I see where a number of Canadian colleges/universities are talking seriously about joining the NCAA


Any thoughts?

They have been talking for years. Still haven't figured out that giving athletic scholarships and building a great sports environment would do for the school.

Which universities are considering this?

It'll be interesting to see if this ever happens, and what part(s) of the Country it'll occur in. I would assume it would only be for certain sports.

TR do you have a link to where you saw this? I'd love to read more about it.

Brock U is the one that I have the closest relationship with and they talk about it quite often. They have been getting some BB sponsership lately and there closeness to the border has them plying against some D1 schools and JCs. They also attract a lot of Canadian guys who played in the US who want to get a Canadian degree and play some college ball here.
I haven't heard any other teams talk about joing the NCAA but are pushing to get athletic money inorder to compete at a higher level.

The article mentioned Simon Fraser, UBC and some others. The article can be found with the link below.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGGIchMldnhUWytuRZlqd7VZ-rEQ

In theory it would be nice, simply from the perspective of depth of competitiveness however it will come down to money - as it always does. Interesting nonetheless.

Thanks for the link jimmybajax, and welcome to the HSBBW!

It is very interesting indeed, and I'm willing to bet that IF it does happen you'll see more schools out West with a Baseball program rather then in Ontario and Quebec. I know for a fact about UBC, as it mentioned in the article, they are very adamant about going NCAA.

UBC already plays D1 schools in CAL pre season. It was one of the schools that offered my son a roster spot. It costs approx 10-12 thousand to go there and they were talking approx $5000 in Grants for the student athlete. They were not called scholarships. Most of their programs required 90% grades to get into and the lowest was Engineering which was 85%.
It is a fantastic school but my son wanted to play D1. Life would have been much simpler if he went there but we are thrilled with his US experience so far.
To me the article had some flaws like full scholarships. the rules and regulations would be the big hurdle in my mind. Most D1 schools report their costs of running programs and some do it on budgets lower than my son's elite teams. UBC would probably spend as much in NAIA as they would as a D1 team.
CIS will not allow the change fearing the demise of their system. They also are reluctant to give athletic scholarships but a few schools do just that under a guise of grants.
Brock has played somenorthern D1 schools and JC and do okay. Their roster usually has a few guys who have played D1 and other US ball. Right now you don't have all the baggage of D1 and you just have to be academically eligible. I think it will be a long time before they get serious about NCAA..

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Right now you don't have all the baggage of D1 and you just have to be academically eligible.

That is true, but you also don't have the same opportunities as guys who go stateside and play College ball regardless of the level, be it DI, NAIA, JUCO.

You play baseball up here (aside from UBC) strictly to play a few more years of lower competitive Collegiate ball, yes in the past few years it's become better ( i.e. Brock, Western, U Alberta), but not to try and advance. Which is best exemplified by this comment

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a lot of Canadian guys who played in the US who want to get a Canadian degree and play some college ball here.

I totally agree with your thoughts on the CIS, they are way to afriad of change.

My son intends ( if he ever comes back) to get a degree here and hopefully play some ball. At Brock he can play but UBC he will be ineligible. He would love to go there. We even had another offer from them after his freshman year but he wanted to go back to Charleston SC. Right now it is mid 70s to 80% and here we have snow. UBC is wet and some but very little snow. That is a killer for him.
The weather is a tough thing to compensate for here. When Brock guys ask me about going NCAA I always have a problem with the weather in the equation. Canisius has to go south for the early part of their schedule. That increases costs quite a bit. UBC can play in Feb at home but they usually have a schedule that starts in Cal.

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When Brock guys ask me about going NCAA I always have a problem with the weather in the equation

That's the only thing you have a problem with in the equation? I'd have much more then just the weather to factor into the equation, but then again that could just be me and my view.

The logic is that if they give scholarships that the players who leave will stay here making them more competetive. They right now can play with some of the weaker D1s and JCs.
Over the last few years I have seen some great ball players at Brock who graduated from US colleges.
Personally it would not attract my son to stay if UBC couldn't.