Simon Fraser Red Leafs

Last updated

Simon Fraser Red Leafs
Simon-fraser logo from NCAA.svg
University Simon Fraser University
Conference GNAC
RMAC (wrestling, swimming & diving)
NCAA Division II
Athletic directorVacant
Location Burnaby, British Columbia
Varsity teams16
Basketball arenaWest Gymnasium
Softball stadiumBeedie Field
Soccer stadium Terry Fox Field
Lacrosse stadiumTerry Fox Field
MascotNone
NicknameRed Leafs
ColorsLight red, white, and black [1]
     
Website athletics.sfu.ca

The SFU Red Leafs or Simon Fraser Red Leafs teams (formerly the Simon Fraser Clan) represent Simon Fraser University (SFU), which is located in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The Red Leafs are members of NCAA Division II and are the only Canadian university affiliated with the U.S.-based National Collegiate Athletic Association. The teams previously used the nicknames "Clan" and "Clansmen," which were used as a tribute to the Scottish heritage of the university's namesake, Simon Fraser. [2] The names were retired in 2020 due to the negative connotation surrounding those terms. [3] In September 2022, the updated nickname "Red Leafs" was announced. [4]

Contents

History

SFU's teams formerly played in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics of the United States for all sports. In 1997, Simon Fraser sought to join the NCAA of the United States as a Division II school, but was turned down. [5] After this, SFU decided in 2000–01 to partially transfer to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now U Sports). Before the transfer, SFU did not compete in Canadian football, instead playing American football.

On July 10, 2009, the NCAA approved SFU's bid to join NCAA Division II starting in 2011–12, where SFU intended to compete in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. However, Canada West, the CIS association that SFU teams were scheduled to play in, issued a probation on all SFU teams for the 2010–11 season, leading to speculation that SFU teams would not have any conference to play in for that season. The GNAC admitted SFU one year earlier than planned as a full conference member in time for the 2010–11 season. [6] This led to SFU playing American football again, which was the case before they joined the CIS.

Sports sponsored

SFU currently has 16 varsity programs competing in the following sports (affiliations included): [7]

SFU is the only Canadian school to have finished in the top five of the NAIA division of the NACDA Director's Cup, an award given to the top overall college sports program in the United States, in each year since the award was first given to NAIA schools in 1996. The program won the NAIA Cup consecutively from 1997 through 2001, and again in 2004. The last win was especially impressive because it occurred after SFU partially transferred to CIS.[ citation needed ]

Women's basketball

Team championships:

Men's soccer

Team championships and other highlights:

Women’s soccer

Team championships

Softball

SFU women's softball players, left to right: Carly Moir, Trisha Bouchard and Stefani Durrant SFU's women's softball team sports Olympic logo.jpg
SFU women's softball players, left to right: Carly Moir, Trisha Bouchard and Stefani Durrant

Team championships:

Wrestling

SFU began competing in NAIA for wrestling in 1977, consistently producing individual champions, All-Americans, and winning the team title twice (1988, 1993), along with several NAIA Hall of Famers. [8] SFU competed in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) from 2002 to 2010, winning the Canada West Conference from 2004 - 2010, two national men's team titles (2009, 2010; ending Brock's 10-year streak), and six national women's team titles. [9] [10] In 2009, SFU started the process to become the first non-American NCAA member school. SFU's wrestling program concurrently participated in CIS for freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, and NAIA for collegiate wrestling. [11] In 2012, SFU competed in the NCWA for one season prior to fully joining the NCAA Division II. [8] In 2023, SFU became a founding member of the first NCAA D-II conference for women's wrestling by joining the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) as an associate member, [12] with SFU's men's wrestling joining a couple of months later. [13]

Olympic gold medalists Daniel Igali (Canada's first Olympic gold medal winner in freestyle wrestling), Carol Huynh (Canada's first female Olympic gold medalist in wrestling), and American Helen Maroulis wrestled at SFU. Olympic silver medalists Bob Molle and Jeff Thue, and bronze medalist Chris Rinke also wrestled at SFU, along with several other Olympians and world championship competitors including mixed martial arts (MMA) world champion Arjan Bhullar. [14]

SFU also hosts two annual tournaments: the SFU Open, an international competition for senior freestyle wrestlers, [15] [16] and SFU War on the Floor, a tournament for elementary and high school wrestlers. [17] [18]

Former sports

Football

The SFU football team formerly competed since the athletic department's inception in 1965 until 2023. The team played by American rules while they competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics from 1965 to 2001 against other American teams. Along with other SFU teams, the football program transferred to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now U Sports) and thereby switched to playing Canadian football against Canadian University teams in 2002. While playing in the CIS, SFU won their first and only Hardy Trophy conference championship in 2003 while qualifying for the playoffs twice. After playing eight seasons in the Canada West Conference of the CIS, the football team began competing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference of NCAA Division II in 2010, thereby playing football by American rules again since then. [19] Over time, most of the GNAC members that had football teams stopped sponsoring the sport, and SFU was eventually left as one of only three GNAC football schools. After the 2021 season, the GNAC shut down its football league, with SFU and the other remaining members joining the Lone Star Conference for that sport. [20] However, the LSC announced it would no longer maintain its affiliate membership with Simon Fraser following the 2023 season, leading SFU to end its varsity football program effective immediately. [21]

The team previously also maintained a cross-town rivalry with the Vancouver-based University of British Columbia Thunderbirds as they were the only two universities in British Columbia that field football teams. Since 1967, the two teams have competed in the Shrum Bowl, an annual game played at alternating venues with alternating rules. SFU holds a 17–16–1 series lead while UBC is the most recent champion having won the 2022 game at Terry Fox Field. Due to the two schools playing in two different leagues and game formats, the scheduling of these games has often been difficult, with no games being played from 2011-2021, the 12th time the Shrum Bowl had taken a hiatus since the game's inception. [22] With the end of Simon Fraser's football program, however, the Shrum Bowl has become a defunct rivalry, with the last edition played in 2022 under American rules and resulting in a 18-17 victory for UBC.

Club teams

In addition to its 16 varsity programs, SFU currently has 4 competitive club programmes competing in intercollegiate sport leagues of the following sports (affiliations included):

Men's ice hockey

The men's ice hockey team currently competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League, a five team club hockey league spread across British Columbia and Washington. The team has won the league on four occasions most recently in 2021–22 season during which they went undefeated. The team also regularly plays games against NCAA and U Sports opponents. They compete in a regular cross town rivalry with the neighbouring UBC Thunderbirds. In the summer of 2016 the program began exploring the possibility of moving the program to the NCAA Division 1 level. [23] The men's hockey team also hosts a bi-annual tournament in January called the Great Northwest Showcase involving top NCAA hockey programs. [24]

2012 and 2016 NCAA Championship hosting controversies

After the 2012 regular season, Simon Fraser's men's soccer team was ranked No. 1 in the West Region and earned the right to host the West regional. [25] However, some other schools in the Region immediately filed complaints that some of their personnel did not have passports to enter Canada. [25] As a result, NCAA stripped Simon Fraser of the right to host the regional. [25] [26] Simon Fraser first rented a neutral site in San Francisco, California, as the site of the regional, but the NCAA eventually awarded the right of hosting the remaining matches of the regional to Grand Canyon University, whose men's soccer team was ranked second in the West Region after the 2012 regular season. [26]

After the 2016 regular season, Simon Fraser's men's soccer team was ranked No. 1 once again in the West Region and earned the right to host the West regional once again. [27] [28] However, Simon Fraser was once again forced to rent a neutral site, this time in Seattle, Washington, as the site of the regional.

Mascot

The official mascot of SFU Athletics is McFogg the Dog, an anthropomorphic Scottish terrier who wears a kilt. [29] McFogg was officially adopted as the University's mascot in 1996 [30] and is named in honour of SFU's inaugural president Patrick McTaggart-Cowan who was nicknamed "McFog". McFogg replaced an unofficial gorilla mascot which the university had previously used since the late 1980s. [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lone Star Conference</span> American collegiate athletic conference

The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the South Central states, with schools in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas, with two members in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington competing as affiliates for football only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UBC Thunderbirds</span> University of British Columbia athletic teams

The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thunderbirds are the most successful athletic program both regionally in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, and nationally in U Sports, winning 116 national titles. UBC has won an additional 20 national titles competing in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics against collegiate competition from the United States and 40 national titles in sports that compete in independent competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NAIA independent schools</span>

NAIA independent schools are four-year institutional members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) that do not have formal conference affiliations. NAIA schools that are not members of any other athletic conference are members of the Continental Athletic Conference (CAC), formerly the Association of Independent Institutions (AII), which provides member services to the institution and allows members to compete in postseason competition. The CAC has one member institution in Canada's British Columbia. It provides services to the member institutions that are not fitting in any other NAIA conference and allows members to compete in postseason competition. The AII renamed itself the Continental Athletic Conference at the end of June 2021, citing the need to identify as a proper conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NCAA Division II</span> Intermediate-level division of competition in college sports

NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment offered in Division III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada West Universities Athletic Association</span> Association for universities in Western Canada

Canada West is a regional membership association for universities in Western Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, and releases about those programs and events to the public and the media. This is similar to what would be called a college athletic conference in the United States. Canada West is one of four such bodies that are members of the country's governing body for university athletics, U Sports. The other three regional associations coordinating university-level sports in Canada are Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Atlantic University Sport (AUS), and the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Oklahoma Bronchos</span>

The Central Oklahoma Bronchos, are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing University of Central Oklahoma, located in Edmond, Oklahoma. The five men's and nine women's varsity teams are called the "Bronchos". The school's identification as Bronchos dates back to 1922, when the wife of football coach Charles W. Wantland suggested it for the school's mascot. The official colors of the teams are bronze and blue, which the institution adopted in 1895. The Bronchos compete in the NCAA's Division II and in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association in all sports except women's rowing, which competes in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Bronchos have won 22 national championships, with the most recent coming in 2024 as the wrestling program won the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships. The university's current athletic director is Stan Wagnon, who has served in the position since 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks</span>

The Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks are the 12 varsity athletic teams that represent California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, located in Arcata, California, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Lumberjacks compete as an associate member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association for all sports except women's rowing, which competes in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and women's triathlon, which competes unaffiliated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercyhurst Lakers</span> Athletic teams representing Mercyhurst University

The Mercyhurst Lakers, representing Mercyhurst University which is located in Erie, Pennsylvania, are composed of 24 teams in intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, tennis, and water polo. Men's sports include baseball, football, and wrestling. Women's sports include bowling, field hockey, softball, stunt, and volleyball. The Lakers compete in the NCAA Division II and are members of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) for all sports except ice hockey, which competes in NCAA Division I; bowling, a sport in which the NCAA holds a single all-divisions national championship, which competes in the East Coast Conference; men's lacrosse and stunt, both of which compete in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference; and water polo, a sport in which the NCAA holds single all-divisions national championships for men and women. The men's ice hockey team is a member of Atlantic Hockey, while the women's ice hockey team is a member of College Hockey America. The men's and women's water polo teams play in the Western Water Polo Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sioux Falls Cougars</span> Sports teams of University in Sioux Falls

The Sioux Falls Cougars are the athletic teams that represent the University of Sioux Falls, located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) since the 2012–13 academic year. Prior to joining the NCAA, the Cougars previously competed in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2000–01 to 2010–11; and in the defunct South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC) from 1977–78 to 1999–2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azusa Pacific Cougars</span> University Athletic Program

The Azusa Pacific Cougars are the athletic teams that represent Azusa Pacific University, located in Azusa, California, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Pacific West Conference (PacWest) for most of its sports since the 2012–13 academic year; while its women's swimming & diving team competes in the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference (PCSC) and its women's water polo team competes in the Golden Coast Conference (GCC). The Cougars previously competed in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1986–87 to 2011–12. On July 11, 2011 Azusa Pacific began the three-year transition process to becoming a member of the NCAA. Azusa Pacific University decided to end its football program in December 2020 due to financial restructuring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Oregon Wolves</span> Sports team of Western Oregon University

The Western Oregon Wolves are the athletic teams that represent Western Oregon University, located in Monmouth, Oregon, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) since the 2001–02 academic year. The Wolves previously competed in the D-II Pacific West Conference (PacWest) from 1998–99 to 2000–01; and in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1993–94 to 1997–98.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Koch (soccer)</span> South African soccer coach (born 1975)

Alan Koch is a South African soccer coach who is the head coach of Western Suburbs FC and technical director for Olé Football Academy. Koch is a former South African youth national team player, professional player and coach. He is a graduate of Simon Fraser University where he earned his bachelor's degree. He earned his master's degree from Midwestern State University in 2005. He was previously the head coach of FC Cincinnati in Major League Soccer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrum Bowl</span> Canadian university football rivalry

The Shrum Bowl was a university rivalry game played between the gridiron football teams of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds and the Simon Fraser University (SFU) Red Leafs. The game was named after Gordon Shrum who was a professor and later a dean at UBC from 1925 to 1961 and served as the first chancellor of SFU from 1964 to 1968. It was a cross-town rivalry with UBC being located in the University Endowment Lands just west of Vancouver, British Columbia, and SFU located approximately 30 kilometres away in Burnaby, British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UFV Cascades</span> Intercollegiate sports teams

The UFV Cascades are the athletic teams that represent the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, British Columbia and currently compete in the Canada West conference of U Sports. The Cascades varsity teams include basketball, golf, soccer, and volleyball; and clubs for baseball, rowing, and rugby sevens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Limestone Saints</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Limestone University, South Carolina, US

The Limestone Saints are the athletic teams that represent Limestone University, located in Gaffney, South Carolina, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sporting competitions. The Saints compete as members of the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) for most sports, having joined that league in July 2020 after 22 years in Conference Carolinas (CC). Limestone maintains CC membership in two sports, specifically men's wrestling and women's acrobatics & tumbling. Men's wrestling is one of two sports in which the SAC and CC operate as a single league, the other being women's field hockey. The SAC operates the field hockey championship, while CC operates the wrestling championship. The men's volleyball team competes as an independent. The swim team competed in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference before being dropped in 2018; the field hockey and wrestling teams were members of the ECAC–Division II before 2018, when the SAC and CC established their alliance in those two sports. The football team had been independent, but entered into a scheduling agreement with the SAC in 2015. This agreement was replaced in 2017 by formal affiliate membership, which continued until the Saints joined the SAC full-time in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concordia Cavaliers</span>

The Concordia Cavaliers were the athletic teams that represented Concordia University, located in Portland, Oregon, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) from 2015–16 to 2019–20. The Cavaliers previously competed in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1993–94 to 2014–15. The official school colors were navy and white.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montana State Billings Yellowjackets</span>

The Montana State Billings Yellowjackets are the athletic teams that represent Montana State University Billings, located in Billings, Montana, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) since the 2007–08 academic year. The Yellowjackets previously competed in the D-II Heartland Conference from 2005–06 to 2006–07; in the D-II Pacific West Conference from 1982–83 to 2004–05; as an NCAA D-II Independent from 1980–81 to 1981–82; and in the Frontier Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1933–34 to 1979–80.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Fraser Red Leafs football</span> Collegiate American football team in Canada

The SFU Red Leafs football or Simon Fraser Red Leafs football team represented Simon Fraser University since the athletic department's inception in 1965 until 2022. The team played by American rules while they competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics from 1965 to 2001 against other American teams. Along with other SFU teams, the football program transferred to Canadian Interuniversity Sport and thereby switched to playing Canadian football against Canadian University teams in 2002. While playing in the CIS, SFU won its first and only Hardy Trophy conference championship in 2003 while qualifying for the playoffs twice. After playing eight seasons in the Canada West Conference of the CIS, the football team began competing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference of NCAA Division II in 2010, and have played the American format of football again since. After the GNAC dropped football after the 2021 season, SFU and the other two GNAC members that still sponsored the sport became football-only members of the Lone Star Conference. After the 2022 season, it was announced on April 4, 2023, that football would be dropped from the school after it was previously announced the Lone Star Conference was ending its affiliation with Simon Fraser after the 2023-24 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UBC Thunderbirds football</span> University Canadian football team

The UBC Thunderbirds football team represents the University of British Columbia athletics teams in U Sports and is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Thunderbirds program has won the CWUAA Hardy Trophy conference championship 17 times, which is third all-time among competing teams. On a national level, the team has won the Vanier Cup championship four times, in 1982, 1986, 1997 and, most recently, in 2015. The team has also lost twice in the title game, in 1978 and 1987. The Thunderbirds program has also yielded three Hec Crighton Trophy winners: Jordan Gagner in 1987, Mark Nohra in 1997, and, most recently, Billy Greene in 2011.

References

  1. "Colour Palette" (PDF). SFU Athletics & Recreation Brand Guidelines. May 18, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  2. "2 years after dropping 'Clan' name, Simon Fraser teams to be known as 'Red Leafs'". CBC Sports. September 6, 2022.
  3. "SFU Athletics name change". SFU Athletics. August 12, 2020.
  4. "SFU Announces New Varsity Team Name". SFU Athletics. September 6, 2022.
  5. Vancouver Province: UBC expects visit by NCAA Archived October 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine November 8, 2005
  6. "Story of a shattered life: A single childhood incident pushed Dawn Crey into a downward spiral | Vancouver Sun". November 24, 2001. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  7. The complete list of teams is available in the drop menus on the Department of Athletics' Home Page.
  8. 1 2 "NAIA History & Honours - Wrestling". Simon Fraser University Athletics. April 25, 2023.
  9. "CIS History & Honours". Simon Fraser University Athletics. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  10. "CIS Wrestling Championship Preview". Western Mustangs Sports. February 22, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  11. "Simon Fraser University to join NCAA Division II". CBC.ca. July 10, 2009.
  12. "SFU apart of historic first NCAA Division II conference for women's wrestling". Simon Fraser University Athletics. May 20, 2023. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  13. "Simon Fraser Swimming and Men's Wrestling to Join RMAC as Associate Members". rmacsports.org. June 7, 2023. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  14. "Olympians". Simon Fraser University Athletics. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  15. "2019 SFU International Open Recap: Bruntil Stuns the Field, McKendree & King Shine". American Women's Wrestling. November 3, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  16. Leithwood, Stephen (November 6, 2023). "Brock men's wrestling team competes at SFU Open". Brock University Athletics. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  17. "Alberni wrestlers return from SFU's War on Floor". Alberni Valley News. December 15, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  18. "Elphi wrestlers triumph at 'War on the floor,' eye the future". Coast Reporter. December 27, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  19. Simon Fraser University (July 10, 2009). "SFU first Canadian school in NCAA". Simon Fraser University. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  20. "Three football teams to join LSC as affiliate members" (Press release). Lone Star Conference. November 18, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  21. "President's Statement: SFU's varsity football program comes to an end" (Press release). Simon Fraser University. April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  22. Josh Curran (August 30, 2011). "Shrum Bowl called off for 2011 season". The Ubyssey. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  23. "SFU Exploring Business Models For NCAA Hockey, Sand Volleyball". Simon Fraser University Athletics. April 17, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  24. "SFU hockey brings college game's royalty to Copeland, North Dakota stars in showcase event | The Province". January 2, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  25. 1 2 3 Howard Tsumura (November 6, 2012). "SFU men's soccer sets up NCAA host home in San Francisco, CCAA nats at Coquitlam". The Province . Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  26. 1 2 Bob Romantic (November 14, 2012). "This Is Big: GCU Men's Soccer Happy to Host Super Regional Finals". News.GCU.edu. GCU Today. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  27. Liza Siamer (November 12, 2016). "SFU men's soccer ready to make long playoff run". The Peak. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  28. "Clan tabbed as Div. 2 west team to beat". Burnaby NOW. November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  29. "Simon Fraser University | Canada McFogg the Dog". athletics.sfu.ca. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  30. "SF News – September 5, 1996". www.sfu.ca. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  31. "The costumed campus". The Peak. November 17, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2015.