Aug/Sept '23 - OVO Collabs, Return of U SPORTS Action, Canadian Women Breaking Barriers

Welcome to PRSPECTVES, a monthly digest of all the major news and stories happening across Canadian university sports, accompanied by intentional introductions to tools and resources that can aid student-athletes in excelling professionally, academically, and personally.

In this edition, we'll be recapping all the cant-miss news and stories that unfolded within the Canadian university sports landscape through the months of August and September. 

Let's tap in!

"It's different if you're doing all of that work and your whole tuition is paid for, but you're doing [so] much only just [to receive] such a little bit of money"

We sat down with Canadian Football League All-Star Kurleigh Gittens Jr. this past summer for a candid conversation on the financial experiences that student-athletes face in Canada.

What stood out to many were his thoughts on the lack of scholarships that existed - at the time - for student-athletes in Canada, with this quote becoming a catalyst for conversations among athletes, coaches, and supporters across the country.

U SPORTS Makes Significant Changes To Athletic Scholarship And Athlete Eligibility Framework

On September 28th, U SPORTS announced they'd be making significant changes to the student-athlete athletic scholarship framework and eligibility requirements beginning in the 2024-25 season.

These changes include:

• First-time entering student-athletes will be permitted to participate and receive an athletic scholarship so long as they have been accepted to a member university and enrolled in degree-granting courses
• Gone will be the existing policy that requires entering student-athletes to have an 80% average in their final year of high school or CEGEP to be eligible for an entering athletic scholarship and a 60% average to participate athletically in their first year of study
• Beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year, U SPORTS institutions will be required to distribute a minimum of 45% of their total Athletic Scholarship units to student-athletes on men’s teams and a minimum of 45% of their total AFA units to student-athletes on women’s teams
• An AFA (athletic scholarship) unit equals 100% of tuition and mandatory fees for any student-athlete during an academic year

FINALLY!

With student-athletes dedicating an immense amount of hours towards representing their universities, the move to compensate student-athletes with scholarships that cover 100% of tuition and mandatory fees is long overdue.

“These changes intend to remove systemic barriers impacting a student-athlete’s ability to participate in U SPORTS and receive funding assistance for pursuing their education,” said Pierre Arsenault , U SPORTS Chief Executive Officer. “Our focus is to make university studies and sports participation more accessible. For current entering student-athletes participation in U SPORTS depends on their high school or CEGEP grades. Therefore, we chose to align participation and scholarship qualification with admission to an institution.” 

There is still an immense of amount work that needs to be done to support student-athletes in Canada, but this is a great step in the right direction!

🏈 Manitoba’s Maya Turner Makes History

University of Manitoba Bisons’ kicker Maya Turner made history on September 23rd when she became the first Woman to ever both play in, and score points in a U SPORTS regular season football game when she kicked a 21-yard field during the 2nd quarter of the Bison’s game against the University of Regina Rams.

After making history in the 2nd quarter, Turner would go on to kick the game-winning field goal in overtime to give the Bisons their first win over the season. 

In total, Turner was perfect on field goals and extra points, recording a total of nine points in the win. 

The performance earned Turner U SPORTS special teams player of the week honours. 

• Turner's barrier-breaking field goal in the 2nd quarter can be watched here
• Turner's historic eventual game-winning field goal in overtime can be watched here

🏒 U SPORTS Players Selected in PWHL Draft

The new PWHL held their inaugural draft this past September, and among the 90 players selected, four were from U SPORTS schools. 

• Jade Downie-Landry ( McGill University ) Selected 52nd Overall by New York Sirens
• Anne-Sophie Bettez ( McGill University ) Selected 79th Overall by Victoire de Montréal
• Alexandra Labelle ( Université de Montréal ) Selected 88th Overall by New York Sirens
• Audrey-Anne Veillette ( Université de Montréal ) Selected 89th Overall by Ottawa Charge

🎨 🏀 Former U of T Athlete Designs WNBA Court

Former University of Toronto Women’s basketball player Fiorella Granda was the creative director and lead artist for Canada's first WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) -themed court, designed in Toronto.

• The court design can be viewed here

Done in collaboration with the National Basketball Association (NBA) , City of Toronto , and Dairy Farmers of Ontario , the refurbished court was created with the intention of celebrating the growth of Women's basketball in Canada and around the world.

🦉 Who's Collaborating with OVO

The University of Toronto released the latest instalment of their apparel collaboration with October's Very Own (OVO) this past August.

This was U of T’s third consecutive year collaborating with the world-renowned clothing brand.

• A closer look at the full line of this year's apparel collaboration between the two can be found here

🏆 Who's Winning World Championships

Former York University track and field athlete Pierce LePage won Gold in the decathlon at the World Athletics Championships this past August.

• LePage became the first Canadian to win Gold in the event at the World Athletics Championships 

💻 What To Watch

From Guyana to Ottawa to Waterloo to Toronto: a sit down with former U SPORTS All-Canadian, Wilfrid Laurier University alumni and current Toronto Argonauts receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr. on the first episode of Tuition Talks as he chats about the evolution of his financial journey from his days as a U SPORTS athlete to now being a father and one of the brightest - and highest paid - young stars in the Canadian Football League .

• The first episode of Tuition Talks with Kurleigh Gittens. Jr can be watched here

💔 🏈 Heartbreak On Commentary

Our most-watched video on socials in the month of September was from a U SPORTS regular season football game between the Western University Mustangs and the Queen's University Gaels.

After trailing by two points, with less than a minute remaining in the 4th quarter, Western quarterback Evan Hillock threw a 55-yard game-winning touchdown, lifting the Mustangs to a 32-37 win over Queen's.

But, surprisingly, it wasn't the touchdown itself that caught the attention of many.

It was the heartbreaking reaction of the Queen's commentator!

WATCH HERE

Since being published, this video has garnered over 150,000 views across PRSVRE channels.

After first garnering attention after being shared across PRSVRE Media Group channels, this video went viral, finding its way onto platforms such as Sports Illustrated , TSN - The Sports Network - Canada , ESPN , Bleacher Report , and many more.

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