maple szn wrote:
I’m looking at attending university in Canada and competing in track and cross country. I’m from Washington and have grown up in the US and have come to notice it seems Canadian schools only do XC and indoor? What do they do during spring/outdoor season?
Canadian universities finish classes at the end of March and finish exams mid or end of April as our schedule is more compact. Since the indoor season finishes mid-March, there is thus not much room for an outdoor season. Canadian schools such as UBC and SFU compete in the NAIA and Div 2 respectively, and so those specific school do offer a collegiate outdoor track season.
That said, every purely USPORTs university with a half-decent track/XC team has an affiliated club (ie. same coach, same training group) that you can continue with during the spring/summer outdoor season. USPORTs doesn't have all sorts of rules about post-collegiate runners training with the uni team, so even during the school year you might train with the same club/uni group. Just different singlets.
If you are in Ontario, BC, or Quebec there is good access to twilight meets within reasonable driving distance that should serve the needs of anyone not vying for international teams. Those with higher ambitions at the Canadian university level end up traveling to Oregon or California to compete during outdoor track much like their NCAA counterparts, but compete as open/club athletes. There is usually good collegiate participation at the Canadian track champs since there is no university outdoor championship meet.