Simon Fraser to cut football program.

[D2Rover]

I'm not going to pretend that Simon Fraser handled everything well, but my impression was that they picked up the phone, USports in Canada said no to joining for football only, maybe same with a couple American conferences, and they gave up. I've heard rumours there is now a much better chance of them playing Canadian football after taking this year off, primarily (drawing my own conclusions) because cutting the program made the issues with finding games public, and USports would do significant reputational damage by forcing a football program to shut down when they need a lifeline.

Also, I love having Simon Fraser in D2. Been up for Volleyball before, it's a weird gym but the environment isn't terrible for bigger games. Men's soccer has been strong too, and their women's basketball teams are always entertaining even if not the top performer in the conference. And for some GNAC fans, having the old rival back from the NAIA days is worth the trouble of the border - which admittedly is more trouble than it was in the NAIA days.

[tsull]

I'm not going to pretend that Simon Fraser handled everything well, but my impression was that they picked up the phone, USports in Canada said no to joining for football only, maybe same with a couple American conferences, and they gave up. I've heard rumours there is now a much better chance of them playing Canadian football after taking this year off, primarily (drawing my own conclusions) because cutting the program made the issues with finding games public, and USports would do significant reputational damage by forcing a football program to shut down when they need a lifeline.

Also, I love having Simon Fraser in D2. Been up for Volleyball before, it's a weird gym but the environment isn't terrible for bigger games. Men's soccer has been strong too, and their women's basketball teams are always entertaining even if not the top performer in the conference. And for some GNAC fans, having the old rival back from the NAIA days is worth the trouble of the border - which admittedly is more trouble than it was in the NAIA days.

I have to disagree. I don't think they were turned down by Canadian Collegiate football leagues, no way. Not from the people that I know. They wanted them playing up there for a while. They bring very little to the GNAC other than being good in some minor sports. It is a hassle to get over the border and it's really not worth it and I wish the conference would get the courage up to kick them out. Eliminating football was an anti-student move and it made no sense. The GNAC needs to follow up and penalize them for this move and kick them out of the conference. Simon Fraser gets 200 a game in men's hoops. I'm not sure where you get that there's an NAIA rivalry going on with them from the past. They've never had rival in the United States. The Vancouver area is tremendous, but Simon Fraser University athletics stink and the conference needs to get rid of them.

[D2Rover]

I have to disagree. I don't think they were turned down by Canadian Collegiate football leagues, no way. Not from the people that I know. They wanted them playing up there for a while. They bring very little to the GNAC other than being good in some minor sports. It is a hassle to get over the border and it's really not worth it and I wish the conference would get the courage up to kick them out. Eliminating football was an anti-student move and it made no sense. The GNAC needs to follow up and penalize them for this move and kick them out of the conference. Simon Fraser gets 200 a game in men's hoops. I'm not sure where you get that there's an NAIA rivalry going on with them from the past. They've never had rival in the United States. The Vancouver area is tremendous, but Simon Fraser University athletics stink and the conference needs to get rid of them.

I doubt the LSC football forum wants to watch us fight about GNAC basketball attendances, but Simon Fraser averaged 449 a game this year to support a team that won one conference game. For reference, Western Oregon only got 336 a game for their .500 team. For MBB, WBB, VB (which all matter in the GNAC), Simon Fraser aren't at the level Anchorage, WWU, CWU, or Nazarene are for attendance, but they're the best of the other 6. And in spite of the border, they're still geographically pretty central - it really isn't as bad a trip as Billings, Fairbanks, or Anchorage.

Also, the GNAC is 10 teams on a (giant) geographic island right now as far as D2 schools, and nobody in the PNW wants to jump from D3 or NAIA to D2. Kicking somebody out for dropping a sport the conference dropped over a decade ago - especially when there are other unstable situations in the conference right now - would be absurd.

Back to football - the support/outcry from alumni, media, and the Canadian Football community as a whole was clearly more than SFU foresaw, and having guys like Amar Doman willing to put financial backing behind it gives me some hope they'll find a way to keep it alive or revive it in the near future.

[tsull]

I doubt the LSC football forum wants to watch us fight about GNAC basketball attendances, but Simon Fraser averaged 449 a game this year to support a team that won one conference game. For reference, Western Oregon only got 336 a game for their .500 team. For MBB, WBB, VB (which all matter in the GNAC), Simon Fraser aren't at the level Anchorage, WWU, CWU, or Nazarene are for attendance, but they're the best of the other 6. And in spite of the border, they're still geographically pretty central - it really isn't as bad a trip as Billings, Fairbanks, or Anchorage.

Also, the GNAC is 10 teams on a (giant) geographic island right now as far as D2 schools, and nobody in the PNW wants to jump from D3 or NAIA to D2. Kicking somebody out for dropping a sport the conference dropped over a decade ago - especially when there are other unstable situations in the conference right now - would be absurd.

Back to football - the support/outcry from alumni, media, and the Canadian Football community as a whole was clearly more than SFU foresaw, and having guys like Amar Doman willing to put financial backing behind it gives me some hope they'll find a way to keep it alive or revive it in the near future.

While I won't defend Western Oregon's low basketball attendance, I've hammered them long enough on that, Western Oregon has had eight winning seasons in the last decade, had a final four berth, and a number one national ranking in the sport.

Middle of the conference in football last year.. They got second in men's track. Overall a pretty good year. I don't see what Simon Fraser brings to the table in the conference other than just another team. It's really a chore to make all your athletes get passports. I have one but I'm an adult and it seems like just a burden for college students to be required to do this so they can play in front of no one up in Canada.

Simon Fraser always hung its hat on being the only Canadian school in the NCAA. Meanwhile if you go up there no one cares about that except the administration and it's all to feed their egos. If they want to bring back football, great, and they should help Western Oregon and others form a West Coast small college football league. I'm not seeing what they bring to the table other than just another school. The way they flipped off their football players was unconscionable and they shouldn't be rewarded for that.

[Millsy]

While I won't defend Western Oregon's low basketball attendance, I've hammered them long enough on that, Western Oregon has had eight winning seasons in the last decade, had a final four berth, and a number one national ranking in the sport.

Middle of the conference in football last year.. They got second in men's track. Overall a pretty good year. I don't see what Simon Fraser brings to the table in the conference other than just another team. It's really a chore to make all your athletes get passports. I have one but I'm an adult and it seems like just a burden for college students to be required to do this so they can play in front of no one up in Canada.

Simon Fraser always hung its hat on being the only Canadian school in the NCAA. Meanwhile if you go up there no one cares about that except the administration and it's all to feed their egos. If they want to bring back football, great, and they should help Western Oregon and others form a West Coast small college football league. I'm not seeing what they bring to the table other than just another school. The way they flipped off their football players was unconscionable and they shouldn't be rewarded for that.

I think they were also hoping to be able to hang their hat on NCAA D-I Hockey. But with the lack of a western NCAA D-I league, plus the strength of the WHL and the other junior leagues, it would have been a tough road for them.

[tsull]

I think they were also hoping to be able to hang their hat on NCAA D-I Hockey. But with the lack of a western NCAA D-I league, plus the strength of the WHL and the other junior leagues, it would have been a tough road for them.

They bring little to the table other than being a pain in the a$$ for athletes to get passports. Decent at minor sports, don't care about men's and women's hoops, and dropped football. I don't understand the digging in the heels of the administration in staying NCAA, no one up there cares. Gotta like how they build a new football stadium and cut the sport ... that's how stupid they are.

[cwfenn]

FYI-SFU athletic director Theresa Hanson stepped down on August 2. Someone else gets to deal with the football mess.

[tsull]

FYI-SFU athletic director Theresa Hanson stepped down on August 2. Someone else gets to deal with the football mess.

The former president at Humboldt State, she also quit right after cutting football. She retired. But it's easier to cut things and get out of town than actually fight and put some effort in and have a heart and soul. These administrators are sickening.

[cwfenn]

The former president at Humboldt State, she also quit right after cutting football. She retired. But it's easier to cut things and get out of town than actually fight and put some effort in and have a heart and soul. These administrators are sickening.

Yep. University of Hartford president took retirement after shoving their athletics programs down from D1 to D3.

[Predatory Primates]

Don't you actually have to have a football program before you can cut it?

[WT_TKW]

Don't you actually have to have a football program before you can cut it?

They ended the Hughes era, for which I will always be grateful.

[cwfenn]

They ended the Hughes era, for which I will always be grateful.

That will be an important theme when I write up the WT preview. They beat the #17 ranked team by five touchdowns in week 1 and finished the season losing to SFU by five touchdowns.

[Tech Boys]

Consultant offers SFU a playbook to revive football, but many obstacles remain

http://thebreaker.news/news/sfu-copeland-report/

[crixus]

Consultant offers SFU a playbook to revive football, but many obstacles remain

http://thebreaker.news/news/sfu-copeland-report/

I hope SFU revives football, but the longer they wait (those many remaining obstacles) hurts their chances. People at Humboldt thought they'd revive their program, but that hasn't gone anywhere. Unfortunately.

[Buffalo/Islander Alum]

I hope SFU revives football, but the longer they wait (those many remaining obstacles) hurts their chances. People at Humboldt thought they'd revive their program, but that hasn't gone anywhere. Unfortunately.

Not sure how this works but if they revive football I doubt there would be any place for them in D2 especially out west and not after throwing the LSC schedule into chaos.

Could a school play NAIA/Canadian football and keep all other sports D2?

I know some schools play D1 hockey but D2/D3 for the rest.