U SPORTS prepares for 2021-22 National Championship Season; awards four new Volleyball Championship hosts

In anticipation of ongoing COVID-19 impacts amidst a hopeful safe Return to Train and Play for university sports across Canada, U SPORTS announced Monday that the majority of its 2021-22 Fall and Winter National Championship dates have been pushed back, and that a revised rotation for cancelled championships has been confirmed.

In addition, four new national championship hosts in men’s and women’s volleyball have been awarded for the next cycle.

The adjusted dates for the upcoming season only, have been structured to accommodate conference regular season and playoff play, alongside the new rotation for the cancelled Winter National Championships from the last two seasons.

“It was important to work closely with our conferences on their Return to Train and Play Protocols, allowing them to provide student-athletes with as much play as possible during league play. Our goal is to work with our hosts in staging the best National Championships after missing out last year and by moving the majority of them back, it would be a win-win situation for everyone involved.”

Lisette Johnson-Stapley – Chief Sport Officer, U SPORTS

The new volleyball hosts, who have all organized their respective National Championships previously, include the McMaster Marauders (2023 Men & 2024 Women), Queen’s Gaels (2024 Men) and Manitoba Bisons (2025 women). The Marauders have hosted the U SPORTS Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Championships on five combined previous occasions, while the Gaels have organized the men’s tournament once. The Bisons – who will also host the 2022 Men’s Volleyball Championship – have hosted the women’s event twice in their history and have captured seven national titles.

The remaining volleyball tournaments were assigned to the hosts of the previously cancelled tournaments as follows: Calgary Dinos (2022 Women), UBC Thunderbirds (2023 Women) and Brandon Bobcats (2025 Men).

 “We are excited to announce additional new host sites for our National Volleyball Championships,” added Johnson-Stapley. “Despite the significant challenges faced this year, we thank all host institutions for their collaboration and flexibility in identifying the best future opportunities for staging successful events for our student-athlete experience.”

Wednesday’s reveal follows the revised Fall Championship host rotation from 2021-23 announced last summer, as well as announcements for the 56^th Vanier Cup and the 2022 Men’s Basketball Final 8 earlier this month. The host for the 2022 Curling Championships as selected by Curling Canada, along with championship logos for all events will be revealed over the summer.

For the full U SPORTS championship hosting schedule, click here.

• *Originally scheduled host for 2020
• **Originally scheduled host for 2021
• ^N New host awarded