That era ended Thursday when the CIS officially became U Sports.
The organizing body had been known as the CIS since 2001. It had been the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) from 1961 to 2001.
The sleeker U Sports branding has the approval of UVic athletic director Clint Hamilton.
“It’s a concept-oriented and unified idea to brand our 12,000 student athletes in Canada,” said Hamilton.
“It’s a brand that really hits the mark and will help grow the identity of university sports in Canada. It’s a great platform on which to boldly go forward.”
Introducing such a major branding change in mid-season is a bit awkward.
“There is never a perfect time,” acknowledged Hamilton.
“Because of the Rio Olympics, the launch would have been lost over the summer because all the attention was on the Games. This is nicely timed to build to the Vanier Cup [football championship game Nov. 26 at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont.].”
The change from CIS to U Sports goes into effect immediately. UVic athletic boss Hamilton realizes it may take time for people to get used to it.
“We view this as an evolution,” he said.
UVic is hosting two national championships this season — now to be known as the 2016 U Sports women’s rugby championship Nov. 3-6 at Wallace Field and the 2017 U Sports women’s basketball championship March 9-12 on the Ken and Kathy Shields Court in CARSA Gym.
“We see this as a transition,” said Hamilton.
“The U Sports branding will certainly be more profound in March at the basketball nationals than next month [at the women’s rugby nationals].”
U Sports features more than 12,000 student athletes and 500 coaches from 56 universities vying for 21 national championships in 12 sports.
Before becoming the CEO of U Sports, Graham Brown was the CEO of Rugby Canada and helped turn the fortunes of that sport in terms of marketing and national recognition. He has been working on the rebranding from CIS to U Sports for more than a year.
“This is a landmark day for us. Effective today, we are U Sports,” said Brown, in a statement.
“This is an important step towards a total transformation of our organization. Today’s announcement also aims to create a massive change in the way university sports are consumed in a fast-changing digital era.”
Vikes teams will begin the U Sports epoch today on both pitch and court.
The UVic men’s soccer team (4-9-1) needs to win its closing two games against Thompson Rivers and UBC-Okanagan (tonight and Saturday both at 7:15 at Centennial Stadium) in order to make the Canada West playoffs. It’s a slender thread as even that might not be enough as the Vikes will need help and hope the ball rolls right in other games, as well. This weekend will be the final home games for graduating Vikes players Adam Ravenhill, Sam Prette and goalkeeper Noah Pawlowski.
The women’s Vikes basketball team, meanwhile, opens against the host Rams today at the Ryerson tournament in Toronto. It’s a stiff assignment considering the Rams played in the national final last season against champion Saskatchewan.
The defending-champion UVic women’s rugby team will attempt to defend its Canada West title, beginning with a conference semifinal today against Alberta in Lethbridge. The other semifinal features the Calgary Dinos and host Pronghorns. The final is Sunday.
The playoff-bound UVic women’s soccer team closes out the regular season on the road Saturday and Sunday against the Manitoba Bisons and Winnipeg Wesmen.
