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NCAA welcomes Simon Fraser, first Canadian member school

By Thomas O'Toole, USA TODAY
Updated

The NCAA goes international Wednesday.

British Columbia-based Simon Fraser will become the first Canadian school to compete as an NCAA member when its men's and women's soccer and women's volleyball teams open their respective seasons in what athletics director David Murphy terms "an historic step for us."

The full weight of the move hits Saturday, when the Clan's football team -- playing by U.S. rules for the first time in nine years -- takes on Western Oregon at home.

The school, which has competed in the past in both the NAIA and the Canadian Interuniversity Sport system, is the first to take advantage of an NCAA Division II decision in 2008 to open its doors to Canadian institutions as part of a 10-year pilot program. Simon Fraser, still two years from full membership, took the scheduling plunge this year after being expelled from its conference home in the Canada West and given early entry in the Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

"It was 'see you later, and don't let the door hit your butt when you're walking out,' " Murphy said of the Canada West action. " That's why we're very happy to be where we are."


The move is motivated at least in part by reduced travel costs in the NCAA and the GNAC, whose membership includes the likes of Montana State, Central Washington and Alaska Anchorage as well as Western Oregon. The University of British Columbia also has weighed the jump, but has yet to pull the trigger.

Other Canadian schools are keeping an interested eye on the Clan.

Saturday's football opener arrives with particular intrigue. SFU has a largely remade roster, and will play a game modified -- on a smaller field, with 11 players to a side rather than 12 -- from the Canadian version. Coach David Johnson brought in two top assistants with American resumes: offensive coordinator Brent Barnes from Middlebury (Vt.) and the University of Chicago and defensive coordinator Jordan Malone from Central Arkansas.

In Western Oregon, the Clan draws an opponent that finished 3-3 in the GNAC a year ago and 5-5 overall.

"There are a lot of people interested in coming out and seeing the caliber of play," Murphy says. "I don't think it's as much to see us; it's to see Western Oregon and how good NCAA Division II football is."

-- Steve Wieberg

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