Canadian Senior Club Soccer Championship 2000

Saskatoon and District Soccer Association along with Saskatchewan Soccer Association is proud to announce their hosting of the 2000 Challenge Cup and Jubilee Trophy Championships October 3-9, 2000.

On May 24, 1912 at a meeting held in Toronto under the auspices of the then Amateur Athletic Union of Canada, the idea of staging a competition for the soccer club championship of Canada was born.

However, it was late in the year to begin staging a new national competition with all of the problems that distance entailed in those far off days. Thus the first Challenge Cup competition for the Connaught Cup began one year later, in 1913, and was staged in Fort Williams, Ontario, that city, which, along with Port Arthur is known today as Thunder Bay.

There, the representatives of four sections of the country met, Norwood Wanderers from Winnipeg, Lachine from Montreal, Fort William C.P.R. from Northern Ontario and Toronto Old Country from Southern Ontario. The competition was organized on a league basis.

Through the next 75 years, the Challenge Cup survived two World Wars and changes to its format. The league basis was abolished in 1915 when it was decided to adopt a final that would pit the winners of the west against the winners of the east in a best of three series.

A team from British Columbia took the Connaught Cup to the west coast for the first time in 1923 as the Nanaimo Wanderers beat Montreal C.P.R. in the first true best of three final.

In 1933, the Prince Albert City Reds were the first Saskatchewan team ever to compete in the National Finals after earning the right to represent the West by defeating Winnipeg Irish in the third game of a best of three game series and by defeating Calgary in another three game series. The Reds met Toronto Scottish taking the competition to a third and final game of the series. Toronto Scottish won the Cup by a narrow margin of 2-1.

In 1955 the format of the competition changed - the Challenge Cup would no longer be a separate competition but instead each province would send the winners of its own competition to compete in the playoffs.

It is not until 1982 that a Saskatchewan team, Saskatoon United, appears again in the Challenge Cup final game in their bid to bring home to the province a National Championship title. However, it was not to be, as Saskatchewan lost to Victoria West, the British Columbia representative, in the final game of the Championship.

The Canadian Championships took sabbaticals during the two World Wars and in 1963 and 1970.

Last year the Saskatchewan Representative was Saskatoon PFG/Supra. They travelled to Chilliwack, BC to compete for the National Honour. It was the first year for a 10 team trial format with the men's competition. PFG/Supra team finished 8th overall.

The women's competition, the Jubilee Trophy, begain in 1981 with a challenge match between the Edmonton Angels and the Lunenberg Lasers. This competition evolved into a national competition sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association with a format similar to that of the Challenge Cup. Beginning in 1985, the Jubilee Trophy was played at the same site as the Challenge Cup.

The Jubilee Trophy, donated by the Ontario Soccer Association, has had a much shorter history than the Challenge Cup. It is, however, distinguished in that in it's first six years, one team, the Edmonton Angels, monopolized the Championship for five years.

It wasn't until 1987 that the Coquitlam, B.C. Soccer Club was able to break this dynasty by defeating the Ontario representatives, the Oakville Soccer Club, 3-2 in a game that went to penalty kicks. The Edmonton Angels were not able to secure a place in the finals but placed third overall defeating Quebec.

Last year the Saskatchewan Representative at Chilliwack was Saskatoon Supra Truckers. Chilliwack, BC to compete for the National Honour. Supra Truckers finished 8th overall as well as being awarded the Fair Play Award.

Umea Canada Games Fields as well as DS Newsham Soccer Fields are the two sites chosen for the upcoming Challenge Cup and Jubilee Trophy Championships. Both locations have 2 soccer pitches. The fields will be undergoing upgrades starting in mid July in preparation for the Nationals. All pitches will feature evening games 'under the lights'. The schedule will be sent out once it is finalized by the Canadian Soccer Association.

Hosting tournaments such as the Nationals, allows Saskatoon the opportunity to put soccer in the public eye. For a sport that is growing by leaps and bounds, we are extremely excited about the opportunity to showcase our sport with a national event that can represent some much needed public attention and recognition within Saskatchewan.

Preparations have been underway for over a year now. The organising committee is continuing to prepare on a daily basis. Application has been put in to the City of Saskatoon to declare this week 'National Senior Soccer Championship Week'. We are hoping that City Council will see fit to approve this.

Also, we have received some confirmation in regards to the opening ceremonies and banquet. We are pleased to announce that one of our guests will be Her Honour, The Honourable Dr. Lynda M. Haverstock. Further announcements will be made as they are confirmed.

The SDSA, in conjunction with Quadrant New-Media, has developed a web-site which will feature updates in regards to this upcoming event. The site is located at: www.saskatoonsoccer.com/sdsa

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the media for their continued support for the sport of soccer in this province. We look forward to your help, once again, with promotion of this event.

If you have any questions in regards to the upcoming Challenge Cup and Jubilee Trophy Senior Soccer Club Nationals being held October 3-9, 2000, please don't hesitate to contact one of the following:

Saskatoon and District Soccer Association
Kim Drummond, Coordinator
Darren Newberry, Assistant Coordinator
219 Primrose Drive
Saskatoon, SK S7K 5E4
(306) 975-3427

Saskatchewan Soccer Association
1870 Lorne Street
Regina, Sask. S4P 2L7
(306) 780-9225