The ACSN's Rebirth

While combing Instagram for tidbits earlier this week, I found a story of the Capilano Blues responding to a post from the All-Canadian Sports Network. At the time, I didn't know what the ACSN was, but after doing a bit more digging, I found something that I'm surprised didn't exist earlier.

The CCAA had its own network.

Discussion of college sports in Canada has always a strange case. Despite relatively minimal coverage of the NCAA, college football and March Madness notwithstanding, it's still the first thing people go to in this country whenever people think of college sports.

U Sports, the highest form of collegiate athletics in Canada, somehow receives even less coverage. The only dedicated network I've even seen for U Sports is obsessedsports.ca, and most people don't naturally know it the same way that they'd know ESPN or TSN.

A fan account (a very good and extremely well-maintained one, but a fan account nonetheless) is the best U Sports has in terms of consistent and thorough coverage.

Hardly anyone at TSN even mentions U Sports unless the CFL draft is around the corner, and even then, most players selected there come from American colleges.

Most people south of the border didn't know who the UBC Thunderbirds were until Shaq namedropped them.

Now imagine the CCAA, which is considered a step below U Sports by most, trying to find a niche.

Before this week, I thought the best the CCAA had in terms of marketing and discussion was the CCAA itself.

From a university perspective, I get it. I grew up near three major post-secondary institutions: Camosun College, the University of Victoria, and Royal Roads University, the latter of which doesn't offer any varsity athletics.

The main point of universities is not to see who can throw a football the farthest or who can average a triple-double. They exist for people to further their education beyond a post-secondary level.

Most people don't go to UVic to get involved with the Vikes, they go there to get degrees. The same applies to me; I went to VIU to get a degree in journalism and a de facto practicum in sports media, not to watch the Mariners traumatize Camosun every year (though that is a nice bonus).

To my knowledge, the CCAA hasn't had a game carried on television since 1994 due to how large of an undertaking it is. TSN bled at least seven figures to help the world watch the Malaspina Mariners win their first national title.

The NCAA, meanwhile, has dedicated broadcasting rights to entire conferences, and in the case of Notre Dame, individual teams. If you were to ask a single person who went to UVic to name three college teams, they could probably name Alabama and Georgia before even thinking about the Vikes.

This is why the ACSN was needed. People like me care about the CCAA, and are tired of it not getting the coverage we feel it deserves. Even if insignificant in the greater sports ecosystem, there are so many moments that deserved to be immortalized.

Lloyd Strickland's heat check in 2014.

The Langara dynasty of the 1970s and 1980s.

Shun Takano's penalty kick goal against Ahuntsic in 2017.

With the ACSN, there will finally be a gateway for proper CCAA discourse, and I can't wait for it to take off.

As promised, the next post will break down the Langara Falcons. Until next time, this has been Kaleb Green, the voice of VIU.