Canadian Interuniversity Sport football

Not to be confused with CIS national football team or CIS (rugby).

Canadian Interuniversity Sport football

Current season or competition: 2011 CIS football season
Formerly	CIAU football
Sport	Canadian football
Founded	1961
No. of teams	26, in four conferences
Country(ies)	Canada
Most recent champion(s)	McMaster Marauders
Most titles	Laval Rouge et Or (6) Western Ontario Mustangs (6)
TV partner(s)	The Score Television Network/TSN(English) Télévision de Radio-Canada(French)/SHAW TV
Related competitions	Vanier Cup
Official website	CIS football

The Canadian Interuniversity Sport football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of the CIS. Twenty-six teams from Canadian universities are divided into four conferences, drawing from the four regional associations of the CIS: Canada West Universities Athletic Association, Ontario University Athletics, Quebec Student Sports Federation, and Atlantic University Sport. At the end of every season, the champions of each conference advance to semifinal bowl games; the winners of these meet in the Vanier Cup national championship.

The origins of North American football can be traced here, where the first documented game was played at University College at the University of Toronto in 1861. A number of CIS programs have been in existence since the origins of the sport. It is from these Canadian universities that the game we now know as Canadian football, and its offshoot, American football, began. In 1874, McGill University (Montreal, Quebec) challenged Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) to a series of games. American football traces its roots to this varsity play.

The Grey Cup, the championship trophy of the professional Canadian Football League (CFL) since its founding in the 1950s, was originally contested by teams from the University of Toronto and Queen's University and other amateur teams in the early 1900s. Many CIS players have gone on to professional careers in the CFL and elsewhere; a number are drafted annually in the Canadian College Draft. In 2007, there were a record 120 CIS alumni on CFL rosters.

Season structure

Regular season

The Calgary Dinos playing against the Alberta Golden Bears in 2006.

The regular season is eight to nine weeks long, depending on the conference, and, as of 2010, opens on the Labour Day weekend. Teams play eight regular season games with the exception of the Quebec conference, which has played nine since 2010. Regular season games are in-conference with the exception of limited interlocking play between the Quebec and Atlantic conferences. Throughout the season, there are featured homecoming and rivalry games in most regions. Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Hec Crighton Trophy is awarded annually to the MVP of the CIS.

Playoffs

After the regular season, single elimination playoff games are held between the top teams in each conference to determine conference champions. In the Canada West and Quebec conferences, the top four teams qualify for the playoffs, while in the Atlantic conference the top three teams qualify. In Ontario, the top six teams qualify with the top two teams receiving playoff byes to the next round. Because the OUA teams have conference playoffs that last three weeks instead of two, the first round of the post-season in the OUA occurs during the same week that each of the other three conferences are playing their last regular season games. Each conference has its own championship trophy; the Hardy Trophy in the West, the Yates Cup in Ontario, the Dunsmore Cup in Quebec and the Jewett Trophy in the Atlantic conference. The conference champions proceed to national semifinal bowl games: the Mitchell Bowl and the Uteck Bowl. The participant conferences of each bowl are determined several years in advance on a rotating basis.

The Laval Rouge et Or on offense against the McMaster Marauders in the second quarter of the 47th Vanier Cup.

Vanier Cup

Main article: Vanier Cup

The winners of each bowl game meet in the Vanier Cup national championship, first established in 1965 and named in honour of Governor General Georges Vanier. The game was held in Toronto every year through 2003 when host conference bids were first accepted, yielding a move to Hamilton for 2004 and 2005, followed by Saskatoon in 2006. In 2007, the game returned to Toronto, along with the Grey Cup, which was hosted there for the first time since 1992. The Vanier Cup game moved back to Hamilton in 2008 before heading to Quebec City for the 2009 and 2010 games. The 2011 Vanier Cup was played in the newly renovated BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The next few years

There have recently been efforts at establishing new varsity football programs at institutions that currently do not have teams. A group of alumni from Carleton University in Ottawa have successfully revived that school's program that is now scheduled to return in 2013. The team will be a member of the Ontario University Athletics conference of Canadian Interuniversity Sport, returning football to Carleton University after a 15-year absence.

Because the AUS is the smallest conference in the CIS, there has been talk of adding more teams there, as well. There has been interest expressed in starting a team at the Université de Moncton, due to the recent construction of Moncton stadium. As of May 2011, the athletics department has submitted a feasibility report to the school's president and are going to base a large part of their decision upon how the Uteck Bowl in 2011 is received by the fans in Moncton. Additionally, a club team league, the Atlantic Football League, features four universities in what some hope will lead to varsity teams featured at some of these schools.

Teams

UBC Thunderbirds Alberta Golden Bears Calgary Dinos Saskatchewan Huskies Regina Rams Manitoba Bisons Windsor Lancers Western Mustangs Guelph Gryphons Laurier Golden Hawks Waterloo Warriors McMaster Marauders York Lions Toronto Varsity Blues Queen's Golden Gaels Ottawa Gee-Gees Carleton Ravens (2013) Concordia Stingers McGill Redmen Montreal Carabins Laval Rouge-et-Or Bishop's Gaiters Sherbrooke Vert-et-Or Mount Allison Mounties Acadia Axemen Saint Mary's Huskies St. Francis Xavier X-Men

Canada West Football Conference
Hardy Trophy

Institution	Team	City	Province	First season	Head coach	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity
University of British Columbia	Thunderbirds	Vancouver	BC	1923	Shawn Olson	43,579	$1.01B	Thunderbird Stadium	3,500
University of Calgary	Dinos	Calgary	AB	1964	Blake Nill	28,196	$444M	McMahon Stadium	35,650
University of Alberta	Golden Bears	Edmonton	AB	1910	Jeff Stead	36,435	$751M	Foote Field	3,500
University of Saskatchewan	Huskies	Saskatoon	SK	1912	Brian Towriss	19,082	$136.7M	Griffiths Stadium	6,171
University of Regina	Rams	Regina	SK	1999	Frank McCrystal	12,800	$25.9M	Mosaic Stadium	28,800
University of Manitoba	Bisons	Winnipeg	MB	1920	Brian Dobie	27,599	$303M	Investors Group Field	33,422

Ontario University Athletics
Yates Cup

Institution	Team	City	Province	First season	Head coach	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity
University of Windsor	Lancers	Windsor	ON	1968	Joe D'Amore	13,496	$32.5M	South Campus Stadium	2,000
University of Western Ontario	Mustangs	London	ON	1929	Greg Marshall	30,000	$266.6M	TD Waterhouse Stadium	10,000
University of Waterloo	Warriors	Waterloo	ON	1957	Joe Paopao	27,978	$172M	Warrior Field	5,200
Wilfrid Laurier University	Golden Hawks	Waterloo	ON	1961	Gary Jeffries	12,394	---	University Stadium	6,000
University of Guelph	Gryphons	Guelph	ON	1950	Stu Lang	19,408	$164.2M	Alumni Stadium	5,100
McMaster University	Marauders	Hamilton	ON	1901	Stefan Ptaszek	25,688	$498.5M	Ron Joyce Stadium	6,000
University of Toronto	Varsity Blues	Toronto	ON	1877	Greg Gary	73,185	$1.823B	Varsity Stadium	5,000
York University	Lions	Toronto	ON	1969	Warren Craney	42,400	$306M	York Stadium	2,500
Queen's University	Golden Gaels	Kingston	ON	1882	Pat Sheahan	20,566	$657M	Richardson Stadium	10,258
University of Ottawa	Gee-Gees	Ottawa	ON	1894	Jean Philippe-Asselin	35,548	$128.4M	New Gee-Gees Stadium	3,500
Future Teams
Carleton University	Ravens	Ottawa	ON	1945	Steve Sumarah	25,890	$230M	Keith Harris Stadium	3,000

Quebec University Football League
Dunsmore Cup

Institution	Team	City	Province	First season	Affiliation	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity
Concordia University	Stingers	Montreal	QC	1974	Gerry McGrath	38,809	$54.4M	Concordia Stadium	4,000
Université de Montréal	Carabins	Montreal	QC	2002	Danny Maciocia	55,540	$89.5M	CEPSUM Stadium	5,100
McGill University	Redmen	Montreal	QC	1898	Clint Uttley	32,514	$973.6M	Molson Stadium	25,012
Université Laval	Rouge et Or	Quebec City	QC	1996	Glen Constantin	37,591	$105.3M	PEPS Stadium	12,257
Université de Sherbrooke	Vert et Or	Sherbrooke	QC	1971	David Lessard	35,000	---	University of Sherbrooke Stadium	8,000
Bishop's University	Gaiters	Sherbrooke	QC	1884	Kevin Mackey	1,817	---	Coulter Field	3,000

Atlantic University Football Conference
Jewett Trophy

Institution	Team	City	Province	First season	Affiliation	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity
Acadia University	Axemen	Wolfville	NS	1957	Jeff Cummins	3,770	$40M	Raymond Field	3,000
Mount Allison University	Mounties	Sackville	NB	1955	Kelly Jeffrey	2,614	$82.8M	MacAulay Field	2,500
Saint Francis Xavier University	X-Men	Antigonish	NS	1954	Gary Waterman	4,871	$59.4M	Oland Stadium	4,000
Saint Mary's University	Huskies	Halifax	NS	1956	Perry Marchese	7,433	$16.9M	Huskies Stadium	4,000

Awards and the annual All-Canadian Team

Main article: Canadian Interuniversity Sport Football All-Canadian Team

There are post-season awards for on-the-field excellence. The players deemed to be the best at each position are named to the annual All-Canadian Football Team as first or second team players.

Additionally there are a number of individual awards for categories like "best defensive player".

CIS football players in the professional leagues

As of 2009, there were 111 CIS football players on the rosters of Canadian Football League teams. [1]

As of 2010, the CIS had produced 25 players who have earned a spot on an NFL roster (including three who did not play a regular season game; players listed in chronological order by entry year in NFL):

1945 Joe Krol, Western Ontario, K/RB.
1947 Les Lear, Manitoba, OG/OT.
1960 Bill Crawford, UBC, OG.
1965 Jim Young, Queen's, RB/R.
1976 Brian Fryer, Alberta, R.
1979 Ken Clark, Saint Mary's, P.
1986 Mike Schad, Queen's, OG.
1987 Brian Belway, Calgary, DE.
1987 Dave Sparenberg, Western Ontario, OG.
1987 Brant Bengen, UBC and Idaho, WR.
1988 Dean Dorsey, Toronto, K.
1992 Tyrone Williams, Western Ontario, WR.
1995 Tim Tindale, Western Ontario, RB.

1995 Mark Montreuil, Concordia, CB.
1995 Mark Hatfield, Bishop's, OL.
1996 Grayson Shillingford, UBC, SB.
1998 Jerome Pathon, Acadia & U. of Washington, R.
2001 Randy Chevrier, McGill, LS/DE.
2000 J. P. Darche, McGill, LS/LB.
2003 Israel Idonije, Manitoba, DL.
2004 Steve Morley, Saint Mary's, OG/OT.
2006 Daniel Federkeil, Calgary, DE.
2006 Jon Ryan, Regina, K.
2009 Vaughn Martin, Western Ontario, DL.
2010 Cory Greenwood, Concordia, LB.

NFL Draft

In the 2009 NFL draft, the San Diego Chargers selected defensive lineman Vaughn Martin from Western Ontario in the fourth round. Martin became the first CIS underclassman to be selected in the NFL draft.

See also

• Canadian Junior Football League, Quebec Junior Football League
• Football Canada
• Canadian Football
• Canadian Football League
• College Football
• Canadian Interuniversity Sport
• Canadian Colleges Athletic Association
• Comparison of Canadian and American football
• CEGEP
• List of Canadian Football stadia by capacity

External links

• Official website of CIS football (English version)
• A History of Canadian University Football