Photo by: Joshua Allwood
Brock University needs to have a varsity football team.
Last year, the Brock Badgers men’s basketball won the OUA Championship at home in the Bob Davis Gymnasium.
A couple of minutes before the game, I was chatting with a retired McMaster University business alumni who came to watch the Badgers play. We were trading playful jabs at our universities when he said: “not that much of a university if it doesn’t even have a football team, is it?”
Of course that statement is factually wrong, but it’s also not completely void of truth. So, how come a “Badgers varsity football team” doesn’t exist? I was especially curious about this in my first year, asking another fellow Badger about it back then and he told me that it’s simply too costly because it would run into the millions of dollars.
That is a fact. But here’s another fact: the university makes millions of dollars every year, and Brock is growing in student size each year. If Brock can afford things such as new residence and academic buildings and new organizations being formed within the university, surely funds for a varsity football team shouldn’t be out of reach. Session ancillary fees can be easily worked out to fund a varsity football team.
A varsity football team would do wonders for students at Brock University. I personally know lots of students studying at Brock who were notable athletes in high school, but since they’re not skilled enough to play the most popular varsity sports such as basketball, soccer and hockey, they simply do not participate in sports.
A varsity football team here at Brock would provide an opportunity for former high school athletes to take part in university sports and have more memorable undergraduate years. This is ideal, especially when you consider the fact that football has lots of positions and different skill sets attached to them. All different types of athletes would benefit from a sport like football.
A varsity football team would also bring lots of school spirit to Brock University and St. Catharines. As aforementioned, Brock is growing in student population, this would be a great way to elevate school spirit not just with Brock students but also the St. Catharines community. It would give anyone associated with Brock and local St. Catharines residents with something to look forward to each year.
There are also consequences to Brock not having a varsity football team. A lot of athletes who played football in high school may have not even considered Brock as a place to study because of the non-existent varsity football team. Brock is missing out on recruiting top student athletes to the University because of their lack of a football team. They are also missing out on a lot of potential revenue from things such as ticket sales.
All in all, Brock not having a varsity football team is a minus for the university. With all the potential benefits and most other OUA universities having their own varsity football team, this is a project the University should’ve kicked off years ago.