OFA to host 7 provinces in 2012 Football Canada Cup: B.C. withdraws from competition

New Brunswick returns for first time in 9 years

The Ontario Football Alliance will host 7 participating provinces in the 2012 edition of the Football Canada Cup (FCC), set to take place July 15 to 21, 2012 at TD Waterhouse Stadium on the campus of The University of Western Ontario. The event returns to Ontario for a sixth time, the last being in Waterloo back in 2005.

This summer’s Football Canada Cup will see New Brunswick return to the event for the first time since 2002 — now an under-18 national tackle football championship. New Brunswick’s first appearance in the event was in 1997 as an under-19 team. New Brunswick is the third province to return to the FCC in as many years. In 2010, coinciding with the creation of a single under-18 divisional format, the FCC expanded to include Nova Scotia and British Columbia who had not participated since 2005 and 2000 respectively.

Aside from N.B., Quebec will look to defend their 2011 championship against Nova Scotia, two teams from Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.

The first national championship took place in 1993 when Football Canada hosted a national pilot event called the Merrit Cup for players aged 19 and under, held in Calgary, AB. This tournament attracted provincial all-star teams from B.C., Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. This first championship was very successful and saw Québec defeat B.C. 38-32, lead by slotbacks Bret Anderson (future B.C. Lion) and Jerome Pathon (future Indianapolis Colt).

In 1994, plans were made to host a tournament to be held in 1995 which would facilitate the competition of as many provinces as possible, finishing with a Canada East vs. West format. With the help of federal funding and a sponsorship deal with Air Canada, the first official Football Canada Cup was scheduled for July 1995. The decision was made to name the event after the rebranded National Governing Body, Football Canada — the event’s name and abbreviation (FCC) has stuck ever since. The first tournament was extremely successful as Eastern Regional Champion — Team Québec and Western Champion — Alberta met in the National Final in Montreal. Team Alberta surprised Québec with a 10-6 win.

Over the years the FCC has continued to evolve from a U19 event, expanding to a second U17 division in 2004 and finally merging the two divisions into its current single U18 division in 2010 to better correspond with Football Canada’s Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model.

The Football Canada Cup is the premier pre-university football tournament in Canada. All four 2011 CIS Rookie of the Year nominations played in the FCC, including winner – Tyler Varga (Ontario West 2010) along with AUS nomination – Jacob LeBlanc (Nova Scotia 2010), Canada West nomination – Jordan Arkko (Alberta 2010) and RESEQ nomination – Jérémi Doyon-Roch (Québec U17 2008). Other noteable FCC alumni include newest Hamilton Ticat – Andy Fantuz (Ontario 2002), top ranked CFL prospect – Ben Heenan (Saskatchewan 2008), NFL Defensive Lineman – Israel Idonije (Manitoba 2002) and 2011 Vanier Cup MVP – Kyle Quinlan (Ontario U19 2006).