The issue:

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On April 4, 2023 Simon Fraser University (SFU) announced that it was shutting down its Varsity Men's Football program, ending a 53 year tradition at the school.

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The coaches, staff and student-athlete members of the football team were given the news just hours before the formal announcement was made.

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Prior to learning that football program was ending no student-athletes were brought into any discussions about the future of the program. 

SFU stated that the decision was prompted by the Lone Star Conference not inviting the team to continue playing for the 2024 season (so the team could have played the 2023 season had it chosen to).   SFU is unique among Canadian universities as it is the only Canadian university to play in the NCAA (Division II) of which the Lone Star Conference is a part.(​

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Without any input from the student-athletes, SFU stated that "the ongoing uncertainty creates an unacceptable experience for students.  As a leadership team, we concluded that football is no longer a feasible sport for SFU".    

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This is wrong.  It is not in the best interest of the student-athletes impacted by the decision.

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The Canadian Student-Athlete Association has sent a letter to the President of SFU, Joy Johnson, condeming the move as not acting in the best interests of student-athletes and demanding that SFU immediately initiate dialogue with USports/Canada West so that the team can play there.

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The Canadian Student-Athlete Association has also sent a letter to the CEO of USports and to the CEO of Canada West.

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Read the letter to the President of SFU here.

Read the letter to the CEO of USports here.

Read the letter to the CEO of Canada West here.

Read the letter to Minster Johnson here.

 

Read the response from SFU here.

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