The Martlet

REGINA (CUP) — Earlier this year the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) approved a 10-year pilot program to allow international universities to join their Division II. An overwhelming majority of Canadian universities showed no interest in joining the NCAA. But this past summer, Simon Fraser University (SFU) became the first institution outside of the U.S. to be accepted to the NCAA.

SFU’s decision to join the NCAA didn’t come as a surprise considering their decades-long history in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). SFU currently has 19 teams competing in the NAIA and CIS.

Initially, SFU was to play two more seasons in Canada West — one of four conferences in the CIS — before joining the NCAA for the 2011-12 season. However, after being put on probation by Canada West in September, SFU worried that it was going to be ousted from the conference following the 2009-10 campaign.

SFU athletic director David Murphy told the Vancouver Sun that he didn’t believe his university had “done anything to warrant being placed on probation.”

University of Regina athletic director Dick White disagreed, however, explaining the implications of the probation decision.

“We felt it entirely inappropriate for SFU to have any impact on the future of Canada West,” said White. “Fundamentally [probation] doesn’t allow any of their people to hold an office in Canada West, and it doesn’t allow them any vote at our AGM. It still allows their teams to participate fully, win championships, be all-stars.”

In order to ensure their athletes have a league to play in next season, SFU reached out to the NCAA and were granted entry a year early. White, who was the president of the CIS from 2005 to 2009, said that if SFU does in fact join the NCAA Division II next season, Canada West “could resolve what was really going to be a sticky issue.” However, he also said that SFU hasn’t “officially withdrawn from us ... they haven’t communicated formally with us at all.”

From the very beginning, SFU acted without consultation with Canada West.

“All along we would have preferred ... to have the opportunity to work back and forth with how the transition looked [with SFU], and what our public strategy was going to be,” said White. “We would have preferred that, but it hasn’t gone that way for whatever reason. It’s unfortunate.”

SFU has constantly praised the NCAA for its world-class level of competition. White said, however, that NCAA Division II is not as prestigious as Division I, and that “Division II and III are not that different, from what I hear . . . from CIS.”

Despite Murphy’s explanation to the media that SFU’s experience in the CIS was “wonderful,” White said their constant public praise of the “superior” NCAA has brought unnecessary negativity toward the CIS.

“If [the NCAA] is where you want to be, that’s your university’s autonomous privilege, but then get out of our league,” said White. “We’re not here just to be your whipping boy, to be here for your convenience ... don’t be negative about our league, because we think the CIS does many good things.”

In the wake of such negative attention, many have argued that SFU’s departure has hurt the image of the CIS.

White said SFU would “not horribly” hurt its image, but that if UBC were to go, [it] would be more hurtful than SFU.

“SFU had a long history in the U.S. We weren’t overly shocked by their decision to go back ... We can manage this one just fine,” said White.

When asked whether or not he thought any other universities might follow suit, White responded with a firm no.

What lies ahead for Canada West?

“Hopefully this is coming to some sort of an end in the next little while and [Canada West] can get on with our business,” said White. “We need to look at our league and our competitive structure ... there’s more important things to do than worry about [SFU] but this is in the way of us moving forward.”