{"id":64065,"date":"2020-03-02T16:37:50","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T21:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=64065"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:11:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:11:12","slug":"dual-u-sports-championships","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/dual-u-sports-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Dual U Sports Basketball Championships at Lansdowne for First Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Dual U Sports Basketball Championships at Lansdowne for First Time\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

When the Carleton Ravens women\u2019s<\/a> and men\u2019s<\/a> basketball teams step onto the hardwood at Lansdowne Park\u2019s TD Place arena on March 5 and 6 in pursuit of their respective U Sports Canadian university basketball championships<\/a>, it will be the first time that both squads are competing for the national hoops title on the same court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will also be the biggest venue for the women\u2019s basketball championships and the first time they\u2019re not taking place on a university campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Brenning, Carleton\u2019s assistant vice-president of Recreation and Athletics, who worked with counterparts at the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group<\/a> (OSEG) to submit the successful dual championships bid to U SPORTS<\/a>, says there were some concerns at the national university sport governing body about the men overshadowing the women at a joint tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kali
Kali Pocrnic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But Brenning feels this year\u2019s format will elevate the women\u2019s game by providing a bigger platform, and she\u2019s excited about watching both Ravens teams go for gold in front of large hometown crowds at an arena that\u2019s close to campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving both Final 8 championships here also helps elevate basketball and university sports in the city,\u201d she says, noting that TD Place, which was home to the Capital Hoops Classic<\/a> basketball games between the Carleton and U Ottawa women\u2019s and men\u2019s teams in early February, is a natural and intimate venue for the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe seats are so close to the court,\u201d she says, \u201cand the atmosphere at Capital Hoops was unbelievably exciting. It was electric.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cBasketball enthusiasts are basketball enthusiasts and Ottawa is a basketball hotbed,\u201d adds Brenning.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a very strong basketball community here. Hosting these tournaments is great for both universities and the city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Dual<\/figure>\n\n\n

Teams Enter U Sports Championship from Different Angles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Dave Smart<\/a>, the architect of a men\u2019s basketball dynasty that has won 14 of the last 17 national championships, this year\u2019 s Final 8 will be different because he\u2019s no longer in a coaching role with the Ravens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be on the bench but I won\u2019t be standing,\u201d says Smart, who is now Carleton\u2019s director of basketball operations, working with players and staff of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams. He\u2019s also general manager of the new Ottawa Blackjacks<\/a> who begin play in the Canadian Elite Basketball League<\/a> this spring. \u201cAt the championships, I\u2019ll be able to lend a hand to both teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dave
Dave Smart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen people ask if I miss coaching, sure I do,\u201d he continues, \u201cbut I\u2019d really miss the other opportunities that I now have workwise and all the time I have with my family because I\u2019m not coaching. It\u2019s a change I don\u2019t regret for a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ravens women\u2019s team, which has an automatic spot in the U Sports Final 8 as the host school, has been getting ready for the tournament since losing to the U Ottawa Gee-Gees in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarter-finals on Feb. 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The women\u2019s team will attempt to repeat the run that led to its first national title in 2018 with current men\u2019s head coach Taffe Charles<\/a> at the helm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ravens men, meanwhile, enter the Final 8 as the top-ranked squad in Canada after another stellar year, losing just once in regular season play and winning the OUA\u2019s Wilson Cup championship over the Western Mustangs on Feb 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Taffe
Taffe Charles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur two teams are coming into the championships from different angles \u2014 as a favourite and as an underdog \u2014 but they both have the talent to get it done,\u201d says Smart, noting the Carleton women have contended with a string of injuries since early November and the relatively long rest after their OUA playoff loss could mean they are healthier for the nationals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The men, meanwhile, aren\u2019t exactly expected to win the title, \u201cbut that\u2019s why we play,\u201d says Smart. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean a loss is a failure. You go year to year. But that\u2019s certainly the goal going into every season \u2014 to win the national championship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ravens women and men could feel extra pressure this year because the Final 8 is in Ottawa, according to Smart, or maybe staying home will make them more comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cAs a coach who never really cared where we played, it\u2019s hard to answer that question,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to ask the people whose job is to play defence and put the ball in the basket. And I think their answers will vary individual to individual. Some might be distracted at home, while others could be more focused and locked in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Dual<\/figure>\n\n\n

Bigger Venue is a Win-Win-Win<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Mark Goudie<\/a>, president and CEO of OSEG and a Carleton graduate, hosting the tournaments at TD Place is the latest chapter in a growing partnership with Carleton and U Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt started with the return of the Panda Game<\/a> to Lansdowne in 2015 and grew to include the Colonel By Classic<\/a> hockey game and then the Capital Hoops Classic at TD Place,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s good for all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe universities can sell more tickets to help grow their programs, the teams can play in front of larger crowds, which is a lot of fun for them, and our purpose at is to stage games and host other events to bring fans to TD Place and the Lansdowne district, and I think we can play an important role in elevating the Ottawa university experience for students. So it\u2019s a win-win-win partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jennifer
Jennifer Brenning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that Ottawa is a basketball town, largely because of the great success of the Ravens,\u201d adds Goudie.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThe Capital Hoops Classic drew over 8,000 fans to TD Place, which made it the best attended basketball game in Canada featuring teams not called the Raptors. TD Place is an intimate venue for basketball and our location, right between the two campuses, makes us an easy destination for students. It\u2019s great to have so many university students at Lansdowne, bringing their energy and bringing the noise.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Regardless of how things turn out on the hardwood, Ravens varsity programs are a major source of school pride at Carleton, says Brenning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe talk a lot about excellence at this university and the Ravens teams display that publicly,\u201d she says. \u201cThat helps enhance Carleton\u2019s reputation and it helps us recruit students when people see our student-athletes represent the school so well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—
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When the Carleton Ravens women\u2019s and men\u2019s basketball teams step onto the hardwood at Lansdowne Park\u2019s TD Place arena on March 5 and 6 in pursuit of their respective U Sports Canadian university basketball championships, it will be the first time that both squads are competing for the national hoops title on the same court. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":64069,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[18,28],"cu_story_tag":[1928],"class_list":["post-64065","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-athletics-recreation","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_tag-athletics"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/64065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/64065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97848,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/64065\/revisions\/97848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=64065"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=64065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}