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Edit -9-Feb 18:10: U Sport has not formally approved the move.
The Canada West Conference of the U Sport league just got bigger and stronger for the 2018 cross-country season. Two teams were added to the conference from other varsity leagues. A poorly kept secret was the likelihood that the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds will move, as well as University of British Columbia Okanagan.
UBC will continue to compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in track but will move to Canada West for cross-country.
UBCO is currently in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
The moves were agreed upon unanimously by member institutions at the 2018 Annual General Meeting of the 17 members of U Sport that took place in Edmonton.
In addition to the move to the Canada West Conference of the national U Sport league, there will now be a separate Canada West championships event that will be stand-alone, whereas currently, the Canada West champion was scored while competing in the U Sport national championships.
An ad hoc group has been tasked with developing a model for the event, exploring areas including where the event would fall on the competition schedule, the event’s qualification ramifications for the U SPORTS national championships, as well as a hosting rotation.
