Athletics at Guelph experiencing a revival, opening a new chapter. Director of Athletics Scott McRoberts discusses resources, gender equity, and eSports.
Athletics at the University of Guelph has undergone a major facelift. A giant extension has been added to the University’s athletics facility, worth $45 million, and the new football pavillion — the $10.5 million facility donated by Canadian football legend and Guelphite Stu Lang — had its unveiling to a live band and fireworks last October. These state-of-the-art facilities, filled with hungry varsity athletes and an athletically-minded student body means a new athletic giant is rising in southern Ontario.
These facilities rival a Division I school in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and if you enter the Athletics Centre any given night of the week, you’re likely to see the vibrance, pulse, and activity of the student body. The fitness facilities, including the weights and cardio equipment, are averaging 2,200 card swipes a day, which doesn’t include those who swipe for classes, or varsity athletes coming in for practice.
Currently, the University of Guelph has six Gryphons teams ranked nationally, including the best track and field teams in the country for both men and women, and our men’s long-distance runners are coming off of a national championship for cross country.
Things are looking up for Gryphons athletics. New facilities attract widespread attention, and the University of Guelph is starting to gain a reputation beyond its agricultural college, both in Ontario and around the globe.
The Ontarion sat down with Scott McRoberts, the director of athletics here at the U of G, and the man at the forefront of this athletics renaissance.
THE STUDENT ATHLETE
Scott McRoberts’ vision for the student athlete can be summed up with one word: “wellness.” He hopes to continue to foster spaces for engagement and socialization, and to build a “massive cornerstone for wellness” through initiatives.
The resources available to student athletes embody his vision. Within a five-minute walk, student athletes can access:
- Two strength and conditioning coaches, who are vital for injury prevention
- Nutrition and food counsellors
- Physiotherapy
- A mental health counsellor for student athletes
- Newly arriving this fall, a study hall on the second floor of the athletics centre for student athletes
This new study space, along with the already existing study space in the Football Pavilion and the Science Commons allows student athletes to have greater access to study space where they can grow academically.
McRoberts also tells us that he is expanding Guelph’s Student-Athlete Mentorship (SAM) Program and, thanks to a new $35,000 donation from Aerotek, he will also be expanding the Student-Athlete Leadership Academy, which allows student athletes to obtain over 30 hours of leadership training during their U of G careers.
As a program that has already expanded twice over the past two years, McRoberts hopes to add first year student athletes to the SAM Program, allowing for a welcoming and growing space for first-year athletes to get their academics on the right track from the moment they step onto campus. Injury prevention is a priority for McRoberts and his team, and they meet frequently to discuss concussion protocols from the intermural to collegiate level.McRoberts has confidence in the Gryphons’ resources for concussion management following the recent awareness of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The University of Guelph consults with Dr. Margo Mountjoy, who sits on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on concussion reviews. In addition, U of G will be implementing greater concussion protocols following the introduction of Rohan’s law into intramural sports.
COMMITMENT TO GENDER EQUITY
Women’s involvement in sports are often tossed aside, some argue it is because of a lack of exposure and economic resources. Scholarships are imbalanced in Canada, favouring men’s involvement over women’s, partly because many male varsity alumni favour donating to their own sport, partly because the wage gap affects highly paid professionals, and largely because women’s involvement in sports has been stunted due to a lack of space and attention women’s sport requires for exponential growth.
In addition to these barriers, U Sports also caps their scholarships at the collegiate level and restricts certain sports. Women receive fewer sports scholarships than men, according to the U Sports policy on financial awards.
“There is inadequacy around endowed scholarships [at the University of Guelph] for male programs versus female programs and that’s just based on alumni coming out and wanting to donate and give. But if some of the female programs weren’t treated equally to the men’s programs back in the day, why would they be coming forward to donate?” McRoberts said.
“We’ve had a number of female varsity alumni from decades past that are being re-engaged and are coming back to support where we’re going with our women’s programs. And if you checked, our women’s teams do very, very well,” he continued.
Men’s sports teams also receive the majority, if not all, of the showcase games. Homecoming, the Frosty Mug, and the OAC Aggies night only involve the men’s football and hockey teams. The only showcase game that is an outlier is senior night and Rez Floods the Rink. However, both events are shared between the men’s and women’s teams. McRoberts and his team hope to challenge the status quo and give equal opportunities to women’s athletics. “[Our] policy on scholarships [is] not 50/50. But say it’s 55/45 — we’re actually better than we have to be in compliance with. Our goal, though, is to be balanced 50/50 and that’s part of our She’s Got Game movement,” McRoberts said.
In addition to this campaign, a new $5,000 scholarship has been in the works for a female athlete, as well as two new marquee event games to take place next year that will emphasize and celebrate female player development from local minor leagues through to the collegiate level.
The games will take place during She’s Got Game awareness month next February. The events will include a women’s basketball and women’s hockey stand-alone games that will highlight the involvement of girls ages 10 to 18 in sport while deepening community engagement.“We’re going to invite the local associations, so the Guelph Youth Basketball Association and the Guelph Girls Minor Association, and we’re going to [most likely] do a day game and a school day [for our] junior Gryphons,” McRoberts said.
There are still many nuances that need to be worked out surrounding the upcoming events, but the showcase games with young Guelphites and junior Gryphons in attendance will foster attention and growth that women in sport don’t normally receive.
McRoberts says that it’s vital that U of G creates the space needed to allow women’s involvement in sports to grow, develop, and come full circle to re-engage as an alumni.
McRoberts is committed and engaged with Gryphon female athletes, giving props and praises to Kelly Gribbons for scoring the overtime winner against the Brock Badgers on Feb. 1 and to the women’s basketball team for their strong season thus far.
eSPORTS: ON THE RADAR
McRoberts has also had beginning discussions about the rise of collegiate gaming clubs, which has garnered the attention of The New York Times and the NCAA.
“We’ve just started talking about what [eSports] could look like. What happens in NCAA usually trickles across the border later,” McRoberts said.
There are still many questions that remain surrounding sponsors and rules and regulations, but McRoberts says that eSports will “absolutely” be coming to an OUA down the line, especially if sponsors are available to support its growth.
Feature photo by Tasha Falconer