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canadian university report - athletics

An athletic scholarship allows Ailish Forfar to study sport media and play for the Ryerson University Rams.Alex D’Addese

Ailish Forfar feels lucky to be able to pursue her two passions at Toronto's Ryerson University. The athlete, who once won a national championship as part of a Team Ontario under-18 hockey squad, now laces up her skates for the Rams women's hockey team. With help from an enhanced athletic scholarship, she is also doing a sport media degree – a path inspired by a stint as a TSN summer intern.

"My dream is to be on TSN's SportsCentre as one of the hosts," says the 23-year-old Sharon, Ont., native who earned her first degree in English and geography at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Because of an injury in her sophomore year at this U.S. Ivy League school, she played varsity hockey there for just three seasons. That left her with two – out of five years of eligibility – to play in Canada.

Ms. Forfar is typical of the student athletes that U Sports hopes to recruit or lure back to Canada amid competition from big-spending U.S.-based National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) teams. As part of a game plan to elevate university sports here, the Canadian governing body for athletics at 56 schools – formerly known as Canadian Interuniversity Sport – aims to take more of a business approach to generate new revenue, create more fan excitement for its athletes and improve the availability of athletic scholarships.

"The NCAA has done a very good job promoting their top programs and universities," says U Sports chief executive officer Graham Brown.

"But we are brainwashed to think that every single [sports] program in the NCAA is good. ... I think you can have an equal experience here or better, and get a Canadian university education with all the alumni connections that comes with it. We haven't fought for that experience until now."

Many players on Laval University's men's football and Carleton University men's basketball teams have the skill to play in NCAA Division I, but have chosen to stay in Canada, he says. "That is not the norm – they are outlier programs." It's unrealistic to keep highly talented athletes from going to top U.S. schools for their sport, but Canadian programs are more similar to NCAA Division II, he said. Both have similar-sized sports facilities, athletic budgets and game attendance.

To promote domestic teams, U Sports aims to boost the number of its games on national television. There are 12 – including the prestigious Vanier Cup national football championship – being broadcast this school year on Sportsnet and French-language TVA Sports. "Our goal is to have a game of the week throughout the university season," Mr. Brown says. To finance this growth, U Sports is wooing major corporate sponsors. "We can deliver our demographic, which is millennials," he says. "Major brands are trying to market into that space."

U Sports has also been retooling its website Usports.ca to become more "fan-friendly," and be a one-stop shopping for standings and other statistics generated by university sports across Canada, he says.

As well, it is trying to raise awareness for its brand among younger athletes. U Sports just launched a Future Stars program, whereby high schools name a male and female "athlete of the month," who will be recognized on a microsite on its website.

A "full-ride" or partial athletic scholarship from U.S. schools will, nevertheless, still be alluring for Canadian athletes, but they need to understand what they are getting, he says. If a student receives a partial scholarship of $25,000 (U.S.) a year or $100,000 over four years, that sounds impressive but may only cover part of tuition, he notes. "It only sounds better because the tuition is so high there."

Still, Canadian university athletic scholarships, also called athletic financial awards (AFAs), could use some tinkering, he says. These scholarships can cover a student's tuition and compulsory fees in all provinces except for Ontario, which has a cap of $4,500 awarded. To be eligible, all athletes need at least an 80-per-cent average for firstyear enrolment. In subsequent years, the minimum average drops to 70 per cent in Ontario and 65 per cent in the rest of Canada. The admission average is "being debated," Mr. Brown says. "If you give a scholarship for a 70-per-cent average in Year 2 and forward, why not make it 70 per cent in Year 1?" U Sports, meanwhile, launched a five-year pilot project in 2014 to offer more generous athletic scholarships to players on women's hockey teams. The amounts, which will vary, can cover tuition and fees as well as room and board. Women's hockey was chosen because "we have seen a mass exodus of our talent go to the United States," says Stephanie White, a spokeswoman for the project.

This program, which may require donations or fundraising by teams to boost scholarship dollars, hopes to attract more athletes who have played for national or provincial under-18 teams. Ryerson's Ms. Forfar was among 41 players who received a hockey pilot project scholarship in the 2016-17 season, compared with seven recipients the previous year. Her funding covered all tuition and fees beyond the $4,500-maximum.

Other university teams are watching this experiment as a test case for their sport. "We are seeing traction, but it takes time," Ms. White says. "Coaches say they are now able to have conversations with the more talented players to try to recruit them to U Sports schools, whereas three or four years ago, they might have only looked at U.S. universities."

Canadian athletic scholarships climb

2015-16 year: $19.5-million

2014-15 year: $18 million

2013-14 year: $16 million

2012-13 year: $14.6-million

2011-12 year: $12.7-million

2010-11 year: $11.6-million

Source: U Sports

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