SPORTS order Shopping UBC Athletics Cross B Brian McLennon, OP Sports Editor The amount of cross border shoppers between the Canada and the United States has increased over the past yeats. The patrons with the fat wallets looking for greats deals are not Canadians heading to Seattle’s outlet malls, but are American coaches from NCAA athletic institutions looking for our top athletes. Every year, thousands of top prospects from across Canada are awarded handsome athletic scholarships to compete at universities and colleges south border. With over 4,000 post-secondary institutions, the United States can offer a large amount of athletic scholarships in a wide variety of sports. The most common athletic scholarships ate awarded in basketball, football, and track & field. Just like an Uncle Willie’s buffet, the choices of scholarships seem unlimited as Canadian high school athletes can earn a debt-free education in everything from Bowling to Fencing and even in the sport of Rifling! However, the migration is no longer just affecting Canadian universities; they are now affecting the governing body for the university sports in Canada. In the March 6 issue of Maclean’, in an article titled, “March Madness, Here We Come,” Nancy MacDonald explains UBC’s plan to reduce the amount of Canadian athletes from crossing the border to the US. In a “If you can’t beat them join them” attitude, UBC has already begun wooing the NCAA, the governing body for interuniversity athletics in the US, to consider having their Canadian cousins “join in all their reindeer games’”’...and why not? The governing body for interuniversity athletics in Canada is the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). Their persistent stubbornness regarding athletic scholarships has resulted in many universities seeking answers to the ques- tion of funding athletes. The topic of athletic scholarships in Canada is nothing new. It has been a topic of grand discussions for decades and has always created a division between CIS [nee: CIAU] member institutions. Some institutions (these opinions are strongest in Ontario) believe that there should be a balance between academics and athletics, and that awarding athletic scholarships would upset this balance. Others claim that by adopting the NCAA model, it would help ease the strain on student-athletes—many of whom are faced with rising tuition fees for the past few years. The theory is that increasing athletic scholarships would help keep top ath- letes home, thus improving the quality of competition throughout the CIS. In support, Simon Fraser University (SFU) said that they would be willing to “defect” and join UBC should the opportunity present itself. SFU, which still has the majority of their athletic programs (cross country, golf, soccer, soft- ball, swimming & diving, track & field, and wrestling) com- peting in the NCAA sister operation—the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)—has seen some success and regrets with competing south of the border. SFU women’s softball team was the NAIA National Champions in 2003 and the women’s soccer team won it all in 2000. However, in 2001, SFU’s basketball programs opted to withdraw their membership from the NAIA and rejoin the growing Canada West conference of the CIS. Increasing travel cost and an erratic schedule were cited as the main reasons for the controversial move. In discussions with some former SFU players, they spoke about having regrets about not being able to compete for a National Championship due to a lack of conference, a lost opportu- nity for a program that for years had one of the best men’s mclennonb@douglas.be.ca basketball teams in Canada. So how will UBC overcome these barriers to ensure survival at the Big Dance? According to recent reports, UBC's fundraising and athletic budget totals approximately $4 million, which is comparable to many of the NCAA institutions that compete in the Pacific Northwest and California. UBC Athletic Director, Bob Phillip, has had a couple of visits from NCAA officials to prove to them that UBC can play with the big boys...and play they can! In recent exhibition games against traditional power- house schools Georgia and Kansas State, UBC defeated both teams and has recently won as many of four games against NCAA Division I schools. Even against the National Championship contenders, the Kansas Jayhawks, the Thunderbirds held their own for much of the game. So what is the hold up? Well, for starters, the NCAA has been somewhat reluc- tant to open its borders to include non-American mem- bers. However, with two recent visits the UBC’s Vancouver campus, it could mean that they are willing to change their views. In addition, there are several requirements for mem- bers who apply to the NCAA for membership, and offi- cials need to ensure UBC can comply with these require- ments. So, what should the CIS think should UBC decide to give them the “bird?” The only public statements seem to be along the lines of hoping that UBC will “remain in the CIS family.” When will the CIS wake up and realize that their business, both top athletes and now top universities like UBC and SFU, are saying “take this beaver and shove it. ’'m outta here’’?