Bob Philip, director of Athletics and Recreation at UBC, was in the stands with hundreds of other fans cheering on Nohra and the T-Birds as the team trampled the Calgary Dinosaurs on the way to victory.
Philip, like Nohra, has been a forceful player in the success and well-being of athletics at UBC.
UBC's varsity teams have won 37 national championships, second in Canada only to the University of Toronto, and compete nationally and internationally, sometimes dominating a sport at the Canadian university level for years in a row. The department's Recreation and Intramurals programs draw student participants by the thousands -- Philip estimates as many as 15,000 to 20,000 UBC students participated in events or programs organized or associated with the department last year.
Participation in the Athletics and Recreation programs at UBC extends well beyond the student body, as members of the Lower Mainland community take part in a range of summer camps and programs offered through Community Sports, and use campus facilities such as the Aquatic Centre and Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre. Hundreds of UBC faculty and staff also make use of Athletics and Recreation programs and facilities daily.
The Student Recreation Centre now hosts as many as 1,500 students per day during peak periods, dropping to 1,100 daily in the off season. The Bird Coop fitness facility boasts a mostly student membership of 7,000, while the recently opened tennis centre has 2,500 members. New programs, such as the Changing Aging and Executive Fitness which will begin next month, reflect the department's efforts to provide services for faculty and staff as well as students.
"We really want to make sure that there are things for people to do on campus," says Philip. "Particularly people who live on campus."
Athletics and Recreation is a UBC ancillary and within two years will operate without any subsidy from the university's operating budget. This year that subsidy accounts for a small percentage of the department's $10-million budget. Student fees make up about one-third of the budget and the balance is raised through programs such as the summer camps. Renting facilities such as Thunderbird Stadium for events which this year included pop concerts like singer Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair, Edgefest and Another Roadside Attraction, contribute further to the budget.
"It's very much a business now. We're not in a situation where somebody says `Here's some money, make some programs.' We spend a lot of time trying to be marketable," Philip says. "We're very successful in Intramurals and Recreation in providing programs that are cost effective."
The success of the recreation programs helps defray the costs of other programs and varsity sports such as football. Golf, on the other hand, is completely self-sufficient thanks to outside supporters.
"Varsity sports in Canada are highly subsidized," Philip says. "Some sports, like men's basketball would break even with an average attendance of 1,500 per game, so making a profit is not out of the question. But football, with four or five home games, could not cover its costs even if you filled Thunderbird Stadium every game."
Philip is active in fund raising, working with Bryce Matheson, the department's full-time fundraiser, UBC alumnus and volunteer Marty Zlotnik, and the university's Business Relations Office to raise both awareness of and support for UBC athletics. Vancouver, says Philip, is a tough market when it comes to getting spectators out to games, thanks to the presence of National Hockey League and National Basketball Association franchises and other entertainment options. Television, he adds, is also a major competitor for sport audiences.
On the recruiting front, UBC has been successful in bringing many of the country's best young athletes -- some of Olympic calibre -- to campus. But, bound by Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) rules regarding entrance scholarships, UBC often has trouble competing against American schools for students. Philip finds it ironic that Canadian students are drawn to U.S. schools with big sports scholarships when, in reality, the relatively low cost to students of education at a Canadian university means students who accept scholarships to compete in the U.S. do not necessarily come out any further ahead financially.
There is room for changes in the regulations regarding recruitment, scholarships and eligibility, and change, says Philip, may come. In the meantime, UBC will continue to provide students with an opportunity to compete nationally and internationally at the highest possible level.
"We do have a number of advantages when it comes to recruiting Canadian students," Philip says. "One of those is the range and reputation of our athletic programs. Another is UBC's excellent academic reputation. UBC remains the first choice of a lot of students."