The 40th U SPORTS Annual Meeting and 2017 conference runs June 5-8 at the Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale, where all 56 members have gathered for three days of thematic presentations and workshops. The discussions will form the foundation for the future of university sport in Canada.
Stay up to date below with key highlights from each day, and follow us on Twitter @USPORTSca for live coverage.
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Day 3 – Wednesday, June 7, 2017
1. U SPORTS Awards Gala, sponsored by Athlex
On Wednesday night, the 2017 U SPORTS Honours Awards were handed out, celebrating the four distinguished individuals for their contributions to university sport in Canada.
Olga Hrycak (Jean-Marie De Koninck Coaching Excellence Award)
Cleve Dheensaw (Fred Sgambati Media Award)
Coleen Dufresne (Austin-Matthews Award)
The late Adam Zimmerman (L.B. “Mike” Pearson Award)
Click here for the full awards Release.
2. Awards Gala Keynote Address
Former Olympic women’s hockey coach Danièle Sauvageau, who led Team Canada to a gold medal in 2002 in Salt Lake City addressed award winners and members during the Awards Gala.
"There is close to 100,000 women playing hockey in this country and right now we are the second-best in the world…The future of women’s hockey resides in Canada through (U SPORTS).”
3. International Programs Development Workshop
The FISU Universiade is the second-largest sporting event in the world, providing a high-performance pathway towards the Olympics.
9 of Canada’s 22 medals at Rio 2016 won by former Universiade participants
29 U SPORTS schools represented at 2017 Winter Universiade
30 schools represented at 2016 World University Championships
Day 2 – Tuesday, June 6, 2017
1. Creating a high-performance environment
Mike Chu, NZ Rugby
On Tuesday, conference facilitator Mike Chu of NZ Rugby described the tradition and rich culture that comes with being a member of the New Zealand rugby union, the most successful rugby club in the world.
“The All Blacks talk a lot about guardianship of the legacy – that you are just transient in that jersey,” he said. “When you put that jersey on, you want to leave that jersey in a better place for the next player.”
2. Student-Athlete Mental-Health Initiative
“Student-Athletes are suffering in silence because they’ve grown up to think that sharing any type of weakness is something that they should be ashamed of. “They’re keeping that to themselves and they’re not getting the help that they need.”
- Samantha DeLenardo, SAMHI
3. High School Marketing Campaign
A high school marketing campaign, targeting prospective U SPORTS student-athletes will launch for the 2017-18 season – in partnership with School Sport Canada, the governing body of Canadian high school athletics.
4. Exhibitor Tradeshow
Over 30 vendors on display, offering new business opportunities to U SPORTS members
Day 1 – Monday, June 5, 2017
Kicking off the 40th U SPORTS Annual Meeting and 2017 Conference, Monday put the spotlight on student-athletes – from ensuring their welfare to embracing a culture of storytelling in order to build the product of university sport.
Key Facts and Highlights
Keynote Address:
NCAA in the 21st Century: Opportunities, Challenges and Lessons Learned
Oliver Luck, executive vice president of regulatory affairs, NCAA
In Monday’s keynote address, Oliver Luck shared his passion working for the NCAA and university sport, highlighting health and safety, academics, competitive equity, and revenue generation as keys for U SPORTS to grow as a business.
“The word ‘amateur’ comes from a Latin meaning of ‘to love,’ Luck said. “And that’s what university sport comes down to.”
Elevating the broadcast quality of university sport in Canada
“We’re a storytelling business. There is a no story too small...every little details counts because we never know what will become a story on that game day.”
- Chris Black, Sportsnet
“There is no reason going forward why we can’t make U SPORTS look and sound like an Olympic production.”
- Dan Fernandes, Sportsnet
Athlete Welfare
An injury data collection system is a potential useful tool in maintaining the welfare of U SPORTS student athletes – tracking where and when they played and how the injury occurred
Concussion Legacy Foundation Canada already working with Western University and McGill University among several U SPORTS schools, with a goal of preventing concussions
2 weeks - the average recovery time for a concussion if properly treated and reported