The Brandon Bobcats are the athletic teams that represent Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. Currently, there are six Bobcat teams competing in

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the C ...

as members of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association while the Bobcat soccer teams participate in the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference.

History

Originally known as the Caps and Cappettes, Brandon University Athletics adopted the nickname Bobcats in 1969. Brandon University Athletics once fielded teams in football,

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

. The men's ice hockey team ceased in 2002. Brandon College and Brandon University athletes competed in the Western Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1920 until it was split into two divisions in 1971, at which time the Bobcats joined the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Following the 1998 season, GPAC merged with the Canada West conference, the conference in which the Bobcats have been competing since.

Teams

Men's Basketball

*Coach: Gil Cheung *Assistant Coach: Brett Nohr *Assistant Coach: Keith Van Walleghem *Assistant Coach: Kevin Phillip *National Championships: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1996 *Canada West Championships: 2002 *GPAC Championships: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 The Bobcats men's basketball team is a 4-time Canadian University national championship winner, and one of only three Canadian universities to win three-consecutive men's basketball national championships. The Bobcats won titles in 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1996. The school's first national championship came on March 22, 1987. The Bobcats entered the tournament ranked #1 before beating the

UBC Thunderbirds The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thu ...

74-66 in the gold medal final. At the 1988 national championship tournament, the Bobcats defeated the

Western Mustangs The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 46 varsity teams. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. and the school colours are purple and wh ...

in the semi-final thanks to 21 points and seven rebounds from Partick Jebbison, before beating the

Acadia Axemen The Acadia Axemen and Axewomen are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. The on-campus sports facilities used by Axemen teams include Raymond Field for various field sports and A ...

81-68 in the gold medal game on March 20, 1988. The Bobcats successfully made it three national championships in a row in 1989. Entering the tournament ranked #1, the Bobcats beat the

Toronto Varsity Blues The Toronto Varsity Blues is the intercollegiate sports program at the University of Toronto. Its 43 athletic teams regularly participate in competitions held by Ontario University Athletics and U Sports. The Varsity Blues traces its founding to ...

85-73 in the semi-final behind 18 second-half points from

Joey Vickery Joey David Vickery (born 9 June 1967) is a Canadian former professional basketball player. At a height of 1.78 m (5'10") tall, he played at the point guard position. He was the Lithuanian Basketball League's LKL All-Star Game Three-point Shooto ...

before Brandon beat the

Victoria Vikes The Victoria Vikes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Victoria of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in both men's and women's U Sports. ''Vikes'' was previously a longstanding nickname for both the men's teams (previously the ...

74-73. In 1996 the Bobcats made it back to the national championship final after wins over the

and

, setting up a gold medal game against the

University of Alberta Golden Bears The Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas are the sports teams that represent the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Alberta athletics teams have won a total of 93 national championships, including 79 U Sports sanctioned sports, making ...

. The Bobcats were led by fifth-year forward Keith Vassell as he helped the Bobcats to a 79-72 win in what would be his final game after an outstanding playing career. In the 1999/2000 season the Bobcats were silver medal winners after dropping the final to

St. Francis Xavier X-Men The St. Francis Xavier X-Men and X-Women are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. Their primary home turf is Oland Stadium located at the University's campus. His ...

in a hard-fought 61-60 loss. The following year saw a rematch of the previous year's national championship final between Brandon and St. Francis Xavier. The game went to overtime where StFX eventually came away with an 83-76 win. In 2001/2002 the Bobcats won a bronze medal thanks to a 69-63 win over the

. In the 2006/2007 academic year, the Bobcats

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team advanced to the Canadian Basketball Finals. They placed second to the

Carleton Ravens The Carleton Ravens are the athletic teams that represent Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. The most notable sports team for Carleton is the men's basketball team. In men's basketball, the Ravens have won 16 of the last 19 national men's ...

, in a hard fought 52-49 game. Alumni: *Mike Vaira *Dave Bauman *Keith Streiter *Jude Kelly *Jerry Abernathy *

Brian Pallister Brian William Pallister (born July 6, 1954) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd premier of Manitoba from 2016 until 2021. He served as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba from 2012 to 2021. He was previously a cab ...

*Fred Lee *Patrick Jebbison *John Carson *Whitney Dabney *Dave Dominique *

*Dave Nackoney * Keith Vassell *Earnest Bell *O'Neil Gordon *Dany Charlery *Chad Jacobson *Scott Lelievre *Adam Hartman *Mario Joseph *Yul Michel *Gil Cheung *Charlton Weasel Head

Women's Basketball

*Head coach: James Bambury *Assistant coach: Juan Diego Mosquera *Assistant coach: Jaime Taggert The Bobcats women's basketball team has competed in the Canada West conference since the 1999-2000 season. Prior to joining Canada West, the Lady Bobcats were members of the Great Plains Athletics Conference from 1978-1999. Members of the Lady Bobcats women's basketball team have earned Academic All-Canadian status 45 times since 1989. Bobcat Hall of Famer Janet Lumsden played for Brandon University from 1980-1984 and still holds multiple school records including career points (1573) and points per game for one season (23.7 ppg in 1981-82). Lumsden and fellow Lady Cat Sandra Hamilton are both inductees in the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame. Hamilton was named CIAU All-Canadian, GPAC MVP, and CIS Outstanding Player of the Year runner-up in 1991-1992. Alumni: *Janet Lumsden *Sandra Hamilton *Tracy Macleod

Men's Volleyball

*Head coach: Grant Wilson *Assistant coach: Ed Zalusky *Assistant coach: Pat Thompson *Assistant coach: Brendan White *Assistant coach: Dan Boutwell *Assistant coach: Mason Metcalf Formed in 2005-2006, the Bobcats men's volleyball team has risen from humble beginnings to a perennial nationally ranked team in U Sports. The Bobcats have made the Canada West playoffs every year since the 2007-2008 season. The Bobcats have qualified for the U Sports national championship tournament twice. The first appearance was in 2009 where they earned a bronze medal. In 2011, the Bobcats earned a spot in their first ever national championship final. They dropped a hard-fought match to eventual winner Trinity Western Spartans at their home gym. For the 2012-13 season, the Bobcats finished in sixth place in the regular season with a 13-9 record, but excelled in the playoffs and won their first Canada West championship in a victory over the

Manitoba Bisons The Manitoba Bisons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The football team plays their games at Investors Group Field. The soccer team play their home games at the University of Manit ...

. The team advanced to the 2013 national championships where they finished with a bronze medal after defeating the

. In 2019, they took home the Canada West championship, their second conference title, beating Trinity Western three sets to two. In the national tournament, the Bobcats defeated the Carabins and the Golden Bears to advance to the championship game, but were defeated by the Spartans in a rematch, losing three sets to none. The Bobcats have had two players win the League MVP Award, with Paul Sanderson winning in 2010 and Elliot Viles winning in 2019. Alumni: *Joel Small *Andrew Korol *Paul Sanderson *Kevin Miller *Elliot Viles *James Weir *Robin Baghdady *Mason Metcalf *Reece Dixon *Brady Nault *Seth Friesen

Women's Volleyball

*Head coach: Lee Carter *Assistant coach: Kevin Neufeld *Assistant coach: Shane Smith *Assistant coach: Andrew Korol *Assistant coach: Lisa Whyte The Bobcats women's volleyball team joined Canada West in the 2005-06 season. Former Bobcats are in the Canada West record books. Teagan Hunter ranks in career kills (1,006), Becky Young is second all-time in career assists (3,338) and Erin Visch-Krahn is among all-time in career blocks (271). In the 2015-16 season, Shanlee McLennan set the Canada West record for career aces. Following the 2010-2011 season Meaghan Robertson was named to the CIS all-rookie team, Hunter was named second team all-Canadian, and German import player Donata Huebert was named CIS libero of the year. Alumni: *Erin Visch-Krahn *Ashley Creighton *Teagan Hunter *Becky Young *Donata Huebert

Former teams

Ice Hockey

The Bobcats, and previously the Caps, ice hockey team was at one point the centre-piece of Brandon University Athletics. Records show Brandon College having both men's and women's hockey teams as early as 1910. Arguably the most successful ice hockey program was under head coach (and former player) Andy Murray, who in the 1980-1981 season led the Bobcats to a 23-1 regular season record, a No. 1 national ranking and a berth in the national championship. Alumni: * Mike Johnston *

Don Raleigh James Donald Raleigh (June 27, 1926 – August 21, 2012) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played centre with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League between 1943 and 1956. Playing career Raleigh played most of his caree ...

Frank McKinnon Frank Lorne McKinnon, (June 16, 1934 – May 31, 2015) was a Canadian sports administrator. He was a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation Congress, chairman of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), and vice-president of ...

* Andy Murray *

Merv Tweed Mervin C. Tweed, MP (born August 6, 1955 in Medora, Manitoba) is a retired politician in Manitoba, Canada. He represented Brandon—Souris in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to August 31, 2013. Prior to that he was a member of the Le ...

* Tim Lenardon *Peter Gerlinger

Football

Re-introduced to Brandon College in 1950 under the leadership of Coach Al Tyler and Athletic Director "Curly" Tyler, the football team folded following the 1972-1973 season, coached at that time by former Athletic Director and

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...

inductee Doug Steeves at the time the program ceased. Alumni: * Andy Murray *Dave Bauman *

Rick Borotsik Rick Borotsik (born September 8, 1950) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as Mayor of Brandon from 1989 to 1997, was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2004, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manito ...

References

External links

* {{U Sports volleyball U Sports teams Bobcats, BU Sport in Brandon, Manitoba Sports teams in Manitoba