Sports gets top priority

Page 16

The Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (SIFC) at Regina is using a double-barelled approach to raise the profile of their athletic program.

The Indian college with a student population of 700 is following the footsteps of the larger universities which pump huge amounts of money into their athletic departments. Many college athletes step into high-paying professional leagues right after graduation. And if a career in sports eludes a college athlete, there's always the degree to fall back on.

Milton Tootoosis, SIFC athletics coordinator, says athletics and university education can go hand in hand.

His department's goal is to provide high-calibre competition in sports while students learn.

He says it can be difficult for an Aboriginal student to make the University of Saskatchewan Huskies or the University of Regina Cougars, but SIFC can provide an alternative.

One approach to raising the college's profile is to maintain and host major tournaments.

No time is being wasted here.

SIFC is hosting the 1989 North American Indian Volleyball Championships March 17-19.

Tootoosis says this is the first time NIAA has sponsored a volleyball tournament and he expects teams from western Canada and the northern states t enter.

The other approach, which is tentative, is to join the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA), a group of small colleges with 95 members from all across Canada.

SIFC applied for CCAA membership last fall through the group's local affiliate, the Prairie Athletic Conference (PAC). If CCAA membership were approved, SIFC would then compete against teams from Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) campuses in Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Regina, Briercrest Bible College in

Caronport and the Canadian Bible College in Regina.

As a result of the fall application, SIFC was placed on "exhibition status" by the league, letting the college play exhibition games against PAC teams. But CCAA membership is still a long way off. Although SIFC membership will be discussed at the meeting this spring. Tootoosis says "two years" would be a more realistic time frame.