History of U SPORTS
The U SPORTS brand was unveiled on October 20th, 2016 to recognize the more than 118 years of our history. The brand is one title, instantly recognizable and identical in both French and English, with one goal: To give our student-athletes and national championships the visibility, appreciation and reward they deserve.
Like CIAU and CIS, U Sports will continue its role as the leader of university sports in Canada. But we are becoming much more. The U Sports brand aims to create a massive change in the way Canadians see university sports in the digital era. Our commitment is to revitalize our place in the national sport conversation by using every technology possible to highlight, celebrate, and present the accomplishments of these remarkable young individuals who pursue the toughest double major of all. Full-time scholar and full-time athlete.
It is a transformation that began in 2015 with a new vision.
It’s a big job in a big country. After all, we represent 58 universities, nearly 15,000 student-athletes, 7,700 hundred games and events per year… and millions of stories.
It all comes together under one brand: U SPORTS.
U SPORTS ORIGINS: CIAU Central (1906-1955) & WIAU/O-QWICA (1923-1970)
The original CIAU Central, founded in 1906 and existed until 1955, was composed only of universities from Ontario and Quebec. The period from 1906 to 1919 saw the development of university sports on university campuses across the country. The semi-national organization, CIAU Central, provided common rules and regulations.
In the East, the Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (AIAA) was founded in 1910, with members from the provinces of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. The association was reformulated to the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association (AUAA) b and has 10 members. The AUAA was one of the original members of the CIAU national organization.
The Western Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WIAA) was founded in 1920 and included members from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
At the same time, women's programs were expanding and required organization. In 1923, the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) was founded to provide athletic competition for female students in Ontario and the Ontario-Quebec Women's Intercollegiate Athletics (O-QWICA) coordinated programs for female students in Ontario and Quebec.
A growth spurt between 1944 and 1955 saw CIAU Central grow into a large group of nineteen (19) member universities, each of which had diverse enrolment, philosophy, and practices both academically and athletically. The result saw the collapse of CIAU Central as there was no forum to evaluate or research policy to adjudicate conflicts within the organization.
A time of change - Breakup of CIAU Central, new conference structures 1955-71
After the break-up , the universities divided into the Ontario-Quebec University Athletic Association (OQUAA) with 12 members and the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Athletic Association (OSLAA) with 8 members. The Ontario Intercollegiate Athletic Association (OIAA) was founded in 1959 with members only from Ontario.
The OIAA lasted from 1959 to 1971, when it was dissolved as a competing league. In 1971, OQUAA and OSLAA reformulated into the Ontario University Athletic Association (OUAA) with 15 member universities from Ontario and the Quebec University Athletic Association (QUAA) with 10 member universities from Quebec. The QUAA became the Quebec Student Sports Federation, now Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (QSSF/RSEQ) in 1989 as the Quebec school sport structure changed to include CEGEPS and High Schools.
In 1971, the WIAA subdivided into the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA) with 6 members and the Great Plains Athletic Association (GPAC) with 3 members primarily from the province of Manitoba, the University of Regina from the province of Saskatchewan and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Growth of women's sport - Mergers and a new national body, the CWIAU (1970)
In 1971, the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) amalgamated with the Ontario-Quebec Women's Conference to form the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Union (OWIAA). At the national level, the Western Canada Intercollegiate Athletic Association submitted a proposal to the National Committee on Interuniversity Competition, a sub-committee of the University Women's Physical Education Committee, and to other conferences. The proposal was presented to representatives of each conference at a meeting in December 1969. The amalgamation proposal was accepted, resulting in the formulation of the Canadian Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union to organize national championships for women. The first "unofficial" national championship sanctioned by the CWIAU was volleyball played at the University of Waterloo in March 1970.
Forming of the modern CIAU (1961) and amalgamation with CWIAU (1977)
The modern Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) was reconstituted in 1961 and was represented by various universities from coast to coast. With financial assistance from the Federal Government, universities committed themselves to excellence in their sports programs, increased their schedules, and assigned coaches to year-round programs to assist the federal government in identifying talent, national training centers, provision of facilities, sport research, and testing, all with an eye on developing international competitors. The F&AS budget rose from $1 million in 1961 to $20 million by the decade's end. In the 1970s, the financial commitment was expanded to the CIAU to include funds for travel equalization, increases to national championship travel, and involvement in international competitions (World University Games). The federal government encouraged the CIAU to participate in high-performance sports by providing funding support.
In summary, the Federal Government's support for the CIAU was to serve the national priorities such as:
1. coordination, promotion and development of high-performance sport;
2. provisions of administration and technical leadership, policy direction, consultative services, and financial resources to function effectively as the primary agent for excellence in sport policy.
This direction from the Federal Government was viewed as a mixed blessing by CIAU member universities as some felt a loss of autonomy and a conflict of philosophy.
In 1977, the CWIAU and the CIAU submitted a joint proposal to the federal government for funding to support their league travel. The two organizations amalgamated to form the CIAU and received enhanced financial support from Sport Canada.
A final transitional step occurred in May 1997, whereby the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Union (OWIAA) officially amalgamated with the Ontario University Athletic Association (OUAA) to form one organization, the Ontario University Athletics (OUA)
A new name for a new century: Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS)
In June 2001, the CIAU membership voted to change the organization's name and logo to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).
This new name more accurately reflects the organization's mission and function, given that "athletics" conveys "track and field," and the term "union" applies to labour organizations.
CIS unveiled on June 10, 2010 a new acronym-based logo, the first step in a global rebranding plan and new web bilingual website.
CIS has evolved into a strong Canadian brand and has come to be known simply as "CIS." The new logo, boldly featuring the letters "CIS," reflects this revolution. The traditional black and red ribbon with maple leaf cut-out forms the foundation of this trademark.
