BLUES NEWS
Canada’s involvement with FISU traces back to a 1964 proposal by Doug Ward, a former president of the U of T Students Administrative Council (precursor to the U of T Students’ Union) who was active at the time in national student politics. He pitched Kidd, who’d run for Canada at the 1964 Olympics in Japan, and other student leaders on a plan that would see Canada’s national student group apply to join FISU. As Kidd recounts, “FISU was the only international student body where national unions from the West could talk to national unions from the Soviet bloc.” When the Canadian athletes arrived at their first FISU games in Budapest in 1965, they almost didn’t get in to the opening ceremonies because they hadn’t had enough funding to buy uniforms. Crothers, nevertheless, went on to win gold in the 800 metres and was so thrilled by the experience that he bought an armful of flowers and handed them out to passersby on Budapest’s central square. It wasn’t all gratifying, however. Kidd and his group were discouraged to learn that the FISU general assembly didn’t put much faith in student delegates. “The majority of national representatives at FISU were university athletic directors or professional sports administrators, a generation older than us, like the then FISU president Primo Nebiolo,” he recalls; there were only a few student leaders of national student associations. Indeed, Kidd and other activists came home and ended up fighting tough battles in the coming years with Canada’s national university sports federation to ensure that student athletes, and women in particular, were properly represented in the governance bodies.
Two generations later, there could still be more student athlete involvement with Canada’s FISU teams and Canadian Interuniversity Sport, Kidd argues. “Instead of two votes from each university at CIS meetings, one male and one female administrative representative, there should be four votes from each university, including one elected male and one elected female athlete.” Quite apart from these simmering governance issues, Canada and leading Ontario universities in particular may now have a new opportunity to engage with this international event. Through the FISU’s 66-year history, Canada has only hosted one Universiade games– Edmonton in 1983. Until this summer’s Pan Am /Parapan Am Games, U of T and Toronto didn’t have the facilities. But that picture has changed. Perhaps, Kidd muses, the universities in the GTA and Hamilton region should get together and put in a bid to host FISU. “It may be an interesting question to bring back.” — John Lorinc
Celebrating Excellence Hundreds of athletes came together to celebrate another great year for the Blues at the annual athletic banquet on March 29. Athletes* recognized for standout performances include: Athletes of the Year Eli Wall, Swimming T-Holders’ Award, Male Michael Chapman, Water Polo Frank Pindar Award, Male Sasha Gollish, Track and Field T-Holders’ Award, Female
Breanna Gadzosa, Water Polo Frank Pindar Award, Female
The 2015 Summer Universiade will take place in Gwangju, Korea. As press time, eight members of the UofT Varsity Blues have been confirmed to compete for Team Canada: • Eli Wall (men’s swimming) • Kylie Masse (women’s swimming) • Lukas MacNaughton and Kilian Elikinson (men’s soccer) • Charlotte Sider and Jennifer Neilson (women’s volleyball) • James Turner (track and field) • Gabriela Stafford (track and field)
Rookies of the Year Oliver Strazynski, Swimming Kylie Masse, Swimming
Clara Benson Award Vanessa Treasure, Swimming
George M. Biggs Award Mario Kovacevic, Soccer *(Pictured left to right, top to bottom)
PHOTOs/ Martin Bazyl/ Jing-Ling Kao-Beserve
PURSUIT | SUMMER 2015
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