UPEI Athletics and Recreation highlights the hard work and dedication of two student athletes every seven days with the Subway Athletes of the Week. This week, we honour Emily Keen from the women’s rugby team and Dut Dut from the men’s basketball team. UPEI Athletes of the week are also nominated to Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Sport for possible recognition in the region and/or country.

Who:  Emily Keen, Women’s Rugby; and Dut Dut, Men’s Basketball

What: UPEI Panther Athletes of the Week

When: Week of October 5-11

Where: University of Prince Edward Island

Why: Keen is a third-year Bachelor of Science student from Marshfield, PE. She continued her strong, dependable play for the Panthers during Saturday’s 42-17 loss to Acadia. The coaching staff asked team captain Keen to push herself further, carry the ball more, and to go into contact. It paid off. Keen scored her first try. Keen is a skilled player who always works hard, leads by example, controls the game offensively, and was the Panthers best tackler on the field. 

Dut Dut, a fourth-year Bachelor of Arts student from Ottawa, ON, had a great weekend. During the team’s 2 wins 1 loss record at the John Dore Classic at Concordia, Dut scored 55 points, including 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals in the championship game. Dut was selected to the Tournament All-Star Team.

About UPEI Athletics and Recreation

• Nine varsity sports and six club team programs
• Proud member of the AUS and CIS
• Athletic facilities include: Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place and UPEI Turf
• Home of Panther Sports Medicine
• Other facilities available to students and the community at large include: fitness centre, squash and racquetball courts, competition and leisure pool with hot tub, and two ice arenas

The Mickey Place Memorial Basketball Tournament, presented by Rodd Hotels & Resorts, begins on Friday, October 16. Eight basketball teams from across Canada and the United States will compete in this annual three-day event.

UPEI men’s basketball team will tip-off against the University of New Brunswick, University of Maine Fort Kent, and Holland College, while the women’s team will take on the University of Ottawa, Acadia, and Bishops.

“We are very excited to kick off our 2015-16 season by hosting the Mickey Place Memorial Tournament,” said UPEI Athletic Director Chris Huggan. “We welcome teams and invite basketball fans to come out and watch AUS and CIS championship contenders, both our Men’s and Women’s teams look forward to an early test. This will be a wonderful weekend of basketball action!”

The tournament is named after John Thomas “Mickey” Place, a long-time friend of Panther Sport, a former UPEI student union employee, and a UPEI honorary degree recipient. UPEI is also excited to welcome Rodd Hotels & Resorts as presenting sponsor.

Tournament admission per day is $10 Adult, $6 for a non-UPEI student, and free for PEI Students K-12.  A tournament pass is $20. The full tournament schedule follows:

Friday, October 16, 2015                                                                      

3:00 pm                 (M)           HC vs UPEI

For full tournament information, check out www.gopanthergo.ca.

The UPEI Panther Subway Athletes of the Week for the week of October 12-18 are Marie-Soleil Deschenes, Women’s Hockey, and Mason Wilgosh, Men’s Hockey. UPEI Athletics and Recreation showcases these talented athletes to recognize their hard work and dedication to their respective sports. UPEI Athletes of the Week are also nominated to Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Sport for possible recognition in the region and/or country.

Who:  Marie-Soleil Deschenes, Women’s Hockey; and Mason Wilgosh, Men’s Hockey

What: UPEI Panther Subway Athletes of the Week

When: Week of October 12-18, 2015

Where: University of Prince Edward Island

Why:  Deschenes, a fourth-year Bachelor of Science student from Ile-Perrot, Quebec, backstopped the Panthers to a 2-0 start on the weekend. During the 4-1 win over St. FX and 2-0 shutout over Mt. A, Deschenes stopped 46 of 47 shots for a save percentage of .979.

Wilgosh, a fourth-year Bachelor of Arts student from Winnipeg, Manitoba, enjoyed a strong weekend for the Panthers. Team captain Wilgosh led the way offensively during Friday’s 4-1 win over Dalhousie, scoring a hat trick. He continued his strong play during the Panthers 5-3 win over St. FX on Saturday night.

About UPEI Athletics and Recreation

• Nine varsity sports and six club team programs
• Proud member of the AUS and CIS
• Athletic facilities include: Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place and UPEI Turf
• Home of Panther Sports Medicine
• Other facilities available to students and the community at large include: fitness centre, squash and racquetball courts, competition and leisure pool with hot tub, and two ice arenas

UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz issued the following statement today about Ralph Manning, chief physiotherapist for the University's varsity athletics teams, who passed away earlier today in hospital after suffering a heart attack last Thursday:

"Our University has lost a great friend and champion.

Shortly after arriving at UPEI, I had the pleasure of meeting Ralph and over the years enjoyed our conversations. He was a very committed and dedicated individual and put UPEI and its student-athletes first, offering professional and kind service. Even when he wasn’t officially “on duty”, Ralph was either at the rink, on the pitch, at the field, or at the gym cheering on our Panthers.

On behalf of the entire UPEI community, I pass on my most sincere sympathies to Ralph’s wife, Tara, his extended family, friends, and colleagues—and to our student-athletes who felt his impact and received his care."

The UPEI Women’s Hockey game scheduled for tonight at MacLauchlan Arena versus UdeM has been cancelled and flags will be lowered to half mast in memory of Manning. UPEI Student Affairs will be offering walk-in counselling appointments all day Thursday and Friday to support student-athletes who are dealing with this tremendous loss. Appointments can also be made by calling 902-566-0488.

The UPEI Women’s Hockey game scheduled for October 21 at MacLauchlan Arena versus Université de Moncton has been cancelled due to the passing of Ralph Manning earlier today.

Ralph Manning was owner of Panther Sports Physiotherapy and was chief physiotherapist for UPEI’s varsity athletics teams. He was very well known in Island community for his warm good-natured personality and dedication to providing quality physical therapy. The University has issued an official statement on upei.ca.

Flags on campus will be lowered to half mast in memory of Manning.

UPEI’s Executive MBA program is excited to officially launch the EMBA Book Club.

Indigo! has graciously offered to partner by providing a meeting space at their Charlottetown store location. The first meeting will be on October 27th at 7 pm at Indigo! The first book is Give and Take by Adam Grant, published by Penguin Books.

All are welcome. We encourage everyone to get involved and bring a friend.

The EMBA Book Club’s books are selected by faculty at the UPEI School of Business. Sessions will be moderated by a School of Business faculty member.

This is a great way to get or stay connected with the UPEI School of Business and to support continuous learning.

For more information, contact Susan Graham, scgraham@upei.ca. For a complete list of meeting dates and book titles, visit the EMBA website. 

Dear Colleagues:

As a follow-up to my September 29^th message, I’d like to provide an update on UPEI’s enrolment and course registration for fall 2015. UPEI’s enrolment results for 2015-16 tell an interesting story. Over the past year, UPEI succeeded in increasing application numbers and conversion rates, and significantly improved first year retention. UPEI also achieved growth in international student enrolment by 9%, domestic enrolment (students from outside PEI) by 3%, and graduate student numbers by 15%.  

The Association of Atlantic Universities (AAU) released data today from its 2015-2016 Survey of Enrolments. In relation to the other 15 universities in Atlantic Canada, UPEI placed sixth in respect to maintaining enrolment, with a 2 percent decline in the overall student body.  This places UPEI slightly above the Maritime average and just slightly below the Atlantic average for enrolment change as compared to 2014.

Although some levelling-off in student enrolment has been anticipated, shrinking demographics within our Island K-12 schools are a growing cause of concern for UPEI and our entire province. Between September 2013 and September 2014 alone, the total Grade 12 enrolment within PEI high schools fell by approximately 4%. From a regional perspective it is forecast there will be 34,900 fewer people in the typical university age range (18-24 years) in PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick between 2012 and 2025.  PEI will see a decline of approximately 20% for this age group in the time frame.

While we cannot control the demographics in our region, with the number of high school students on the Island declining, we can control our accessibility to university studies through new academic programming, enhanced scholarships and awards, more support for students as they transition into university life, guaranteed residence accommodation for first year students, and earlier registration options for students. The quality of the student experience at UPEI is second-to-none and I know that together we continue to strive for excellence.

2015/2016 UPEI enrolment, by the numbers:

Total:                                         4,317 (down 2.0%)
Undergraduate:                         3,869 (down 3.6%)
Graduate:                                  448 (up 15.2%)
International:                             748 (up 9.2%)

A full breakdown of enrolment numbers for universities across the Atlantic Provinces can be found at the AAU’s website.

Thank you

Alaa

UPEI Athletics & Recreation is ready for one of the biggest weekends of the varsity season. It’s a Panther-packed weekend! All of our teams will be on the ice, on the field, in the pool, or on the track.

Nine teams are in action throughout the weekend, playing 13 games. Swimming and cross country will compete in AUS Invitational events. In addition, UPEI Athletics is hosting the Mickey Place Memorial Basketball Tournament and the home openers of the women’s and men’s hockey teams.

“Since my arrival at UPEI almost a year ago, I have been extremely impressed by the effort and spirit of our student athletes, coaches and staff,” said Chris Huggan, UPEI Athletic Director. “Their energy combined with the university’s commitment and support to athletics and recreation has positioned us extremely well for long-term growth and success. This Panther-Packed weekend involves all of our teams and is one we have been looking forward to for a long time. We are excited about hosting and connecting with our alumni and fans as we showcase our student-athletes, teams and game day experience.”

Friday, October 16

5:00 pm (W) Soccer vs UdeM
6:00 pm (W) Basketball vs Bishops (Mickey Place Tournament)
7:00 pm (M) Hockey vs DAL (Home Opener)
7:15 pm (M) Soccer vs UdeM
8:00 pm (M) Basketball vs UNB (Mickey Place Tournament)

Saturday, October 17

2:00 pm (W) Rugby vs SMU (Senior's Day)
6:00 pm (W) Basketball vs Ottawa (Mickey Place Tournament)
7:00 pm (M) Hockey vs StFX
8:00 pm (M) Basketball vs UMFK (Mickey Place Tournament)

Sunday, October 18

1:00 pm (W) Basketball vs Acadia (Mickey Place Tournament)
3:00 pm (M) Basketball vs HC (Mickey Place Tournament)
6:00 pm (W) Hockey vs MtA (Home Opener)

For more information on the Panthers weekend schedule visit: gopanthersgo.ca.

For information on the Mickey Place Tournament visit: gopanthersgo.ca/mickey-place-memorial-basketball-tournament.

All AUS regular season are webcast and available at www.austv.ca.

Follow the games on Twitter at @upeipanthers and by using the following hashtags #pantherpackedweekend2015 and #gopanthersgo.

Check out our UPEI Athletics & Recreation Facebook page for updates through the weekend and watch for upeipanthers1 on Instagram.

About UPEI Athletics and Recreation

• Nine varsity sports and six club team programs
• Proud member of the AUS and CIS
• Athletic facilities include: Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place and UPEI Turf
• Home of Panther Sports Medicine
• Other facilities available to students and the community at large include: fitness centre, squash and racquetball courts, competition and leisure pool with hot tub, and two ice arenas

UPEI Field Hockey is ready to challenge for the Atlantic University Field Hockey Championship this weekend in Halifax. After finishing regular season tournament play in third, the Panthers look to play their best field hockey of the season at the right time.

Coach Sheila Bell commented, “As we enter into our final tournament with high expectations and feeling confident in all areas of the field, we look forward to playing quality competition.  SMU has played us strong all season and we have made adjustments in order to reach our potential offensively.”

She added, “We will be counting on our veterans Kathryn Koughan and Sydney Stavert to set the tone and bring a new level of intensity as they have been doing leading up to this weekend. Laura Young has moved from centre back to the wing and has proven she has a natural scoring touch which will compliment Alyssa Ferguson up front.”

In Saturday’s pool play, UPEI will play SMU (1st in tier 1) at 1:00 pm and Acadia (3rd in Tier 2) at 3:00 pm.  Both games will be played on Dalhousie’s turf field. Championship Sunday will be hosted by SMU with Semifinal  #1  (1st Pool A vs 2nd in Pool B ) at 9:00 am  and  Semifinal #2 ( 1st Pool B vs  2nd in Pool A) at 10:15 am.

The AUFH Bronze Medal game is scheduled for 12:30 pm with the Championship at 2:30 pm. The All-Star and Major Awards presentation will follow the Championship game.

League play consisted for two tiers; tier 1 was comprised of UPEI, SMU, and DAL and tier 2 UNB, Acadia, St FX, and Mt A, but both tiers come together as one for the Atlantic Championship.

UPEI have two graduating students in their line up: Emily Ross, defender and fourth-year Nursing student and Katherine Koughan, sweeper and Business student. 

In honour of the late Ralph Manning, the Panthers will wear “RM” on their uniforms.  During the Field Hockey team’s recent home tournament at UPEI which included 16 games and 7 universities, Manning’s team of physiotherapists and trainers covered the entire tournament.  The team will be playing for Ralph this weekend.

“We are going into this tournament with heavy hearts,” said Bell. “And we will be remembering Ralph Manning and honouring his dedication and kindness he shared with so many.”

About UPEI Athletics and Recreation
• Nine varsity sports and six club team programs
• Proud member of the AUS and CIS
• Athletic facilities include: Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place
• Home of Panther Sports Medicine
• Other facilities available to students and the community at large include: fitness centre, squash and racquetball courts, competition and leisure pool with hot tub, and two ice arenas