HAMILTON (CIS) β The home stretch towards the 2016 ArcelorMittal Dofasco Vanier Cup got off to a successful start Thursday morning as Canadian Interuniversity Sport hosted the 100 Days Until Vanier Cup Business Breakfast & Ticket Launch event at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, where the 52nd CIS football championship game will take place on Nov. 26.
βThe Vanier Cup is the pinnacle event in CIS sports,β said CIS CEO Graham Brown. βIt engages our schools for 14 weeks from the preseason right to the end of the football season.Β And it allows us to promote student-athlete achievements on a national stage.β
Brown shared additional information about the 2016 ArcelorMittal Dofasco Vanier Cup, including tickets officially going on sale at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. One of the highlights of the morning followed shortly after when Russ Jackson, the Hamilton, CFL and McMaster icon, was presented with the first official set of tickets to the championship game.
Among the dignitaries attending the kickoff event were federal members of parliament Bob Bratina and Filomina Tassi, Ontario MPP Eleanor McMahon and Hamilton city councillorΒ Matthew Green.
Glen Grunwald, director of athletics and recreation at McMaster University and Chair of the local organizing committee, and Sean Donnelly, president and CEO of returning title sponsor ArcelorMittal Dofasco also shared the excitement of having the Vanier Cup in their community.
No stranger to football excitement in Hamilton, current Tiger-Cats offensive coordinator and former McMaster head coach Stefan Ptaszek, who guided the Marauders to three CIS championship appearances in four years from 2011 to 2014 including the lone national title in program history in 2011, then spoke of his Vanier Cup experience and the proud football tradition in the city.
Keynote speaker Michael Clemons was next up at the podium and, in typical βPinballβ fashion, the Toronto Argonauts legend once again demonstrated his undying passion for varsity athletics and Canadian football.
βWhile sport will never take away, and never be ahead of education, itβs the perfect compliment. What weβre talking about here today is more than a game,β said Clemons.
βFootball is a game that embraces everybodyβ¦I love coming here (to Hamilton). This city is the perfect city to host the Vanier Cup. When we get to Vanier Cup, I want it to be something like weβve never seen before.β
Last but certainly not least, Laurie Davidson, regional vice president for RBC Royal Bank, talked proudly about RBCβs support of the event.
Tickets for the 2016 ArcelorMittal Dofasco Vanier Cup are now available at www.vaniercup.com.
Kickoff on Saturday, Nov. 26 at Tim Hortons Field is set for 1 p.m. ET. Fans who are unable to attend in person can catch the game live nationally on Sportsnet and TVA Sports, the official broadcasters of CIS.
Hamilton and Tim Hortons Field will also play host to the CIS football national final in 2017.
Source: CIS
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