Working Hard to Bring Football Back to SFU
The SFU ‘Clansmen’, ‘Clan’, and ‘Red Leafs’ football team represented Simon Fraser University for 58 years, from 1965 until 2022. For most of those years, SFU competed in the US based NAIA Division I and NCAA Div 2, representing Canada as the only Canadian University Football program to compete primarily against US Colleges. The football team (and all of SFU athletics) also competed in Canadian Interuniversity competition from 2002 to 2009 where the football team made the playoffs twice and won the Hardy Trophy Conference Championship in 2003. The team returned to US competition in 2010, competing in the NCAA Div 2 through 2022.
During its 58 years of competition, SFU Football was a prominent part of campus life and brought many players from other provinces and states across Canada and the USA. The program produced 143 players who played in the CFL along with many more great leaders across Canada and throughout the world.
The SFU football program was one of the most, if not ‘the’ most, respected university football programs in the country.
Following the end of the 2022 season, as the team was preparing for the 2023 season, SFU Administration suddenly, and without warning, made the decision to cancel program with a full year remaining in the current contract with the Lone Star Conference. The sudden announcement, so late in the transfer/admissions schedule, left many student athletes in a very difficult situation not knowing where or if they might be attending school or playing football in the upcoming year.
Upon receiving news of the cancellation of the program, the SFU Football Alumni Society began working hard to gather information, resources, and support to find ways to bring the football program back to the ‘Hill’. With this effort, the Alumni Society gained tremendous support from the Canadian football community, the local business community, and political leadership at all levels. The fight goes on.
The tradition of SFU Football has not been extinguished as a result of the cancellation of the program. In fact there is an active base of SFU Football alumni who are committed to restoring a football program at SFU for the benefit of SFU athletics, the campus community, the greater community, and amateur football programs throughout British Columbia, across Canada, and beyond.
The video below highlights some of the testimonials that we have been receiving from business, football, and community leaders.
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