The two-time provincial champion Kwantlen Eagles will host the 2013 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) national tournament.
Kwantlen, PacWest (Pacific Western Athletic Association) league champions in 2009 and 2010, is guaranteed a berth in the CCAA nationals as the host team, and will compete against seven other women’s soccer teams at Newton Athletic Park Nov. 5-9, 2013. The announcement was made last Thursday at the CCAA’s annual general meeting in Whistler.
“We’re excited to be selected as the host of the 2013 CCAA women’s soccer national championships,” said Elise Le Brun, director of athletics and recreation at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. “The strength and history of our women’s soccer program, a state-of-the-art facility at Newton Athletic Park, and a community that lives and breathes soccer makes Kwantlen an ideal host for this prestigious event on the CCAA calendar.”
The university cited Newton Athletic Park as “home to some of the largest soccer tournaments in the country.” It will host men’s and women’s soccer, as well as men’s field lacrosse, at next month’s B.C. Summer Games.
Kwantlen has enjoyed a very successful run in women’s soccer over the past four years. They qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 2008, winning a bronze medal at the PacWest playoffs.
A year later, they won the first-ever provincial championship by an Eagles sports team, and went on to claim a bronze medal at the CCAA nationals in Etobicoke, Ontario.
In 2010, they repeated as PacWest champions, not giving up a goal in three playoff victories. The Eagles were fifth at the nationals in Edmonton.
While Kwantlen Polytechnic University has hosted several major sporting events, including PacWest provincial tournaments in soccer (2010) and basketball (2012), hosting a CCAA national championship is a first.
“”Now that it’s official,” said Le Brun, “the hard work will begin as we prepare to deliver a first-class event.”