The outpouring of support for the revival of the Simon Fraser University football program continues.
TSN reporter Farhan Lalji shared a video of former Toronto Raptors head coach and SFU alum, Jay Triano imploring the school to reverse its stance on shuttering their 58-year-old football program.
“What has happened is wrong and needs to be rectified. I refuse to believe that a university can’t find a solution and won’t problem-solve. It hurts to not only our alumni what has happened to our football program but to the dreamers and most importantly to our present and future athletes,” Triano said.
“Let’s hope that we can find a way to rectify this situation and get that football program reinstated.”
Triano closed his video by invoking the name of another well-known Simon Fraser alum, the legendary Terry Fox.
“Find a way. Be unique. Be above all others. And never give up on a dream, as Terry once said.”
If there was a Mt Rushmore of @sfu_athletics, @hjtriano would certainly be on it. His disappointment with @SFU on the football decision has him reflecting on his friend Terry Fox & more: #SaveSFUfootball 🇨🇦🏈 @sfufbalumni
Sign the petition:https://t.co/SfzTh47hQE pic.twitter.com/wR0W6tjCKf— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) April 11, 2023
The Tillsonburg, Ontario native attended SFU from 1977-1981 before being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the eighth round of the 1981 NBA Draft. Following the end of his playing days in 1988, Triano embarked on a coaching career. That has seen him serve as Simon Fraser’s head basketball coach from 1988-1995, the Canadian Men’s National Basketball team’s head coach from 1998-2002, and an assistant with the Toronto Raptors from 2002-2008 before taking over as the team’s head coach from 2008-2011. Triano is currently an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings.
The 64-year-old Canadian basketball icon is the latest in a line of sports luminaries to throw their support behind resurrecting the SFU football program after the doors were closed abruptly on Tuesday, April 4.
CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie recently wrote a letter to the leaders of U Sports lobbying the organization to allow for an exception to the current rules that would allow SFU to join as a single-sport member.
B.C. Lions owner Amar Doman, former CFL players Doug Brown and Glen Suitor, and the CFLPA, among others have publicly voiced their displeasure with the university ending its storied football program.
Last Tuesday the school announced that they would be shutting down the football program effective immediately after their 2022 football home, the Lone Star Conference, decided not to renew Simon Fraser’s football membership after the 2023 season.
