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CIS football
	Current season or competition:; 2009 CIS football season
Formerly	CIAU football
Sport	Canadian football
Founded	1961
No. of teams	27, in four conferences
Country(ies)	Canada
Most recent champion(s)	Laval Rouge et Or
TV partner(s)	The Score Television Network/TSN(English); Télévision de Radio-Canada(French)
Official website	CIS football
Related competitions	Vanier Cup

Not to be confused with CIS national football team or CIS (rugby).

Twenty-seven universities across Canada compete in football under the auspices of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). The teams are divided into four conferences, drawing from the four regional associations of the CIS: Canada West Universities Athletic Association, Ontario University Athletics, Quebec Student Sports Federation, and Atlantic University Sport. At the end of every season, the champions of each conference advance to semifinal bowl games; the winners of these meet in the Vanier Cup national championship.

CIS football is the highest level of amateur play in Canadian football. The origins of North American football lie here. The first documented game was played at University College at the University of Toronto in 1861. A number of CIS programs have been in existence since the origins of the sport. It is from these Canadian universities that the game we now know as Canadian football, and its offshoot, American football, sprang. The Grey Cup, the championship trophy of the professional Canadian Football League since its founding in the 1950s, was originally contested by teams from the University of Toronto and Queen's University and other amateur teams in the early 1900s.

Many CIS players have gone on to professional careers in the Canadian Football League and elsewhere; a number are drafted annually in the Canadian College Draft. In 2007, there were a record 120 CIS alumni on Canadian Football League rosters. ^[1]

[edit] Season structure

[edit] Regular season

The regular season is eight weeks long and usually opens on the Labour Day weekend. Regular season games are in-conference with the exception of limited interlocking play between the Quebec and Atlantic conferences. There are featured homecoming and rivalry games in most regions. The Hec Crighton Trophy is awarded annually to the MVP of the CIS.

[edit] Playoffs

After the regular season, single elimination playoff games are held between the top teams in each conference to determine conference champions. In the Canada West and Quebec conferences, the top four teams qualify for the playoffs, while in the Atlantic conference the top three teams qualify, and in Ontario the top six teams qualify. Each conference has its own championship trophy; the Hardy Trophy in the West, the Yates Cup in Ontario, the Dunsmore Cup in Quebec and the Jewett Trophy in the Atlantic conference. The conference champions proceed to national semifinal bowl games: the Mitchell Bowl and the Uteck Bowl. The participant conferences of each bowl are determined several years in advance on a rotating basis.

[edit] Vanier Cup

Main article: Vanier Cup

The winners of each bowl game meet in the Vanier Cup national championship, first established in 1965 and named in honour of Governor General Georges Vanier. The game was held in Toronto every year through 2003 when host conference bids were first accepted, yielding a move to Hamilton for 2004 and 2005, followed by Saskatoon in 2006. In 2007, the game returned to Toronto along with the Grey Cup which is to be hosted there for the first time since 1993 and remains there through 2009.

[edit] Teams

Canada West Football Conference
*Hardy Trophy*
Institution	Team	City	Province	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity
University of British Columbia	Thunderbirds	Vancouver	BC	1908	Public	43,579	$1.01B	Thunderbird Stadium	3,500
Simon Fraser University	Clan	Burnaby	BC	1965	Public	28,207	$176.9M	Terry Fox Field	temporary bleachers^[2]
University of Calgary	Dinos	Calgary	AB	1966	Public	28,196	$444M	McMahon Stadium	35,650
University of Alberta	Golden Bears	Edmonton	AB	1908	Public	36,435	$751M	Foote Field	3,500
University of Saskatchewan	Huskies	Saskatoon	SK	1907	Public	19,082	$136.7M	Griffiths Stadium	4,997
University of Regina	Rams	Regina	SK	1911	Public	12,800	$25.9M	Mosaic Stadium	28,800
University of Manitoba	Bisons	Winnipeg	MB	1877	Public	27,599	$303M	University Stadium	5,000

Ontario University Athletics
*Yates Cup*
Institution	Team	City	Province	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity
University of Windsor	Lancers	Windsor	ON	1857	Public	13,496	$32.5M	South Campus Stadium	2,000
University of Western Ontario	Mustangs	London	ON	1878	Public	30,000	$266.6M	TD Waterhouse Stadium	8,000
University of Waterloo	Warriors	Waterloo	ON	1957	Public	27,978	$172M	Warrior Field	1,100
Wilfrid Laurier University	Golden Hawks	Waterloo	ON	1911	Public	12,394	---	University Stadium	6,000
University of Guelph	Gryphons	Guelph	ON	1964	Public	19,408	$164.2M	Alumni Stadium	5,100
McMaster University	Marauders	Hamilton	ON	1887	Public	25,688	$498.5M	Ron Joyce Stadium	6,000
University of Toronto	Varsity Blues	Toronto	ON	1827	Public	73,185	$1.823B	Varsity Stadium	5,000
York University	Lions	Toronto	ON	1959	Public	42,400	$306M	York Stadium	2,500
Queen's University	Golden Gaels	Kingston	ON	1841	Public	20,566	$657M	Richardson Stadium	10,258
University of Ottawa	Gee-Gees	Ottawa	ON	1848	Public	35,548	$128.4M	Frank Clair Stadium	26,559

Quebec University Football League
*Dunsmore Cup*
Institution	Team	City	Province	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity
Concordia University	Stingers	Montreal	QC	1896	Public	38,809	$54.4M	Concordia Stadium	4,000
Université de Montréal	Carabins	Montreal	QC	1878	Public	55,540	$89.5M	CEPSUM Stadium	5,100
McGill University	Redmen	Montreal	QC	1821	Public	32,514	$973.6M	Molson Stadium	20,202
Université Laval	Rouge et Or	Quebec City	QC	1663	Public	37,591	$105.3M	PEPS Stadium	10,200
Université de Sherbrooke	Vert et Or	Sherbrooke	QC	1954	Public	35,000	---	University of Sherbrooke Stadium	8,000
Bishop's University	Gaiters	Sherbrooke	QC	1843	Public	1,817	---	Coulter Field	3,000

Atlantic University Football Conference
*Jewett Trophy*
Institution	Team	City	Province	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity
Mount Allison University	Mounties	Sackville	NB	1839	Public	2,200	$82.8M	MacAulay Field	2,500
Acadia University	Axemen	Wolfville	NS	1838	Public	3,000	$40M	Raymond Field	3,000
Saint Mary's University (Halifax)	Huskies	Halifax	NS	1802	Public	8,800	$16.9M	Huskies Stadium	4,000
St. Francis Xavier University	X-Men	Antigonish	NS	1853	Public	4,894	$59.4M	Oland Stadium	4,000

[edit] Awards and the annual All-Canadian Team

Main article: Canadian Interuniversity Sport Football All-Canadian Team

There are post-season awards for on-the-field excellence. The players deemed to be the best at each position are named to the annual All-Canadian Football Team as first or second team players.

Additionally there are a number of individual awards for categories like "best defensive player".

[edit] CIS football players in the professional leagues

As of 2007, there were a record 120 CIS football players on the rosters of Canadian Football League teams. [1]

As of 2006, the CIS had produced 23 players who have earned a spot on an NFL roster (including three who did not play a regular season game; players listed in chronological order by entry year in NFL):

1945 Joe Krol, Western Ontario, K/RB.
1947 Les Lear, Manitoba, OG/OT.
1960 Bill Crawford, UBC, OG.
1965 Jim Young, Queen's, RB/R.
1976 Brian Fryer, Alberta, R.
1979 Ken Clark, Saint Mary's, P.
1986 Mike Schad, Queen's, OG.
1987 Brian Belway, Calgary, DE.
1987 Dave Sparenberg, Western Ontario, OG.
1987 Brant Bengen, UBC and Idaho, WR.
1988 Dean Dorsey, Toronto, K.
1992 Tyrone Williams, Western Ontario, WR.
1995 Tim Tindale, Western Ontario, RB.
1995 Mark Montreuil, Concordia, CB.
1995 Mark Hatfield, Bishop's, OL.
1996 Grayson Shillingford, UBC, SB.
1998 Jerome Pathon, Acadia & U. of Washington, R.
2001 Randy Chevrier, McGill, LS/DE.
2000 J. P. Darche, McGill, LS/LB.
2003 Israel Idonije, Manitoba, DL.
2004 Steve Morley, Saint Mary's, OG/OT.
2006 Daniel Federkeil, Calgary, DE.
2006 Jon Ryan, Regina, K.

In the 2009 NFL draft, the San Diego Chargers selected defensive lineman Vaughn Martin from Western Ontario in the fourth round. Martin became the first CIS underclassmen to be selected in the NFL draft. Shortly after the draft, Bishop's star running back Jamall Lee signed a contract with the Carolina Panthers.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ http://www.cisport.ca/e/story_detail.cfm?id=8891
^ "Student Services: Facilities & Locations". Simon Fraser University. http://students.sfu.ca/recreation/facility/index.html#fox. Retrieved 2009-07-25.

[edit] External links

[0] ttp://www.cisport.ca/e/story_detail.cfm?id=8891

[1] "Student Services: Facilities & Locations". Simon Fraser University. http://students.sfu.ca/recreation/facility/index.html#fox. Retrieved 2009-07-25.

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