1.
BC Lions
–
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team competing in the West Division of the Canadian Football League. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Lions play their games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season in 1954, and have played every season since, as such, they are the oldest professional sports franchise in the city of Vancouver and in the province of British Columbia. They have appeared in the leagues Grey Cup championship game 10 times, winning six of those games, the Lions currently have the longest active playoff streak, and are tied for the second-longest in CFL history, having made the playoffs for 20 straight seasons. Braley was a member of the Canadian Senate, Rugby unions had been organized in all of the Prairie provinces by 1907 and the Western Canada Rugby Football Union had been formed in 1911. However, it would not be until 1926 that the British Columbia Rugby Football Union was formed, the Vancouver Meralomas were the most successful British Columbian team of the era. They played in the Western Final in 1930 and again in 1934, the BCRFU stopped challenging for the Grey Cup following the formation of the Western Interprovincial Football Union. After the BCRFUs collapse in 1941, the Vancouver Grizzlies joined the WIFU and they played only one season, finishing 1-7, before the WIFU suspended operations for the duration of the Second World War. The Grizzlies did not return after the war, in 1951, a group led by Ken Stauffer and Tiny Radar were inspired by Vancouver Sun columnist Andy Lytles article to start a new football team in Vancouver that would play in the WIFU. The ownership group sent Radar and Orville Burke to represent them at the off-season WIFU meetings to initiate Vancouver’s bid for a team. The Burkes were told to return to the meetings the following year with a $25,000 good-faith bond if they could generate sufficient interest in the Vancouver area. The first meetings were held at the Arctic Club in November, the group in Vancouver, however, did not give up their efforts to have a franchise in the WIFU. On January 22,1953, the first annual meeting of the club was held, in that meeting, Arthur E. Mercer was hired as the clubs first president. Later in the year, Mercer, Bill Morgan, Bill Ralston and this time, they sold the idea of a fifth Western team, and Vancouver was granted a conditional franchise. They were required to provide a 15, 000-seat stadium, sell at least 6,500 season tickets, and guarantee travel expenses for the visiting teams. By Easter of 1953, Annis Stukus was then lured away from the Toronto Argonauts to return to the West to become the first public relations manager, general manager, and head coach of the franchise. During the rest of 1953, a fan contest was held by all of the media to pick the teams new name. The nickname was chosen because it represented a landmark and legend of the area
2.
Saskatchewan Roughriders
–
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League, the Roughriders were founded in 1910 as the Regina Rugby Club. Although they were not the first team to play football in Western Canada, the Roughriders are the third-oldest professional gridiron football team in existence today, and one of the oldest professional sports teams still in existence in North America. The team changed their name to the Regina Roughriders from the Regina Rugby Club in 1924, the Roughriders have played their home games at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field since 1936. The team draws fans from across Saskatchewan and Canada who are known as the Rider Nation. The Roughriders play in the smallest market in the CFL, and they have finished first in the Western Division seven times and have won the Western championship a record 28 times. They have played in the championship game 19 times and won four Grey Cups, the team has had 20 players inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. The Riders biggest rival is the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, games between the two are sold out before the beginning of the season. The Roughriders Football Club and the city of Regina have hosted the Grey Cup three times, including a Roughrider win in the 101st Grey Cup, in July 2012, the Province of Saskatchewan announced that the Roughriders will have a new stadium completed in time for the 2017 season. They played most of their games at Park Hughes on 10th Avenue in Reginas north central section. The team was also a member of the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union as it was organized on September 22 of that year. Regina played their first game against the Moose Jaw Tigers on October 1,1910, the Regina Rugby Club changed their colours again in 1912 to red and black and began an era of western football dominance. For every season of play in the SRFU, Regina won the championship, exerting their prowess over teams from Moose Jaw, Saskatoon. Beginning in the 1912 season, Regina won seven straight WCRFU titles, in 1923, Regina returned to power as they won their eighth western championship over the Winnipeg Victorias and earned the right to compete in the national playoffs. The club was given a bye and advanced straight to the Grey Cup finals for the first time, but were severely outmatched, losing 54–0 to Queens University at Varsity Stadium in Toronto. This was, and still is, the most lopsided defeat in Grey Cup history as the defending champion Queens won their third national championship at the expense of the Regina Rugby Club. Following their first Grey Cup loss, the changed their name to the Regina Roughriders in 1924 while retaining the colours of red. Ottawa also had a called the Ottawa Rough Riders, but the spelling was different
3.
Vancouver
–
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city in Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2016 census recorded 631,486 people in the city, the Greater Vancouver area had a population of 2,463,431 in 2016, making it the third largest metropolitan area in Canada. Vancouver has the highest population density in Canada with over 5,400 people per square kilometre. With over 250,000 residents, Vancouver municipality is the fourth most densely populated city in North America behind New York City, San Francisco, and Mexico City according to the 2011 census. In that census, Vancouver was one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada, Vancouver is classed as a Beta global city. In 2014, following thirty years in California, the annual TED conference made Vancouver its indefinite home, several matches of the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup were played in Vancouver, including the final at BC Place Stadium. From that first enterprise, other stores and some hotels quickly appeared along the waterfront to the west, Gastown became formally laid out as a registered townsite dubbed Granville, B. I. As of 2014, Port Metro Vancouver is the third largest port by tonnage in the Americas, 27th in the world, the busiest and largest in Canada, and the most diversified port in North America. While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, archaeological records indicate the presence of Aboriginal people in the Vancouver area from 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. The city is located in the territories of the Squamish, Musqueam. They had villages in various parts of present-day Vancouver, such as Stanley Park, False Creek, Kitsilano, Point Grey, the city takes its name from George Vancouver, who explored the inner harbour of Burrard Inlet in 1792 and gave various places British names. The explorer and North West Company trader Simon Fraser and his became the first known Europeans to set foot on the site of the present-day city. In 1808, they travelled from the east down the Fraser River, perhaps as far as Point Grey. The Fraser Gold Rush of 1858 brought over 25,000 men, mainly from California, to nearby New Westminster on the Fraser River, on their way to the Fraser Canyon, a sawmill established at Moodyville in 1863, began the citys long relationship with logging. It was quickly followed by mills owned by Captain Edward Stamp on the shore of the inlet. This mill, known as the Hastings Mill, became the nucleus around which Vancouver formed, the mills central role in the city waned after the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s. It nevertheless remained important to the economy until it closed in the 1920s. The settlement which came to be called Gastown grew up quickly around the original makeshift tavern established by Gassy Jack Deighton in 1867 on the edge of the Hastings Mill property
4.
British Columbia
–
British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, with a population of more than four million people located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion, along with the U. S. states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. The first British settlement in the area was Fort Victoria, established in 1843, subsequently, on the mainland, the Colony of British Columbia was founded by Richard Clement Moody and the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Port Moody is named after him, in 1866, Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia, and Victoria became the united colonys capital. In 1871, British Columbia became the province of Canada. Its Latin motto is Splendor sine occasu, the capital of British Columbia remains Victoria, the fifteenth-largest metropolitan region in Canada, named for the Queen who created the original European colonies. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, in October 2013, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,606,371. British Columbia evolved from British possessions that were established in what is now British Columbia by 1871, First Nations, the original inhabitants of the land, have a history of at least 10,000 years in the area. Today there are few treaties and the question of Aboriginal Title, notably, the Tsilhqotin Nation has established Aboriginal title to a portion of their territory, as a result of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision. BCs economy is diverse, with service producing industries accounting for the largest portion of the provinces GDP and it is the endpoint of transcontinental railways, and the site of major Pacific ports that enable international trade. Though less than 5% of its vast 944,735 km2 land is arable and its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism, though its economic mainstay has long been resource extraction, principally logging, farming, and mining. Vancouver, the provinces largest city and metropolitan area, also serves as the headquarters of many western-based natural resource companies and it also benefits from a strong housing market and a per capita income well above the national average. The Northern Interior region has a climate with very cold winters. The climate of Vancouver is by far the mildest winter climate of the major Canadian cities, the provinces name was chosen by Queen Victoria, when the Colony of British Columbia, i. e. the Mainland, became a British colony in 1858. The current southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty, British Columbias land area is 944,735 square kilometres. British Columbias rugged coastline stretches for more than 27,000 kilometres and it is the only province in Canada that borders the Pacific Ocean. British Columbias capital is Victoria, located at the tip of Vancouver Island. Only a narrow strip of the Island, from Campbell River to Victoria, is significantly populated, much of the western part of Vancouver Island and the rest of the coast is covered by thick, tall and sometimes impenetrable temperate rainforest
5.
Major League Soccer
–
Major League Soccer is a mens professional soccer league, sanctioned by U. S. Soccer, that represents the sports highest level in both the United States and Canada. MLS constitutes one of the professional sports leagues of the United States. The league comprises 22 teams—19 in the U. S. and 3 in Canada, the MLS regular season runs from March to October, with each team playing 34 games, the team with the best record is awarded the Supporters Shield. The postseason includes twelve teams competing in the MLS Cup Playoffs through November and December, culminating in the championship game, MLS teams also play in other domestic competitions against teams from other divisions in the U. S. Open Cup and in the Canadian Championship. MLS teams also compete against continental rivals in the CONCACAF Champions League, Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 as part of the United States successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The first season took place in 1996 with ten teams, MLS experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years, The league lost millions of dollars, teams played in mostly empty American football stadiums, and two teams folded in 2002. Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, MLS is an entity in which each team is owned and controlled by the leagues investors. The investor-operators control their teams as owners control teams in other leagues, MLS headquarters is located in New York City. Major League Soccers regular season runs from March to October, teams are divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences. Teams play 34 games in a schedule,23 matches against teams within their conference. Midway through the season, teams break for the annual All-Star Game, at the end of the regular season, the team with the highest point total is awarded the Supporters Shield. While MLS has looked into changing to a format, there are no current plans to do so. If the league were to change its schedule, a break would be needed, especially with several teams in colder climates. It would also have to compete with the more popular National Football League, National Hockey League, MLS teams also play in other competitions. Every year, up to five MLS teams play in the CONCACAF Champions League against other clubs from the CONCACAF region, two U. S. -based MLS teams qualify based on MLS regular-season results, the winner of the Western conference and the winner of the Eastern conference. The third U. S. team to qualify is the winner of the MLS Cup. A fourth U. S. -based MLS team can qualify via the U. S. Open Cup, Canadian MLS clubs play against lower division Canadian clubs in the Canadian Championship for the one Champions League spot allocated to Canada. MLSs 22 teams are divided between the Eastern and Western Conferences, each club is allowed up to 28 players on its first team roster
6.
Canadian football
–
In Canada, the term football may refer to Canadian football and American football collectively, or to either sport specifically, depending on context. The two sports have shared origins and are related but have significant differences. Rugby football in Canada originated in the early 1860s, and over time, active teams such as the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats have similar longevity. The CFL is the most popular and only major professional Canadian football league and its championship game, the Grey Cup, is one of Canadas largest sporting events, attracting a broad television audience, though it has been shrinking in recent years. In 2009, about 40% of Canadas population watched part of the game, in 2014, it was closer to 33%, great achievements in Canadian football are enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame located in Hamilton, Ontario. Other organizations across Canada perform senior league Canadian football during the summer, the first documented football match was a practice game played on November 9,1861, at University College, University of Toronto. One of the participants in the game involving University of Toronto students was Sir William Mulock, a football club was formed at the university soon afterward, although its rules of play at this stage are unclear. The first written account of a game played was on October 15,1862 and it was between the First Battalion Grenadier Guards and the Second Battalion Scots Fusilier Guards resulting in a win by the Grenadier Guards 3 goals,2 rouges to nothing. In 1864, at Trinity College, Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland, Frederick A. Bethune, the game gradually gained a following, with the Hamilton Football Club formed on November 3,1869. Montreal formed a team April 8,1872, Toronto was formed on October 4,1873, and this rugby-football soon became popular at Montreals McGill University. McGill challenged Harvard University to a game, in 1874 using a game of English rugby devised by the University of McGill. Later both the Ontario and Quebec Rugby Football Union were formed, and then the Interprovincial and Western Interprovincial Football Union, the CRFU reorganized into an umbrella organization forming the Canadian Rugby Union in 1891. The original forerunners to the current Canadian Football League, was established in 1956 when the IRFU and WIFU formed an umbrella organization, and then in 1958 the CFC left The CRFU to become the CFL. The Burnside rules closely resembling American football that were incorporated in 1903 by The ORFU, was an effort to distinguish it from a more rugby-oriented game, the rules were an attempt to standardize the rules throughout the country. The CIRFU, QRFU and CRU refused to adopt the new rules at first, the primary differences between the Canadian and American games stem from rule changes that the American side of the border adopted but the Canadian side did not. The Canadian field width was one rule that was not based on American rules, as the Canadian game was played in wider fields, initially an amateur competition, it eventually became dominated by professional teams in the 1940s and early 1950s. The Ontario Rugby Football Union, the last amateur organization to compete for the trophy, the move ushered in the modern era of Canadian professional football. Canadian football has mostly been confined to Canada, with the United States being the other country to have hosted high-level Canadian football games
7.
Association football
–
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
8.
Stadium
–
Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event at the ancient Greek Olympic festival was the race that comprised one length of the stade at Olympia, where the word stadium originated. In modern times, a stadium is officially a stadium when at least 50% of the capacity is an actual building. If the majority of the capacity is formed by grasshills, the venue is not officially considered a stadium. Most of the stadiums with a capacity of at least 10,000 are used for football, or soccer. A large amount of sports venues are also used for concerts. Stadium is the Latin form of the Greek word stadion, a measure of length equalling the length of 600 human feet, as feet are of variable length the exact length of a stadion depends on the exact length adopted for 1 foot at a given place and time. Although in modern terms 1 stadion =600 ft, in a historical context it may actually signify a length up to 15% larger or smaller. The equivalent Roman measure, the stadium, had a similar length — about 185 m -, the English use of stadium comes from the tiered infrastructure surrounding a Roman track of such length. Most dictionaries provide for both stadiums and stadia as valid English plurals, although etymological purists sometimes apply stadia only to measures of length in excess of 1 stadium. The oldest known stadium is the one in Olympia, in the western Peloponnese, Greece, initially the Games consisted of a single event, a sprint along the length of the stadium. The stadion, a measure of length, may be related to the Stadium, Greek and Roman stadiums have been found in numerous ancient cities, perhaps the most famous being the Stadium of Domitian, in Rome. The excavated and refurbished ancient Panathenaic stadium hosted a version of the Olympic Games in 1870,1875,1896 and 1906. The excavation and refurbishment of the stadium was part of the legacy of the Greek national benefactor Evangelos Zappas, the first stadiums to be built in the modern era were basic facilities, designed for the single purpose of fitting as many spectators in as possible. One such early stadium was the Lansdowne Road Stadium, the brainchild of Henry Dunlop, banned from locating sporting events at Trinity College, Dunlop built the stadium in 1872. Some 300 cartloads of soil from a trench beneath the railway were used to raise the ground, other early stadiums from this period in the UK include the Stamford Bridge stadium and Anfield stadium. In the U. S. However, many of these caught fire. All of the 19th-century wooden parks were replaced, some only a few years. Goodison Park was the first purpose-built football stadium in the world, walton-based building firm Kelly brothers were instructed to erect two uncovered stands that could each accommodate 4,000 spectators
9.
Retractable roof
–
A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof on tracks so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights, the term operable skylight, while quite similar, refers to a skylight that opens on a hinge, rather than on a track. Retractable roofs are used in residences, restaurants and bars, swim centres, as Rollamatic was founded five years earlier, the first installation of a motorized retractable roof must be between 1958 and 1963. While any shape is possible, common shapes are flat, ridge, hip-ridge, barrel, a residence might incorporate one or more 3 by 5 retractables, a bar or restaurant a retractable roof measuring 20 by 30, and a meeting hall a 50 by 100 bi-parting-over-stationary. Installations throughout the world employ a variety of different configurations and styles, the first retractable roof sports venue was the now-demolished Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec was slated to be the first outdoor retractable roof stadium at its debut for the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, however, plagued by construction problems, the roof was not installed until 1987, and was not retractable until 1988. Even then, movement of the roof was impossible in high wind conditions, a permanent, fixed roof was installed in 1998. By contrast, the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario had a functional retractable roof at its debut in 1989. Architecturally speaking, retractable roofs vary greatly from stadium to stadium in shape, material, for example, Miller Park has a fan style roof, while Toyota Stadium in Japan has an accordion-like roof. Most retractable roofs are made of metal, while some, such as the roof of University of Phoenix Stadium, are made of water-resistant fabric, in North American major sports leagues, specific rules exist governing the movement of retractable roofs before and during gameplay. These rules vary between the NFL and MLB, as well as from stadium to stadium, depending on the stadium, weather or gameplay conditions, and the judgment of the officials, play may or may not continue until the roof is fully closed. If the game begins with the closed, it may be opened under some circumstances depending on the venue. If it is closed after the game begins, typically it must remain closed for the duration of the game, some modern athletic facilities are using affordable, less complex roof systems that resemble retractable roofs in appearance and effect. These roof systems, commonly referred to as open roofs, are constructed with similar materials as retractable roofs, most open roof companies offer polycarbonate or tempered glass roofs for safer sports play and durability. Hinged at the structures gutters, open roofs fully close and open by the mechanics of a rack, comparable to the benefits of retractable roofs, open roof systems offer players year-long usage, protection from inclement weather when needed, and the feeling of an outdoor environment. Open roofs are seen at smaller athletic venues such as country clubs. Both retractable roof and open roof systems are used in the construction of commercial greenhouses. CBC archives The architect explains the system for the Rogers Centre in Toronto
10.
Floodlight
–
Floodlights are broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial lights. They are often used to outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are used as a stage lighting instrument in live performances such as concerts. In the top tiers of professional sports, it is a requirement for stadiums to have floodlights to allow games to be scheduled outside daylight hours. Evening or night matches may suit spectators who have work or other commitment earlier in the day, one motivation for this is television marketing, especially in sports such as gridiron football which rely on TV rights money to finance the sport. Some sports grounds which do not have permanent floodlights installed may make use of portable temporary ones instead, many larger floodlights will have gantries for bulb changing and maintenance. These will usually be able to one or two maintenance workers. The most common type of floodlight is the lamp, which emits a bright white light. Sodium-vapor lamps are commonly used for sporting events, as they have a very high lumen-to-watt ratio. In the recent years there have been new developments, and LED technology has come a long way, now LED flood lights are bright enough to be used for illumination purposes on large sport fields. The main reason for the use of LEDs is the power consumption. The first LED lit sports field in the United Kingdom was switched on at Taunton Vale Sports Club on 6 September 2014, the first sport to play under floodlights was polo, on 18 July 1878. Ranelagh Club hosted a match in Fulham, London, England against the Hurlingham Club, Cricket was first played under floodlights on Monday,11 August 1952 in England which was watched by several million people on their television sets. Since then most test playing countries have installed floodlights in some or all of their stadiums, traditional Cricket floodlights have a long pole on which lights are fixed. This is done several times, the ball travels too high when a batsman hits it. However, many cricket stadiums have different types of floodlights like the ANZ Stadium in Australia, the DSC Cricket Stadium in Dubai recently installed Ring of Fire system of floodlights which is latest and smartest system of floodlight in the world. Bramall Lane was reportedly the first floodlit stadium, floodlighting in association football dates as far back as 1878, when there were floodlit experimental matches at Bramall Lane, Sheffield during the dark winter afternoons. With no national grid, lights were powered by batteries and dynamoes, lights were later be used by clubs such as Thames Ironworks, but they stopped the practice after joining the Southern League in 1888
