Membership in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association is still the goal of UNBC and its athletics department. On Monday, steps toward Canada West were taken when CWUAA officials Clint Hamilton and Sandy Slavin visited the city.
UNBC -- which was turned down for membership last May after a one-year deferral on the decision -- re-applied for Canada West inclusion last September. The key difference on the latest application was that it included membership in soccer, not just basketball.
On Monday, Hamilton and Slavin were most interested in the soccer component of the paperwork and how it would be presented to the Canada West membership during a Feb. 8 meeting in Calgary.
"Most of their questions or queries around our application had to do with further supplementing our presentation with more soccer material and just demonstration of support for that program moving forward," UNBC athletics director Jason Kerswill told The Citizen on Tuesday.
Hamilton, athletics director at the University of Victoria, is also president of Canadian Interuniversity Sport, of which the CWUAA is a part. Slavin, the AD at the University of Lethbridge, is the Canada West president.
UNBC currently has men's and women's soccer teams, and men's and women's basketball teams, competing in the B.C. Colleges Athletic Association.
Kerswill said he "definitely feels confident" after the meeting with Hamilton and Slavin. The inclusion of soccer, Kerswill said, makes UNBC's application stronger than the previous one.
"The feedback that I've received from other athletic directors, from when I started here until now, is that it was very important for us to put an application forward with a second sport," said Kerswill, who was hired in July to replace Len McNamara, who was relieved of his duties more than 10 months earlier. "It only made sense for us to move forward with soccer. There definitely is some work to do on the soccer side to get it to the level where they'd be competitive at Canada West and I'm committed to seeing that through. Our soccer coaches are excited about that and it will be a good process."
This fall, the UNBC soccer teams completed their fourth seasons in the BCCAA. The women's team -- in part because of a lack of financial support from the school -- had trouble attracting players and struggled badly. The men's team, however, qualified for playoffs and then surprised all observers by winning a silver medal.
The basketball teams, meanwhile, have been strong for several years now. Last season, the UNBC men brought the program its first-ever national championship.
When UNBC's application of May 2010 was rejected, some CWUAA members expressed concern about the long-vacant athletic director position. Kerswill said his presence this time around should be another check mark in UNBC's favour.
"I think we're in a good position but nothing's ever a guarantee though," he said. "Every athletic director in Canada West has a vote and we still have to earn 75 per cent of those votes.
"I feel as though [Hamilton and Slavin] are very comfortable with what we can bring to the table."
Kerswill will present UNBC's case at the Feb. 8 gathering in Calgary. A final decision is anticipated in May. If UNBC is finally accepted, Kerswill said the teams would join the Canada West family for the start of the 2012-13 season.
Calgary's Mount Royal University is also applying for Canada West inclusion. Grant MacEwan University of Edmonton had submitted an application but it was later withdrawn.
