Simon Fraser University (SFU) will learn tomorrow if it will get to be the first non-U.S. school accredited in the respected National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The NCAA executive council is set to vote tomorrow on whether to allow SFU to be a full member of the prestigious league starting September 1.
SFU has participated in the NCAA for the past two years as an affiliate member. That meant that the university was unable to compete in the post-season because the NCAA requires playoff participants to be accredited through a U.S. accreditation agency.
Ben Hodge, SFU’s sports information director, said that SFU is vying to be a Division 2 member of the NCAA. Being accredited in that division will give SFU the right to offer dozens of scholarships for sports such as football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, track and other sports. Division 1 schools are able to give out more scholarships.
“The NCAA is the best collegiate sports league in the world so we’ll be able to attract the best and brightest to a great school,” Hodge told BIV July 30.
“In the past two years, we’ve been able to compete for conference championships but not regional or national championships. Our men’s soccer team has won its conference the last two years in a row and the women’s basketball team made the semi-finals for the conference.”
Being able to compete at a higher level is key to attracting top athletes and raising SFU’s profile internationally, Hodge said.
