uWinnipeg rejects proposed tiering in CIS Canada West

May 3, 2011

The University of Winnipeg rejects a move spearheaded by the University of British Columbia to establish a two-tiered system of athletic competition in Canadian Interuniversity Sport's Canada West conference. The move would see student-athletes divided, with large institutions competing exclusively against each other, and smaller institutions regulated to a second tier within the conference. In a letter to the chairman of the Council of Western Canadian University Presidents, uWinnipeg president Lloyd Axworthy requests that UBC's idea be withdrawn, and that a proper and open process for discussion be put in place on the structure of interuniversity sport in Western Canada. Axworthy says uWinnipeg's Wesmen "are among the best in the country in terms of quality of play and deserve the same opportunities and challenges as other athletes across the university system." uWinnipeg News Release | Read the letter