The Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas are the sports teams that represent the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada. Alberta athletics teams have won a total of 93 national championships, including 79

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the ...

sanctioned sports, making it one of the most successful programs in the country.

History

The University of Alberta has featured varsity teams since the school's inception in 1908, notably with the men's ice hockey team first playing a season of six games during that school year. The school's colours of evergreen and gold were approved as the varsity teams' official colours on October 13, 1908. The football team adopted the name "Golden Bears" for the 1935 season with the men's basketball team following suit in 1936 and all other male varsity programs soon after. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

ended and teams resumed play, the women's varsity teams first began playing under the "Pandas" moniker which was adopted by all of the school's women's teams. Currently, Alberta's athletics program fields 24 teams in 14 different sports administered by

in the Canada West conference. The football and soccer teams play their home games at

Foote Field Foote Field is a multi-purpose sports facility on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, built as a legacy facility for the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. It was named for University of Alberta alumnus, former varsi ...

, and the basketball and volleyball teams' home is the

Saville Community Sports Centre The Saville Community Sports Centre is a sports facility run by the University of Alberta's Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, where it is located in Edmonton, Alberta. It features a curling rink, tennis courts and a gymnasium. Open ...

. The ice hockey teams play at

Clare Drake Arena Clare Drake Arena is a 3,009-seat multi-purpose arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is home to the University of Alberta Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas, Golden Bears and Pandas ice hockey team, teams and was named after former University of A ...

, named after long-time coach Clare Drake. Professor

W. G. Hardy William George Hardy (February 3, 1895 – August 28, 1979) was a Canadian professor, writer, and ice hockey administrator. He lectured on the Classics at the University of Alberta from 1922 to 1964, and served as president of the Canadian Aut ...

coached the men's team from 1922 to 1926, and played a leading role in getting the first

ice hockey rink An ice hockey rink is an ice rink that is specifically designed for ice hockey, a competitive team sport. Alternatively it is used for other sports such as broomball, ringette, rinkball, and rink bandy. It is a rectangle with rounded corners a ...

built at the university campus in 1927.

Varsity teams

Golden Bears football

The Golden Bears

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

program has been in competition since 1910. The Golden Bears have won three

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier ...

national championships, in 1967, 1972 and most recently in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

. The program has also won 16

Hardy Cup The W. G. Hardy Trophy, more commonly referred to as the Hardy Cup, was the Canadian national Intermediate "A" ice hockey championship from 1967 until 1984, and the Canadian national senior championship for Senior "AA" from 1985 until 1990. Th ...

conference titles, which is the third most championships won in the conference. The program has also had three players win the Hec Crighton Trophy, with Mel Smith winning in 1971, Bryan Fryer winning in 1975, and most recently

Ed Ilnicki Edward Ilnicki (born July 1, 1995) is a former Canadian football running back who played U Sports football and is a Hec Crighton Trophy winner. University career Ilnicki played for the Alberta Golden Bears of U Sports football from 2013 to 2017. ...

winning the award in 2017.

Golden Bears ice hockey

The

U Sports men's ice hockey U Sports men's ice hockey is the highest level of play of men's ice hockey at the university level under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. As these players compete at the university level, they are obligated ...

program has been competing since 1908, in the same year that the University of Alberta was first established. The Golden Bears have won the most David Johnston University Cup championships with 16 wins, most recently in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. The program has also featured 55 conference championship teams, including a recent period of domination where Golden Bear teams have won 16 out of 20 Canada West championships from 2000 to 2020. The team's

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

Ian Herbers Ian Herbers (born July 18, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman, and former assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League. Draft Herbers was drafted in the tenth round, 190th overall, by the Buffa ...

, returned to the team in 2018 following a stint with the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

after previously being the team's head coach for three seasons from 2012 to 2015.

Pandas ice hockey

The University of Alberta has featured a women's ice hockey program since at least 1913, near the beginning years of the school's creation in 1908. Since U Sports women's ice hockey became a nationally sanctioned sport in 1997, the Pandas have been the most prolific program in the country with eight national championships won, with the most recent victory occurring in 2017. The program has also been dominant in Canada West play as Panda teams have won 14 conference championships, including seven in a row from 2001 to 2008. The team has been led by

Howie Draper since the inaugural season in 1997–98.

Golden Bears volleyball

The Golden Bears men's volleyball first began intercollegiate play in the 1955–56 season and has competed in the Canada West conference since the 1971–72 season. The Golden Bears first won a

U Sports men's volleyball championship The U Sports men's volleyball championship is an annual tournament that features the top eight men's volleyball teams from among competing Canadian universities in U Sports. 11 games are played over a period of three days culminating in a national ...

in 1981 and have won nine national championships in total, including the most recent in 2022, which is the third-most out of all of the U Sports men's volleyball programs. The program has also featured 13 Canada West conference champions, most recently in 2015. Golden Bears players have won the

U Sports Men's Volleyball Player of the Year The U Sports Men's Volleyball Player of the Year is awarded annually to the men's volleyball player of the year in U Sports (previously named Canadian Interuniversity Sport). No player has won the award more than twice and only two players have a ...

award eight times, the most in the country, with Terry Danyluk winning the first two and while the other six players were coached by Danyluk when he was the team's head coach.

Pandas volleyball

The Pandas women's volleyball program first began in the 1950s where the team won their first Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union championship in 1953. The Pandas first qualified for the

U Sports women's volleyball championship The U Sports women's volleyball championship is an annual tournament that features the top eight women's volleyball teams from among competing Canadian universities in U Sports. 11 games are played over a period of three days culminating in a nati ...

tournament in 1993 under the direction of then-second year head coach Laurie Eisler and soon won the first national championship in team history in 1995. The Pandas then repeated as champions five times to tie the U Sports women's volleyball record with six consecutive national championships won. The team won their seventh and most recent national championship in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

, with their seven wins second only to the

UBC Thunderbirds The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thu ...

. The Pandas have also won 18 conference titles with their most recent occurring in 2017. Eisler continues to serve as the team's head coach and has won the Marilyn Pomfret Award as the U Sports Coach of the Year three times. Five Pandas players have won the Mary Lyons Award with Miroslava Pribylova winning in 1996 and 1997, Jenny Cartmell winning in 1999 and 2000, Tiffany Dodds winning in 2007, Meg Casault winning in 2017, and Kory White winning most recently in 2022.

Golden Bears awards and standings

The Golden Bears are considered a strong school team in Canada in multiple sports. The hockey and volleyball teams, in particular, are frequent challengers in

national championships. In addition to their success over Canadian competition, the Golden Bears host the annual Husky Energy Can-Am Challenge of Champions tournament, where they frequently spearhead the Canadian contingent's success. This tournament sees four top teams from both Canada and the USA competing for supremacy, with the Canadian teams holding the overall title, having won 9 of the 13 tournaments.

Championships

Awards and honours

Athletes of the Year

The female athlete of the year is awarded the Bakewell Trophy while the Wilson Challenge Trophy is presented to the male athlete of the year.

Canada West Hall of Fame

*Janine Helland, Soccer: Canada West Hall of Fame - 2019 Inductee

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Alberta Golden Bears, color=white , list = {{Alberta Sports {{Ab Uni, college=yes, technical=yes {{Canada West Universities Athletic Association {{U Sports basketball {{U Sports men's ice hockey {{U Sports soccer {{U Sports volleyball Alberta Pandas U Sports teams Sports teams in Edmonton U Sports teams in Alberta