Durham Chronicle 18-19 Issue 01

Cam Bickle
The Chronicle
When news broke that the UOIT
Ridgebacks would be adding a varsity
basketball program in 2019,
many students began to wonder
what would come next.
UOIT currently fields 16 teams
in sports such as hockey, soccer
and lacrosse, so it was logical that
the school opted to expand into
hoops, North America’s secondmost
watched sport on TV.
However, the sport that ranks
ahead of basketball on that list –
football – is still absent from the
Ridgebacks' roster, and Athletics
Director Scott Barker says that
won’t be changing anytime soon.
“To put it bluntly, it’s not in the
cards,” he says. “The honest answer
is that it just isn’t a priority.”
While Barker admits he would
love to see a football team on campus
in the near future, he says the
challenges the school would face
are insurmountable.
With roster sizes of nearly 100
players, it would be difficult to draw
enough talent to make the team
competitive, he says. The smallest
school currently employing a Ontario
University Athletics (OUA)
football program is Carleton University,
whose enrolment of 16,000
students would outnumber UOIT
by nearly 6,000.
The next biggest challenge would
be funding. A media report from
2010 indicates the average cost of
a university football program was
$300,000-$400,000.
chronicle.durhamcollege.ca October 30 - December 3, 2018 The Chronicle 21
In addition, the OUA requires
each team have a stadium on campus.
The average capacity for university
stadiums is 5,500 people,
it cost the University of Waterloo
nearly $10 million to complete its
5,400-capacity Warrior Stadium
in 2009.
A Ridgebacks football program
at UOIT would require extensive
renovation of Vaso's Field, the current
home of soccer on campus, or
a brand new facility, Barker says.
“It’s such a premier sport for the
OUA, but the costs are astronomical,”
Barker says. “It just wouldn’t be
a smart decision asking students to
financially support it.”
The school spent nearly $11 million
on the Campus Ice Centre in
2005, indicating the development
of a football stadium isn’t impossible,
but Barker says there was a
Sports
No plans to kick off UOIT football
Despite its
popularity,
football
simply isn't
financially
viable
for UOIT
Vaso's Field, home to the UOIT Ridgebacks and Durham Lords athletics.
much higher demand for hockey
than there has ever been for football.
Another issue mentioned is
the lack of a true sports culture
amongst alumni compared to other
schools, considering UOIT – established
in 2002 – is still much younger
than its Ontario counterparts.
As for the possibility of the school
expanding onto the gridiron in the
future, he clarified that there has
always been some level of interest
from the athletics department, but
that students should not get their
hopes up.
Instead, Barker revealed that the
department is considering adding
varsity volleyball teams in the
coming years, while also channeling
more funding towards existing
Ridgebacks teams.
Photograph by Cam Bickle
The success of UOIT's existing
teams also serves as an example
of why they were chosen instead
of football, he says, adding that
success has helped transform the
school into one of the premier
sports institutions in the province.
“It’s been a bit of an aggressive
evolution,” he says, “but I think
we’ve been very strategic in bringing
on sports that are sustainable.”
Barker says students determined
to play football on campus should
join the intramural flag football
league, which he praised, while
fans can still watch OUA games
without being partial to any teams.
The OUA has a membership of
20 universities, 11 of which currently
field varsity football programs.
The Western Mustangs are the
defending champions after winning
for a record 31st time in 2017.
No varsity hockey on the horizon for the Lords
Who would've thought
this was possible? Ontario
colleges lack teams to
start OCAA hockey league.
Rachelle Baird
The Chronicle
It's one of our national pastimes,
a sport in which Canadians take
pride.
But you won't find any varsity
hockey being played at Ontario
colleges.
In fact, there hasn't been varsity
hockey in the Ontario Colleges
Athletic Association (OCAA)
since 2004. The last time Durham
College (DC) had a varsity hockey
team was 1973, says Ken Babcock,
DC's director of athletics and
recreation.
Costs to ice a team are one of
The honest answer is that
it isn't a priority.
the reasons hockey is not played
at a college level. Students do not
want to pay the fees,and the funds
could be used elsewhere, according
to Babcock. The demand is also not
as high when compared to other
sports, he adds.
If any sport was to be currently
considered to be added at the varsity
level it would be cross-country
running, curling or badminton, because
those sports are also played
at a national collegiate level, says
Chris Cameron, DC's sports information
and special events coordinator.
Durham was interested in bringing
hockey back in 2004, but not
enough colleges were to make it a
reality, says Babcock. There needs
to be at least five colleges within the
OCAA interested in order to bring
the sport back at the college level,
according to Babcock.
Students who want to play hockey,
can do so through intramurals
or get involved with a community-based
team.
Since there is no OCAA hockey
league and the costs to have a team
are high, the possibility of hockey
coming back at a varsity level in the
near future is slim, Babcock says.
While there is no OCAA hockey
on campus, there is university
hockey being played by the men's
and women's teams at UOIT.
The Chronicle asked Scott Barker,
director of athletics at UOIT,
the costs associated with running
the Ridgebacks' hockey programs.
"We are not at liberty to disclose
those costs, however, the budget is
developed from a combination of
student fees, university operational
dollars, team fundraising and sponsorships,"
says Barker, in an email.
The OUA regular season wraps
up for the Ridgebacks men's team
November 9th against the RMC
(Royal Military College) Paladins
while the Ridgebacks women's
team season ends the following day
versus the Ryerson Rams.