Apr 5 Leader-Post article on U of R Cougars

by Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post

The University of Regina Cougars are going international.

Leo McGee, the head coach of the U of R's wrestling teams, said Tuesday the school's application for inclusion in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has been approved.

The NAIA oversees the athletic programs of roughly 350 small colleges in the United States and a handful in Canada. The Cougars are to compete in the NAIA's Region 3 -- comprising universities in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"Everybody has a goal and one of my personal goals is to make this program better, year after year after year,'' McGee said. "This will do that.

"We're giving the kid from Weyburn, Sask., who wants to compete at the Canadian university level a chance to come up the road and wrestle for the University of Regina and also wrestle in the NAIA,'' he added.

"Not many kids in Canada get the opportunity to wrestle in the NAIA and that's what this does. We're doing it for the student-athletes.''

That said, the Cougars aren't turning their backs on the CIS.

"Our Number 1 priority is Canada West,'' McGee said. "We're after a Canada West championship. We want another banner in our gym. After that, we want the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship. That's our focus.

"If along the way we give some of these exceptional student-athletes an opportunity at winning a national championship in the NAIA, we'll do it. It'll be good for their development as athletes and for Canadian university sports.''

McGee said he was told the Cougars' application met some resistance at the NAIA's national convention on the weekend, but Al Bortke -- the athletic director at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., and a long-time acquaintance of McGee's -- swayed voters in favour of the proposal.

Regina joins other Canadian schools which participate in NAIA events. The Simon Fraser Clan, for example, continues to wrestle in the NAIA despite joining the CIS last season.

Now that the U of R is a member of the NAIA, Cougars wrestlers will be eligible to compete in the American association's regional and national championships -- provided they qualify.

They'll qualify if they perform well enough in dual meets against Region 3 schools, which have been on the Cougars' schedule in previous seasons.

During the 2003-04 campaign, for example, the slate for the Cougars men's team included 19 events -- 14 of which were against NAIA competition.

"Had they told me we weren't accepted into the NAIA, I wouldn't have changed my schedule one bit,'' said McGee, whose charges will have to adapt to the NAIA's folk (or collegiate) style of wrestling instead of the tradition freestyle. "Our schedule will be the same as it has been since about 1990.''

McGee traditionally has included American teams on the Cougars' schedule because doing so is cheaper than visiting some Canadian schools.

He estimated the bill for a visit to Burnaby, B.C., for Simon Fraser's tournament in November would have cost the Cougars $8,000 in airfare, hotels and meals. Renting a van and driving south for a weekend of meets against NAIA schools would cost a fraction of that.

"How do I provide the best opportunity for student-athletes with the dollars I have?'' said McGee, who plans to raise the necessary funds to cover the Cougars' registration fee.

"I can go out there (to Simon Fraser) and wrestle once or I can go south and wrestle good competition for less money. That means getting in the van.''

© Copyright 2004 The Leader-Post (Regina)