Big changes are coming to CUFLA's Baggataway Cup and in other aspects of Canada's top collegiate lacrosse league.
Canadian University Lacrosse Association members voted at their recent annual general meeting to reduce the numbers of teams participating in the annual Baggataway Cup national championship weekend from six to four, combined with a rebrand of the playoff format with the launch of Super Qualifier Weekend.
CUFLA is also launching a new marketing campaign aimed at educating Canadian student athletes and parents on the benefits of “Staying and Playing in Canada” versus heading south to play lacrosse in the NCAA.
Four-Team Baggataway Cup Weekend
The change to a four-team Baggataway Cup championship weekend will take effect beginning with the 2025 season. This year's Baggataway Cup will continue with the six-team format, hosted by the Brock University Badgers in St. Catharines, Ontario November 8-10, 2024.
“The current Baggataway Cup format offers a lot of advantages for the league and guarantees we will have hometown lacrosse fans in attendance,” noted CUFLA commissioner Scott Fox. “Ultimately, the decision to reduce the number of teams competing came down to safety. Asking these athletes to give us their best for three full-length, high-calibre games in three days was asking too much. Our athletes want to be at peak performance when they play for the national championship. The league feels that by playing only the semifinal and championship games on Baggataway Cup weekend, athletes and coaches will be able to offer their best performance possible in the final push for a championship.”
Other changes to the championship weekend include the introduction of a Rookie All Star Game and the change of the championship game start time to 11:00 am.
“The Rookie All Star Game is an exciting addition to the lineup for Baggataway Cup weekend,” Fox enthused. “With the strength of the rosters throughout our league, it can be difficult for rookies to make it into the lineup. Our new Rookie All Star game will feature the top first year players from all universities across the league. They will play a best-on-best game that will be streamed live nationwide with a full broadcast package available. This is an excellent opportunity for fans to see the future of our league.”
Regarding the earlier start time for the championship game, Fox said, “We realize it’s an early morning for viewers on the west coast but an 11:00 am start time allows more time to get home for the traveling teams. It also means the championship game will not have to compete with the NFL for viewers.”
No More Host Automatic Bid; Neutral Sites Possible
Starting in 2025, a host team will no longer receive an automatic entry into the Baggataway Cup weekend, which could move to a neutral site. CUFLA is currently accepting proposals from potential host venues suitable for hosting a national championship weekend. Locations will alternate annually between venues located in the Eastern and Western Conference.
“With only four teams making it to championship weekend, the league felt it was appropriate for the host exemption to be removed,” Fox said. “We understand our universities may have less interest in the massive responsibility of hosting Baggataway Cup weekend if there is no host exemption into the tournament. That is why we have cleared the way for the cup to be played at a neutral site.”
Super Qualifier Weekend
Quarterfinals for the four-team Baggataway Cup weekend will be played the week before in the newly created Super Qualifier Weekend.
“This is an exciting new element for CUFLA. In shrinking the Baggataway Cup weekend from six to four teams, we saw an opportunity to make a much bigger deal about the playoffs. Super Qualifier Weekend will determine who the final four playing at the Baggataway Cup are,” Fox said. “It is also the final home game of the year for the top seeds that get to host on that weekend. The plan is for all of these Super Qualifier games to be streamed live, creating a full weekend of exciting lacrosse coverage for fans nationwide and around the world. Our teams will be making a lot of noise on campus when they make it to Super Qualifier Weekend. We anticipate some fantastic lacrosse and the creation of new rivalries.”
Stay and Play
CUFLA will also be working hard to spread the message that lacrosse student-athletes have the opportunity to play high-calibre lacrosse and get an excellent, affordable education without having to leave Canada.
“We have world class universities in our league and the calibre of lacrosse is extremely high. We know we need to do a better job at promoting staying and playing in Canada,” Fox explained. “Too often, Canadian student-athletes and their parents are pushed towards attending NCAA schools. That’s a fine choice for some players, but not for all. We simply want families to understand the difference between CUFLA and the NCAA.
“In Canada, students are allowed to help offset the cost of their education by working off-campus jobs. In Canada, tuition is much more affordable. Canadian universities offer some of the most prestigious and well-respected degrees in the world. We think that when families understand all of the realities of attending university in the U.S., they will be more open to setting their sites on getting admitted to a CUFLA university and making one of our rosters. This messaging will start to appear on our broadcasts and on social media in the coming weeks.”
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