2013 Soccer Nationals to UNB

The last time University of New Brunswick hosted the national men's soccer championship, the hometown Red Shirts walked off with the spoils.

That was in 1980. The team was coached by Gary Brown and the tournament was staged at College Field.

Thirty-three years later, the school gets an opportunity to duplicate that success.

On Monday, the Canadian Interuniversity Sport selection committee formally awarded the 2013-2014 national men's soccer championships to Atlantic University Sport with the 2013 event slated for UNB's Chapman Field. In 2014, the tournament will shift to University of Prince Edward Island, which last hosted the nationals in 2005.

The Red Shirts monicker is no longer, of course, having been replaced by the more generic Varsity Reds. Miles Pinsent is now the team's head coach.

"I'm looking at this as a great opportunity to not only help promote our program, but more than that, to generate interest in the sport in this area,'' said Pinsent from St. Andrews where's he's instructing at a soccer camp.

"It's a big event in a small city, so that in itself will generate a lot of interest. This city always seems to do a pretty good job putting on events like this.''

Pinsent says the goal is to put on more than simply a soccer tournament. "We're looking at this as a way of getting the entire community involved with a major event. We had input from both the FDSA (Fredericton District Soccer Association) and the city supporting our bid. So I anticipate a partnership with those groups when the tournament does come here. Our (soccer) alumni have already indicated they want to be a part of this.''

Pinsent says the fact UNB has hosted national events in men's hockey and women's volleyball in recent years helped with the bid process. "I'd say 60 percent of the submission deals with issues that are fairly consistent (to all sports). Forty percent is more specific to the sport and the event that you're planning to host. There's a great support group already in place here from having hosted the hockey and volleyball tournaments.''

UNB assistant athletic director and women's volleyball coach John Richard echoes that sentiment.

"When you get to host a national tournament, like we did with the men's hockey and the women's volleyball, it just takes your program to a whole new level. There's a buzz that it generates throughout your program. And as a recruiting tool, there's no downside. The profile of your program is increased and it just makes the whole recruiting process all that much easier.''

Pinsent says UNB has traditionally been a top 10 team in the national rankings, so he's confident the team will be a representative host when the time comes. "The last time we went to nationals (2006 in Edmonton), we lost both games with late goals being scored against us,'' he said. "We certainly felt we were competitive. We've got a great history of soccer with the John Fishes and the Ken Morrisons and the Karil Picketts and players like that.''

Richard, who doubles as coach of the women's volleyball team which hosted the national women's nationals in 2008-09, says there's no connection between the UNB and UPEI bids. "The trend now is for the CIS to award events on a year-by-year basis, rather than a two or three year cycle. But it's a plus for the AUS that the tournament is going to be in the conference for the two-year period.''

Richard said the actual dates for the 2013 tournament are Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 7-10. Eight teams will vie for the title. Chapman Field will be the game site although there could also be a secondary field used for practice times, said Richard.

In all, the CIS selection committee awarded 22 national tournaments over a five-year period.

Bids were finalized in May and the selection committee met in Ottawa June 24-25 to make its final decision. Written bids were submitted rather than formal presentations which was the case when UNB first hosted the men's hockey in 2002-04 and again this year and next and the women's volleyball.

The UNB and UPEI soccer bids put forward in May edged out similar bids from Alberta, Toronto, Western and Windsor. UPEI is also hosting the women's soccer nationals this year.

Richard figures UNB's success in hosting the hockey and volleyball events likely helped sell the soccer bid to the CIS committee. "I think it acted as a springboard for sure,'' he said. "And Miles did a ton of work (on preparing the bid). It was pretty impressive document he came up with.''

University of Saskatchewan beat out five other schools in securing the men's hockey nationals for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Other bidding schools were Alberta, Calgary, Dalhousie, Nipissing and Regina. Saskatchewan first hosted the tournament in 1998-2000 and it was in Saskatoon that UNB under the coaching of Mike Kelly won its first national title in 1998. The women's hockey nationals for 2013 were awarded to Toronto. The 2011 tourney is scheduled for Wilfred Laurier with the 2012 event in Alberta.

Carleton University was awarded the men's basketball nationals in 2013 and 2014. The 2011 and 2012 tournaments are scheduled for Halifax. The women's basketball nationals were awarded to Windsor in 2011, Calgary in 2012 and Regina in 2013.