VIU to host CIS, FYI

Thursday and Friday of this week, CIS officials will visit Vancouver Island University in one of the many steps necessary before VIU can join Canada West.

It sounds like they're only considering basketball and volleyball for now. Last week, athletic director Bruce Hunter repeatedly described their facilities as "adequate" and "nice" so one assumes that those two sports are about as much as they could handle at this point.

[The officials] are expected to arrive next Thursday and will spend the majority of Friday in meetings with Hunter, his support staff, Mariners coaches and select Mariners athletes before they attend the Mariners men's and women's basketball games in the VIU gymnasium later that evening.

Following their tour through VIU, the bid committee will compile a report which they will then present at the Canada West winter meetings in February. A final vote on the bid will take place in early June.

--The VIU News


Tony Bryce, the men's basketball coach, wasn't too optimistic about the application back in February: "This year we are operating with a strict budget that is nowhere near what they spend at the CIS level. I'm very curious how they expect us to become competitive at the CIS level. It's going to require extreme financial backing to make it happen. [...] What are the chances of us recruiting a top player off the Island over UVic? Slim and none."

As Andrew pointed out last month, it's one thing to consider these new schools full-fledged universities, let alone expect their basketball programs to succeed in the travel-heavy Canada West. But actually, a "dimly lit gymnasium with movable bleachers" and 400 fans on average sounds a lot like another school's facilities...so maybe VIU isn't such a long shot after all.

Related:
University eyes big league (Nanaimo News Bulletin)
VIU rolls out the welcome mat (The VIU News, Oct. 30)
Malaspina applying to join CIS (Nanaimo Daily News, Feb. 12)

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Breaking down the potential new CIS members... (Oct. 10)
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3 comments:

  1. That dimly-lit gymnasium could also just as easily refer to Concordia's facilities.

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  2. Queen's current gyms aren't all that great, either (although they do seat a few more people). I think the cost is probably going to be a bigger issue, especially in travel-intensive Canada West. Interesting that prominent people within the university itself don't seem that high on the bid...you'd think they'd have the rose-coloured glasses on.

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  3. A dimly-lit 400-seat gym could be one of about 10 in Ontario or Quebec!.

    I was in Malaspina's gym a couple of years ago. It was fine, as they go. It would fit in perfectly in the OUA, but probably looks a little dowdy and small by CW standards.

    My suspicion is that the newly-minted BC schools are banking on the fact that their entry means that they would play more of their games in BC, and not have so many trips to the Mountain and Central divisions.

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