Regina, Saskatchewan Canada, an institution of about 12 000 students in the mid-west in a city with a population of about 200 000.

To begin, I will give you an overview of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), our structure, mission and vision.

CIS is comprised of 51 degree granting universities from across Canada. Our membership includes large universities with a student population of up to 60 000 and small universities with less than 3000 students. Our members provide competitive opportunities for approximately 11 000 student athletes in 12 sport disciplines that compete from September to March each year. Because of the great distances between universities in Canada, our competition is primarily in four geographical regions with the best from each region coming together for a national championship in their specific sport. The sports competing for CIS national championships include:

Our sport offerings reflect the culture of sport in the nation and also respects offering equitable opportunities for men and women in our universities. Our commitment to gender equity is a fundamental value of the CIS in our sport delivery, opportunity and decision making processes. The championship sport offerings comes under review every 5 years to ensure we are meeting the needs of our membership and growing trends in sports delivery. Our most recent addition to our portfolio was the sport of curling which held its first CIS championship last March. Although curling is a very popular sport in Canada, it has developed primarily through club participation in the past. This entry creates a transition from junior elite curling to the senior elite that compete in Canadian and world championships.

To provide further foundation to the topic of CIS and our relationship with high performance sport, it is perhaps worthwhile to review our Mission Statement:

The balance between education and high performance sport is key here. Further to this, our Vision is:

The critical balance between university education and high performance sport is reflected in many of our eligibility regulations but most notably our student athletes must be full time students while they compete, which is in the Fall and Winter semesters. In addition, there are minimum academic standards to maintain eligibility for competition and minimum standards required to receive athletic financial awards or scholarships. The full time status and minimum standards are in place to assist in creating a level competitive playing field for all CIS student athletes as they compete for national championships.

Given this background, let me discuss the relationship with CIS and national and Olympic team structures. Although there is no formal link between the CIS and the Canadian Olympic Committee, the CIS is an integral part of Sport Canada’s Long Term Athlete Development model in many sports which include: Women’s Field Hockey, Canadian Football, Wrestling, Swimming, Women’s Ice Hockey, Volleyball and Curling. We have partial integration in Athletics, Rugby and Basketball. Perhaps the most significant link to long term athlete development and the Canadian Olympic program is through the CIS and Canada’s participation in the Winter and Summer Universiade, as well as single sport University Championships. Participation in these events contributes to our mission, vision and strategic direction by providing development opportunities for Canadian student athletes and coaches, to compete on the international stage against some of the top athletes and teams in the world. The opportunity to participate contributes to our vision of becoming a “destination of choice for Canadian post-secondary student athletes”, which assists in the recruitment and retention of athletes and coaches as well as contributing to the international mandate of our universities. Participation in these games is also an opportunity to further develop our Canadian judges, referees, administrators and medical staff, which are so critical in providing the support to an outstanding sport development model. The contribution of participation in the Universiade can be demonstrated easily by looking at the impact on a few of the CIS sports mentioned earlier. For example, in Athletics, numerous Olympians had their first international experience at a Universiade; in Basketball 30% of men and 75% of women have competed in FISU (Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire) and in Volleyball, 90% of men’s and women’s national team members have all been FISU athletes. Curling, Women’s Ice Hockey, Swimming and Wrestling all identify CIS and Universiade participation as a key component of their long term athlete development. Let me illustrate in a couple of specific athlete examples when this system has worked very well. Canadian speed skater Susan Auch medalled in the Winter Olympics of 1988, 1994 and 1999. Her first international multisport experiences were the 1983 and 1985 Universiades. One of Canada’s medal hopefuls in 2010 in Alpine Skiing will be Patrick Biggs whose first international experiences were the Winter Universiades in 2001 and 2003. Members of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, Abigail Hoffman and Harry Jerome, competed in the Universiade in the sport of Athletics in the mid 1960’s, prior to representing Canada in the Olympics and other international events. Both became leaders in Canada’s Ministry of Sport and Sport Canada.

The key message is that the link between high performance sport and the Canadian sport system is historic and current. The contribution and relationship with the sport system in Canada is further enhanced with many sports that are developed outside the 12 sport disciplines offered for competition by the CIS. Rowing, Softball, Judo, Speed Skating and Snowboarding are all examples of where we have facilitated participation by eligible university students in Universiades and World University championships for sports that are not in our CIS Championship model but are part of the Canadian sport system. Their participation increases collaboration, communication and cooperation between our national sport organisations and Canadian Interuniversity Sport, which leads to a more effective Canadian sport system. This increased interaction fosters stronger relations and maximises mutual interests relating to student athlete development, coach education and access to facilities.

These examples are all positive links between CIS and the Canadian sport system, but we do not always play a strong role in high performance development in some sports. We are a very poor fit in the sport of Soccer, with the exception of coach development, due to the short season in Canada, which is climate related, and the fact that this sport has developed primarily in the club model throughout the country. It may surprise you, given that Canada is a hockey nation, that we are not aligned in that sport for high performance for men’s ice hockey, with the exception of the opportunity provided for referee development. Our primary system in Canada for national teams and professional hockey is the community based junior hockey system. The players in our university hockey system are generally graduates of junior who have not turned professional but instead chosen to pursue a university education. Although being signed by the National Hockey League during or following university play is rare, it does happen and virtually all of these players can pursue professional careers in North America, Europe or other leagues following their university career. Some will take this opportunity at least for a short period of time but most will move from university hockey into careers outside the game.

Although we are proud to say that over 60 former or active CIS athletes have been selected to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to date and our Canadian university football athletes are an important source of talent for Canadian professional football, and in some cases the National Football League in the United States, Canadian university involvement and contribution to high performance sport is much broader than simply producing Olympic or professional athletes.

The CIS is an active partner with our national sport organisations and the Canadian Olympic Committee in creating a drug free sport environment through education. This is a mandatory component for each CIS athlete prior to competition. A very significant contribution to creating a Canadian high performance sport model is through the employment by our Canadian universities of over 600 coaches who are highly certified, involved in national team programs and many will be part of the national Olympic team. Medical and other technical staff from Canadian universities are well represented on our international teams and our delegation to the World University Games is almost entirely from CIS member institutions.

Our universities are also active in the delivery of high performance sport in the provision of facilities in bids to host Olympics, World University, Commonwealth, Pan American and single sport championships. Sixteen universities are National Team High Performance Training Centres and two are National Coaching Centres of Excellence.

The current structure and delivery of a varsity sport model in Canada has its advantages and disadvantages when it comes to a relationship with high performance sport. On the positive side, our training, competitive and championship format allows individuals to have the option of combining elite sport and university education without being put in the position of having to select one or the other. The result may be that these athletes will represent their country in international competition but if not, they become the future coaches and leaders in our sport system either as professionals or as volunteers in the community. This is perhaps one of the most important legacies of our university sport system in Canada.

To further our high performance mandate, financial assistance is provided by our universities, which allows many of our student athletes to focus on education and athletics during the season without having to secure part-time employment. Currently in Canada, this is restricted to tuition and mandatory fees although our athletes are eligible for additional funding if they are identified by a national team or have an exceptional academic record.

Another advantage of our current university sport delivery system is the relationship with our coaches and universities to high performance sport and participation in World University Games and other international competitions, which creates an easy transition for our athletes to higher levels of sport whether professional or amateur. Our athletes have many opportunities to interact or be identified by national team coaches and be exposed to national team programs. Our goal is to provide an individual with an opportunity for high performance sport but most importantly, provide the athlete with an education that he or she will benefit from for life.

The access to high performance programs, financial assistance, outstanding facilities, quality coaching and the appropriate education programs are all critical elements in the recruitment and retention of our student athletes. Each of our members of the CIS deliver this in varying degrees, which leads us into discussion on the challenges of meeting high performance objectives in our university sport system.

Our challenges to further meet the mandate of high performance are constantly being discussed with our members and at times we do not present the ideal high performance mode. The reality is that our commitment to the standards of a university education may make it difficult or impossible for some athletes to meet the training and competitive requirements of a national team while being a full time students. This is especially true for winter high performance athletes where the competitive seasons and academic year conflict. In some cases, high performance athletes may not meet academic standards of a university education or conversely some university athletes may not be able to train at the required performance level while attending university. It is a difficult challenge to ask a student to maintain a full time course load at a university and also meet the demands of training, team practice, video sessions and individual training sessions required for a high performance athlete. Those that meet this challenge are truly exceptional individuals when they graduate from their programs and are well positioned to be leaders in society.

One of the great Canadian university debates is athletic financial assistance offered to student athletes in the CIS. Much of this debate is around the maximum amounts offered, which do not compete with those offered in the United States, especially in NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I. This means that many of our best Canadian athletes head south for more lucrative financial assistance. Our debate is often centered around the financial ability of our publicly funded Canadian universities to pay and whether this focus on athletics will compromise the educational component so fundamental in our mission.

The challenge of funding and meeting the needs of the high performance system reaches beyond providing financial assistance for athletes. It is often reflected in competitive travel schedules, which may not be as aggressive as would be ideal for high performance. Our programs often lack support personnel available to assist athletes and often our coaching and administrative staff must spend time raising funds to enhance programs rather than be critically focussing on producing a high performance student athlete.

The debate over funding for university athletics competing for dollars in an educational environment has existed since the early days of post-secondary sport and will undoubtedly remain as universities struggle to meet the financial demands of operation. Working with our educational institutions to promote the value of elite sport and continuing to collaborate with our national sport organisations will be essential if we are to realise our vision of a “destination of choice for Canadian student athletes.”

I will comment briefly on the viability of the Canadian university sport system in other nations. Sport and its development is an integral part of national culture for many of us. Our system of sport delivery is very similar to what exists in the United States, where we grow up representing our educational institutions in many sports. We also have many sport programs that develop outside the educational system in community clubs. The short answer regarding the viability of this system in other countries is that sport delivery is very complex, steeped in history and tradition and difficult to duplicate. I would suggest that anywhere in the world that has post-secondary education could do what we do in Canada and the United States but it would need to be developed in cooperation, not isolation, from your high performance sport system. In spite of the long tradition of university sport in Canada, making this connection with our national sport organisation partners is still a work in progress.

In summary, the CIS represents a Canada-wide sport system for full time university students who compete for national championships. No other sport organisation in Canada can match the breadth and scope of our sport programming. The contribution to our high performance system is significant but also one that requires ongoing dialogue and investment to strengthen our ties to long term athlete development, especially through our participation in the Universiade and single sport World University championships. Our long term viability will in part be dependent on continuing or advancing our role in long term athlete development. Fundamental to our sport delivery is the balance of university education and elite athletics. A very significant challenge but one that is truly worth embracing.