SFU decision hits hard for Vernon football players

Two Vernon Senior Secondary (VSS) Panther football players are scrambling after Simon Fraser University sacked it’s football program earlier this week.

“I am saddened to share that we are announcing the end of SFU’s varsity football program. Simon Fraser University is incredibly proud of our long football history, student-athletes, coaches and alumni,” SFU president Joy Johnson said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This is a difficult decision, and not one taken lightly,” Johnson added. “With the recent announcement that the team has not been invited to continue in the Lone Star Conference, we do not have a conference to play in beginning in 2024. The ongoing uncertainty creates an unacceptable experience for students. The university has carefully considered all available options and as a leadership team we concluded that football is no longer a feasible sport for SFU.”

Scotty Hoffman (linebacker/slotback) and Mitchell Bond (wide receiver) of VSS had both committed to football scholarships at SFU.

A third Vernon player, Dayton Ingenhagg (linebacker) from Clarence Fulton, was also listed on the Red Leafs’ roster for the upcoming season.

(L-R) Dayton Ingenhaaf (LB) Mitchell Bond (WR) and Scott Hoffman (OLB,SB) (submitted photos)

“It’s a sad day for football when a longtime program (53 years) like SFU shuts down,” VSS Panthers head coach Sean Smith told Vernon Matters. “I really feel for all of the kids in that program (especially my two guys) who are now left in the lurch at a very late stage of the recruiting process for the 2023 season. It’s going to be very hard for lots of them to re-locate to another program and get any significant scholarship money.

Smith said Hoffman and Bond committed to SFU for the 2023 season and now they are scrambling to make alternate arrangements.

“My heart goes out to them as they worked so hard to get a scholarship and now it’s slipped away. It’s not only their football life that’s affected, more importantly, it’s their academic life that could be in jeopardy,” Smith said.

Hoffman has been invited to the University of Alberta Golden Bears spring camp at the end of the month. Smith is yet to meet with Bond to discuss his options.

The university has said it will honour the scholarships for football players, but with no sport to play, most will look elsewhere.

SFU is the only Canadian institution to play in the American-based National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), moving there from the Canadian-based U Sports in 2010. The move aligned nicely with B.C. highschool football programs also playing American rules, which was thought to give players more opportunities over Canadian rules.

“There is now one less option for players in B.C. to play post secondary football, which means that fewer players will get the opportunity to play university football and the competition will be stiffer for players in the future,” Smith added.

SFU has had success in several sports in the years since joining the NCAA, but they had struggled to be competitive in football, finishing with an overall record of 18 wins and 99 losses.