Drum Roll Please…
Post Coach Staff September 8, 2022
And so it begins, like their University counterparts did last week, the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association Women’s and Men’s 2022 soccer seasons begin this weekend in the five conferences all for the opportunity to book their tickets to Saint-Lambert for the women and Langley for the men.
It is a great big welcome back to normal, (or the new normal depending on how you want to look at it), with Algonquin College perennial contenders out of the OCAA East back in the fold after a year off, because the College may have wanted to launch their with a new controversial team name “Wolves”, with their basketball and Volleyball programs and not soccer. Just a rumor, so legal please calm down. Okay so we are being a bit unfair, it may have had something to do with COVID-19 protocols, but the timing was very suspicious for the change in name and leaving two of the best programs in the country out last year. Hmmmm, but that is a topic for another website based in conspiracy.
For the Women, the big question is will anyone from the other four conferences PacWest, ACAA, MAAC, the OCAA or the ACAC be able to break the hold that the RSEQ has on the National Championship trophy at Champlain Saint-Lambert?
The Quebec conference has done their job maintaining the championship trophy with only Langara, Concordia (Edmonton) and MacEwan capturing the trophy from outside “La Belle Province”, (and MacEwan is the current reigning USport champion).
Dominance is good. It forces everyone to raise their game and do their homework. For the RSEQ college league as a conference, it speaks volumes. It has not been the same school every year, the championship has been spread around between the current champions Vanier, Sainte-Foy, Ahuntsic and the dominate program at Garneau. But the National Championship keeps coming back to Quebec. It really does speak to the youth development within the province of Quebec and the good things that they are doing.
Expecting more of the same this year from the RSEQ.
2021 Women’s Soccer National Rankings
- Vanier Cheetahs
- Dynamiques de Sainte-Foy
- Sait Trojans
- Fanshawe Falcons
- Humber Hawks
- Capilano Blues
- Les Rouges de l’Universite de Saint-Boniface
- Holland Hurricanes
On the men’s side, the story has been a bit different story.
Okay so lately, the OCAA’s Humber College has carried the CCAA trophy home along with Durham and Sheridan, but VIU and NAIT have taken home the gold as well and have also represented their conferences by coming close.
We will see in the coming season what unfolds with the championship representation in November in Langley, as Ontario has reaped the benefits of the high performance league in League 1 Ontario with players not only populating the USport ranks, but also the CCAA ranks as well.
The players are attached to many of the high performance teams within the league at the U21 and first team level, and the schools are reaping the benefits. A number of the OCAA coaches are also attached to League 1 Ontario team staffs which only raises the bar of instruction and preparation for the players within the OCAA. It will be interesting to see how things shake out with League 1 BC and League 1 Quebec in the coming years with not only player development, but also with coaching development as well.
2021 Men’s Soccer National Rankings
- Humber Hawks
- Douglas Royals
- NAIT Ooks
- Nomandes de Montmorency
- St. Thomas Tommies
- George Brown Huskies
- SAIT Trojans
- Brandon Bobcats
This is the best time of the year when you are a post-secondary soccer fan. There is plenty of ball out there at a campus near you. Take it in there’s a great show going on out there.
Sources:
https://www.ccaa.ca/sports/msoc/history/index
https://www.ccaa.ca/sports/wsoc/history/index
https://www.ccaa.ca/sports/wsoc/2021-22/releases/2021_wsc_day_4
https://ccaa.ca/sports/wsoc/2021-22/schedule https://ccaa.ca/sports/msoc/2021-22/releases/2021_msc_day_4
https://goalgonquinwolves.com/landing/index
https://www.ocaa.com/sports/msoc/2022-23/releases/06162022schedule