Canada Cup

Every April, the Top 90 U18 players in Ontario will meet in Guelph for the annual Red vs Black Weekend. The Top 90 players are selected from our regional tryouts. All players will be personally invited by Ontario Football for this event. The Red vs Black weekend has become the biggest Recruiting event in Ontario as all 11 OUA teams are in attendance. Along with the top level coaching at the event, players also attend the Red vs Black OUA Recruit Fair, where they are able to meet coaches from every OUA Football Team. 

Players will go through a university style mini-camp followed by a Red vs Black game that will be filmed to professional CFL standards in which the final roster for the Canada Cup will be selected. 54 players are selected from the Red vs Black weekend and named to the Football Canada Cup Roster (40 + 14 Alternates.)

For the first time in 2016, the Top 90 players were drafted LIVE on Twitter ( OntarioFootball). 

Throughout Canada, high school and midget football programs have great traditions, however, prior to the Football Canada Cup amateur football players lacked the opportunity to compete for a National Championship. This would all change in the early 1990’s as players would finally get the opportunity to represent their province on a national stage.

The structure of the event has evolved over the years from a 19 and under, to an under-19 (U19) event, expanding to a second U17 division (in 2004) and finally merging (in 2010) to its current single U18 format. The U18 format supports the Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model as well as the growth and player development within each province. Despite structural changes, what has remained consistent is the opportunity this event gives players as they prepare to move on to the next stage of their careers, football or otherwise.

The origin of the Football Canada Cup dates back to the 1960’s when a National Midget Championship called the ‘Little Grey Cup’ was proposed by the delegates of the Canadian Amateur Football Association (CAFA); the precursor to Football Canada. At this time, high school football was much more prominent than midget leagues so the idea never came to fruition. There was however a proposal brought forth to create a national tournament that included Provincial Teams which would replace the club team championship.

The concept of a National Championship still took two more decades to develop and in 1990, Nova Scotia offered to host a National Provincial Team Championship that attracted teams from Ontario, Québec, and New Brunswick. In 1991, the first interprovincial game between Alberta and Manitoba took place.

In 1993, Football Canada hosted a pilot national event called the Merritt Cup (named after the first President of the CAFA) for players aged 19 and under, held in Calgary, AB. This tournament attracted provincial all-star teams from B.C., Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. This first championship of its kind was very successful and saw Québec defeat B.C. 38-32, lead by slotbacks Bret Anderson (future B.C. Lion) and Jerome Pathon (future Indianapolis Colt),.

In 1994, plans were made to host a tournament to be held in 1995 which would facilitate the competition of as many provinces as possible, finishing with a Canada East vs. West format. With the help of federal funding and a sponsorship deal with Air Canada, the first official Football Canada Cup was scheduled for July 1995. The decision was made to name the event after the rebranded National Governing Body, Football Canada– the event’s name and abbreviation (FCC) has stuck ever since. The first tournament was extremely successful as Eastern Regional Champion– Team Québec and Western Champion– Alberta met in the National Final in Montreal. Team Alberta surprised Québec with a 10-6 win.

Despite cuts from federal funding in 1996, Football Canada still managed to hold a round robin tournament with 4 provinces in Red Deer, Alberta. Then in 1997, the East vs. West format was brought back with a twist– all participants played games at the same site.

The FCC has undergone an evolution over the years. The 2010 edition saw the re-emergence of both B.C. who has last played in the event in 2000 and Nova Scotia who had last played in the U19 division in 2004 and U17 division in 2005. New Brunswick who has a rich history of FCC participation is working towards submitting a team for the 2012 edition of the FCC, having previously played in the event last in 2003.