History & Tradition
Sports have played an integral role in the shaping of Canadian culture and society since the early 19th century. Many of the early inhabitants of New France and Upper Canada played all sorts of games in the course of what were remarkably physical lives, and the Native population, years before colonization practiced running, canoeing, swimming and enjoyed tests of skill and strength. The European settlers brought their own games and forms of entertainment to the New World and they also tried the games of the Native population. The post-contact cultural experience in North America resulted in an interesting amalgamation of traditional First Nation and European games, most notably that of ice hockey as a winter adaptation of the more familiar sports of polo, cricket and lacrosse, essentially the mixing of cultural experiences, which became the foundation for the nation of Canada and the construction of educational institutions.
There has always been a close link between the development of Canadian sports, Canadian society and culture through the education system. Sport in any of its various forms serves as a medium to convey a society’s and an academic institution’s values while building national character and culture. At the university level, sport has helped define an institution for the rest of society when a school took on the identity of its sports teams. However, sport in the Canadian university system has never really held any academic legitimacy, although successful athletic programs have increasingly become an integral component of a university’s campaign for recognition outside the realm of academia.
The emphasis on the professional aspect of sport has often overshadowed the importance of the development of the game at the amateur level, in particular with regard to the involvement of Canadian Universities in the development of sport at the institutional level.
In the summer of 1957 the first classes were held at what was then known as Waterloo College Associate Faculties in engineering. In 1960 the name would officially change to the University of Waterloo. In the fall of 1957, a new tradition had begun at the University, the tradition of Waterloo Athletics. In the early years there were sports programs in football, basketball and ice hockey whose rosters were filled by students taking courses at both Waterloo College (present day Wilfrid Laurier) and the Waterloo College Associate Faculties.
Over the past 50 years the University has had a proud sporting tradition, one that is however, often overshadowed by Waterloo’s academic reputation. Although perhaps less than at some universities, athletics at the University of Waterloo have enhanced student life and have played a pivotal role in developing its reputation outside of academics. By exploring and examining the triumphs and trials of the Warriors varsity athletic program, it is easy to see the impact that athletes, coaches and staff had in shaping the athletic tradition at Waterloo, while at the same time, the unprecedented growth of the University of Waterloo shaped the lives of these people.
