Nov. 29, 2019

We heart Dinos football

Win or lose, we love our student-athletes — but a quarter-century of striving for the ultimate trophy warrants a special celebration
Dinos victory march
Dinos victory march

As patient as Calgarians are when it comes to major Cup wins in this city, you’ll forgive our campus family and beyond for getting noisy about the Dinos’ historic triumph against the Montreal Carabins last weekend.

Created in 1965, the Vanier Cup is the championship of Canadian university football. It’s a high watermark of national varsity athletics and its win represents not only a stellar year of football, but is proof of student-athletes’ success at maintaining academic focus under pressure.

Long the underdog, the Dinos last took the Cup in 1995 (they also won in 1983, 1985 and 1988). The team made it the 2013 and 2016 finals, but lost both years to the Laval Rouge et Or. Sweet victory on a couple of fronts, then, when the Dinos captured the Vanier title on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Laval’s home stadium, with a solid 27-13 win. Read about the game.

Last Thursday, students, staff, faculty and the wider community came out to show their support and congratulate the team with a celebration at the Jack Simpson Gymnasium.