Vision
Huskie Athletics will be the program of choice for students pursuing an elite level University student-athlete experience.
Mission
Huskie Athletics is an integral and recognizable part of the University of Saskatchewan, the College of Kinesiology, our Saskatoon community and our Province. We provide an elite student-athlete experience within a unique, ever changing environment that fosters athletic and academic excellence.
About Us
Huskie Athletics provides Saskatoon and area with a little bit of everything for all types of sports fans.
The 15 different athletic teams compete in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association that spans from Victoria to Winnipeg. The Canada West is one of four regions (others include the Ontario Universities Association, Atlantic Universities Association and RESQ) in the 57 member U SPORTS. U SPORTS spans from Victoria to St. John’s, Nfld.
With 108 Canada West Championships and 26 national championships under its belt, Huskie Athletics is one of the most dominant programs in the country.
Huskie teams play at premier facilities built with the fan in mind. At Griffiths Stadium in Nutrien Park, one can take in a football game featuring the three-time Vanier Cup champion Huskies. Or catch the fast-paced action on the soccer pitch.
At the Physical Activity Complex, the basketball and volleyball squads field some of the top teams in the conference. Men's basketball won the CIS Championship in 2009-10 and have returned to the Final 8 three times since then, while women's basketball were crowned national champions in 20015-16 and have won the last two conference titles. The volleyball squads have won a combined seven national championship banners since 1972.
In the rustic and homey Rutherford Rink (the second oldest in Canada), the Huskie hockey teams are perennial favourites for the top spot in the conference. The men’s hockey team full of junior hockey players now finishing their careers, has won 10 Canada West titles and the women captured their first-ever title and a national bronze in 2013-14. The hockey Huskies will move into their new home - Merlis Belsher Place in the 2018-19 season.
Huskie Athletics is also home to wrestling, track & field and cross country. Since 1967, the men’s and women’s track & field teams have won a combined 39 conference championships and 12 national titles, while the cross country team won Huskie Athletics first-ever national title in 1968. Wrestling’s rich tradition began in 1936 and has been coached by local legends Gord Garvie, Ches Anderson and Howard Nixon.
As the sports governing body for student-athletes at the University of Saskatchewan, Huskie Athletics provides the opportunity to students to play sport at an elite level while obtaining a university degree. Huskie athletes leave the campus and the University of Saskatchewan with the skills to become successful at work, with family and in the community.
Home to over 2550 all-stars since 1920, Huskie Athletics strives each year to provide quality programs for athletes while they prepare for the future.
History
The University of Saskatchewan began in 1907 and has housed varsity teams since 1911. At various times in its history, Huskie Athletics has offered teams in 24 different sports. In 2011-12 Huskie Athletics celebrated its Centennial season. A legacy section for each sport can be found on the individual team pages.
Why Huskies? Why Green & White?
The name Huskies was included in an article in the Sept. 20, 1932 Star- Phoenix: “The Varsity Stadium yesterday morning saw the advance guard of over twenty gridiron Huskies swing into action.” One of the earliest pictures of players wearing sweaters with ‘Huskies’ on them was the 1932-33 Greystone yearbook, which showed the men’s hockey team in uniforms with the new name.
The colours green and white were chosen in 1910 by Reginald Bateman, a native of Ireland and the first English professor at the University of Saskatchewan. Bateman was at a college meeting which displayed pennants and colour suggestions made by agriculture professor Alexander Greiig. “There was a moment’s silence, and then professor Bateman stepped forward and touched the green and white,” wrote historian Arthur Morton. Said U of S president Walter Murray: “The Irishman has spoken. So be it.”
- With files from Cheryl Avery and Michael (PJ) Kennedy