CUFLA is proud to announce the addition of Nipissing University and the University of Ottawa to the Western and Eastern conferences, respectively.
Both schools played exhibition games throughout the 2013 season and have shown outstanding commitment both to CUFLA and to the sport of lacrosse in their respective communities.
Nipissing and uOttawa were invited to make presentations at the Annual General Meeting in Toronto this spring. Both schools made effective and compelling presentations and following a grueling question-and-answer period, were unanimously voted in on a provisional, non-voting member basis. The head coaches of both teams are hopeful that all will go well this season and they will be voted in as full CUFLA members at the next AGM.
“The coaching staff and players are extremely excited about joining CUFLA and tackling the challenges that come along with that because we have a great core of returning players and hope to battle for a playoff position next year,” says Nipissing head coach, Jon Moore.
Moore recognizes that the expansion Lakers have a tough road ahead to achieve their goal of earning a playoff spot in their first year of CUFLA competition: “While that is our goal, it will be extremely challenging because it means that we will have to win some games against teams who have been in this league for decades.”
The inclusion of the University of Ottawa in the East is equally exciting because it means another fierce rivalry between the Gee-Gees and Ravens for National Capital Region supremacy!
EXPANDED LEAGUE MEANS EXPANDED SCHEDULE
The addition of Ottawa and Nipissing will come as great news to CUFLA fans as the league has added another week of games to accommodate an expanded schedule: teams will play 12 games in 2014, up from 10 in 2013.
"The McGill Redmen are delighted to see both Nipissing and Ottawa enter our league. The CUFLA continues to grow and enlarge opportunities for student-athletes to play Canada's national sport in the country's most competitive field lacrosse league," said veteran coach Tim Murdoch, who enters his 12th season as head coach at McGill.
Mike Frith, assistant coach of the perennial powerhouse Western Mustangs, is preparing for a battle as they take on Nipissing in their first game of 2014. “The Western Mustangs look forward to travelling to North Bay for Nipissing's first official CUFLA regular season game on September 6,” Frith said in an email. “The Nipissing team has been preparing for this day for over 2 years and I'm sure they're going to come out firing on all cylinders. I expect a great crowd and I'm sure Nipissing's arrival in CUFLA will help continue to grow the game of lacrosse in Northern Ontario"
With more teams in the league than ever before, the 2014 CUFLA season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in recent memory, culminating in what is sure to be an epic Baggataway Cup weekend.
