The Bishop's Gaiters is the men's and women's athletic teams that represent Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The name Gaiter is a nickname used to refer to garments worn over the shoe and lower pants leg, worn by Anglican bishops until the beginning of the 20th century. The teams play in U Sports, mostly competing in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), while the football program competes in the Atlantic University Sport football conference. The Gaiters' home field is Coulter Field, a 2,200 seat capacity stadium located on the university's campus.
| Bishop's Gaiters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | Bishop's University |
| Association | U Sports |
| Conference | Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec, Atlantic University Sport (football) |
| Athletic director | Matt McBrine |
| Location | Lennoxville, Quebec |
| Varsity teams | Basketball, football, rugby, soccer, golf |
| Football stadium | Coulter Field |
| Fight song | Official: "Alma Mater" Unofficial: "Drink a Toast!" |
| Colours | Purple and Silver[1] |
| Website | gaiters |
Varsity teams
edit- Football (M)
- Basketball (M/W)
- Golf (M/W)
- Hockey (M/W)
- Rugby (M/W)
- Soccer (W)
- Cheerleading[2]
- Lacrosse (M)
Sports
editRugby
editThe Bishop's Gaiters men's rugby team was established in 1976–77, the program was founded by long time head coach Bill Robson who led them to a first conference championship in 1990. That success was followed by further championship seasons in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998 and 2003. The program currently[when?] competes in the 7 team RSEQ conference. It has been coached by Nic Clapinson since February 2022 while being led on the field by captain Kyle Corrigan. Clapinson became the fourth coach of the Rugby program, succeeding Bill Robson, Charles Goode, and Andrew Cowell.
Football
editThe Gaiters football program first began in 1884 and has fielded teams in every decade since then. The team originally played at the intermediate level, but rose to prominence upon entry to the senior level (now varsity in U Sports football) under the guidance of then head coach, Bruce Coulter. The team won conference championships in 1964, 1971, 1986, 1988, and 1990 under Coutler and the school's football stadium was renamed in his honour in 1991 following his retirement.[3] The team won one more Dunsmore Cup in 1994, which marks the last time that the team won a conference championship.[4] However, following the move to the Atlantic University Sport conference in 2017, the team made an appearance in the Loney Bowl championship game in 2019.[5] The team continues to play at Coulter Field and has been led by head coach Chérif Nicolas since 2017.[6]
Basketball
editThe hard-court has also brought Bishop's great success. The 1966-67 Men's Basketball Gaiters were the first basketball champions at Bishop's University, the Gaiters' "machine" rolled through the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Athletic Association with a 15–1 record before triumphing over Ottawa and MacDonald in the league playoffs.[7] The men's basketball team enjoyed their most successful season in 1998, winning the CIAU National Championship, becoming the smallest Canadian university in history to do so. In 2015, the Gaiters won their second RSEQ championship in school history.
The women's basketball team also won back-to-back National Basketball championships in 1983 and 1984.
Ice Hockey
editThe Gaiters joined the RSEQ conference for the 2021–22 season, becoming the 37th U SPORTS-level women's hockey university team in Canada.[8] When the Gaiters joined the RSEQ, they became the first-Quebec based program not from the city of Montreal to compete in the conference.[9]
Awards and honors
editAthletes of the Year
edit| Year | Female Athlete | Sport | Male Athlete | Sport |
| 2017-18 | Edith Noblecilla | Bishop's Gaiters women's basketball | Carter Filion | Rugby [10] |
| 2018-19 | Erika Scott | Rugby | Josh Bray | Rugby [11] |
| 2019-20 | Amaiquen Siciliano | Basketball | Nervens Demosthene | Basketball[12] |
| 2022-23 | Amaiquen Siciliano | Basketball | Kyle Corrigan | Rugby [10] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "BU Brand Visual Identity Guidelines" (PDF). Bishop's University. 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
- ^ "Cheerleading becomes Bishop's Gaiters 10th Varsity Sport". Bishop's Gaiters. February 9, 2019.
- ^ "Bruce Coulter, Class of 1997". Canadian Football Hall of Fame. 1997. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
- ^ "Histoire et vainqueurs de la Coupe Dunsmore" (in French). RSEQ. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
- ^ MacDonald, Glenn (November 9, 2019). "Acadia rolls over Bishop's for second Loney Bowl title in three years". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
- ^ "A new Chérif in town; Nicolas named head coach of Bishop's Gaiters Football Program". Bishop's Gaiters. December 22, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
- ^ "RBC Wall of Distinction, Gaiters Men's Basketball 1966-67". Bishop's Gaiters. 2007. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
- ^ "Bishop's Gaiters Women's Hockey join RSEQ for 2020-21 – Molson Family Foundation and Molson Coors support program". ubishops.ca/. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Bishop's Gaiters Women's hockey team joins the big leagues". sherbrookerecord.com/. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
- ^ a b "Noblecilla and Filion Claim Bishop's Athlete of the Year Honours". gaiters.ca/. 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
- ^ "Rugby Players Bray and Scott take home top honours at Bishop's Athletic Banquet". gaiters.ca/. 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
- ^ "Siciliano and Demosthene named Bishop's University Athletes of the Year; entire slate of awards announced". gaiters.ca/. Retrieved 2020-04-10.