In October, I went to my first-ever UFV Cascades game. It was also the first sports game I’d ever watched from beginning to end (live or televised) since attending my cousin’s hockey game when I was about ten. And I don’t know why I waited so long to start attending, because I had a blast.
In my years at UFV, I’ve heard the same complaint over and over: that there isn’t enough community on campus. That there’s nothing going on. That people come to classes and then go right home after. I’ll admit, there have been semesters where I’ve done just that. But there is community on campus, if you just make the effort to join in. And it’s thriving.
On top of all of the events hosted by various departments, clubs, and student organizations, UFV’s athletics department is hosting frequent, well-attended events multiple times per week. You just need to actually attend them.
For years, The Cascade didn’t have a sports section, simply because we couldn’t find writers who followed sports, either at UFV or on the world stage. But, while athletics departments might not have the massive level of popularity in Canada as we see south of the border, our school athletes are putting in incredible levels of effort to their chosen games, day in and day out, and they’re putting on incredible shows that anyone at UFV can enjoy.
Did you know that UFV students can watch games for free? Did you know that many games from our basketball and volleyball teams are hosted right here at the Abbotsford campus? You can literally grab a few friends and drop in after class. And when you get there, you’ll see stands lined with other students and members of the community, all cheering on our teams. And that excitement is infectious!
The Cascade’s sports editor suggested that the newspaper staff all attend the men’s basketball preseason tournament together, specifically the Cascades’ game against the Mount Royal University Cougars on Oct. 21. Around a dozen of us watched the game together, cheering on the home team. Even though many of us didn’t understand every rule, by the end of the game we were invested and fully engaged as the Cascades managed to secure a 118 to 107 win in overtime.
That game brought us together us a team socially, and it also made me feel a sense of community that I don’t always feel at UFV: being in a crowd of people, all excited for the victories and feeling the pain of the defeats, swept me up in a way that I haven’t experienced before as a non-sports fan. I may never be a diehard fan attending every game, but I would absolutely attend more if I was looking for a good way to spend an evening on campus with some friends or classmates.
If you’re interested in checking out a game for yourself, it’s a great time to do so: the women’s basketball team is off to a fantastic start to the season, with a four-game winning streak to start the season, and the men’s team is showing great teamwork with a solid 2-2 record. If basketball isn’t your thing, the volleyball teams also regularly play in E Building, right next to the Student Union Building on UFV’s Abbotsford Campus. I encourage you to attend one and see for yourself what the community at UFV can look like when it comes together.
Jeff was The Cascade's Editor in Chief for the latter half of 2022, having previously served as Digital Media Manager, Culture & Events Editor, and Opinion Editor. One time he held all three of those positions for a month, and he's not sure how he survived that. He started at The Cascade in 2016.