Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Halifax, Nova Scotia - Dalhousie Director of Athletics and Recreational Services, John MacDonald announced today Dalhousie University has submitted a bid to host the CIS Men’s Hockey Championship for 2013 and 2014. If the bid is successful, this will be the first time that the men’s national university championship will take place in Halifax. Dalhousie has a solid history of hosting CIS championships, hosting 16 events since 1968, including championships in all of Dalhousie’s sports except track and field and hockey.
 
Dalhousie is working with Trade Centre Limited, the Halifax Metro Centre, where the event would be held, along with Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI) in ensuring the primary focus of Dalhousie’s bid submission was on the student-athlete experience. The bid is backed by the University administration and students, the city and the province, as well as numerous corporate partners, as indicated by letters of support included in the bid document.
 
MacDonald is confident in Dal’s bid to host the event, “Working with our partners Trade Centre and NSBI, Dalhousie will be providing an experience that will provide our students, athletes and the corporate community a unique and engaging opportunity to showcase CIS hockey. Halifax as a host city has a proven track record of delivering top-notch events on the world hockey stage.”  
 
A unique element of Dalhousie’s bid is the partnership with NSBI to integrate a career fair as part of the event. It’s anticipated that regional universities would take part in this largest-ever corporate recruiting event staged in Atlantic Canada. The Dalhousie bid offers an emphasis on the student-athlete, ensuring a quality experience for student-athletes participating in the championship. Including such perks as covering the cost of meals, ground transportation and accommodations, access to a student-athlete lounge with high speed wireless internet service, TV’s and snacks, and hosting events and activities to introduce participating athletes to the area, the commitment is clear about providing a top quality experience for the student-athlete. Dalhousie will also be encouraging participating teams to engage their local Atlantic alumni to support their individual teams through a host ambassador program that will have an alumnus from each school serving as a local host.
 
“Earning the right to host the CIS Men’s Hockey Championships would be a huge boost for the Tigers men’s hockey program. History has shown that hosting this championship has a tremendous impact on enhancing the profile of the men’s hockey team and the University as a whole,” said Tigers Head Coach Pete Belliveau. “It would greatly assist our recruiting efforts and heighten awareness that Dal is committed to getting the Tigers men’s hockey team to championship contention. Aside from that, Dalhousie has shown the ability to host great events where student-athletes are front and centre, so I’m confident that if awarded the bid, we will serve the CIS well.”

Recent hosts of the championship include Alberta (2006 & 2007), Moncton (2008 & 2009), Lakehead University (2009 & 2010) and the 2011 & 2012 events will be hosted by UNB. The deadline to submit offers was May 14, 2010 and the CIS has announced today that there are a total of six universities vying to host the 2013 and 2014 University Cup events, including four Canada West schools (Alberta, Calgary, Regina and Saskatchewan), Nipissing University and Dalhousie. Alberta has hosted the event eight times in the past (including a joint bid with Calgary in 1967), most recently in 2005 and 2006. Calgary has hosted twice (1967, 1981), Regina once (1980) and Saskatchewan three times (1998-2000). This is the first bid for a CIS championship from Nipissing, whose men’s hockey program is just a year old. Dalhousie submitted a bid to host the 2011 and 2012 CIS championships which were awarded to UNB.

The CIS will hold selection meetings during the week of June 21-25, 2010 to determine the successful bidder for each of the 11 national championships currently up for bid.

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For more information:
 
John MacDonald
Director, Athletics and Recreational Services
Dalhousie University
Phone: (902) 494-2542
Email: john.j.macdonald@dal.ca
 
Pete Belliveau
Head Coach, Men’s Hockey
Dalhousie University
Phone: (902) 494-8880
Email: coachpb@dal.ca