After a two year stint at the University of Waterloo and a gap year at Ryerson, Beth Ali has returned to her home of seventeen years at the University of Toronto. The seasoned veteran was Head Coach of the Field Hockey Program and Manager of the Community Service Program and Athletic Centre from 1990 until 2004. She then assumed the role of Manager of Intercollegiate Sport, a post which she held until her departure in 2007.

A Varsity Blue through and through, Ali is excited to be back and working as the new Director of Intercollegiate and High Performance Sport on her home turf.

The Varsity: As the new Director of Intercollegiate and High Performance Sport at the University of Toronto what exactly do you oversee?

Beth Ali: I look after the full Varsity Blues Program, which means all of the athletic programs here at the University including the CIS and the OUA. I also look after the High Performance Program, which was introduced three years ago in partnership with the Ministry of Health Promotion. We provide support services like sports medicine, training and facilities to high performance athletes here in the city.

TV: What do you hope to bring to both the school and the scoreboard this year?

BA: I’m stepping into a program that has a tradition of excellence and the Varsity Blues brand is huge not just in Toronto and Ontario, but across the country. So right now we’re getting our athletes on the field, we’re getting our coaches in place and we’re making sure that we’re ready to go for the season.

TV: Do you think that an outstanding performance by a team or athlete can boost the morale not just for the athletes themselves but the entire school?

BA: I definitely do! People jump onto the bandwagon around a team that starts to do really well because they want to feel a part of it. They want to be engaged. We have to engage our student body around intercollegiate athletics and Varsity sport and my view is that when you come to U of T, you become a Varsity Blue. Whether you’re an athlete, a coach, a spectator, a fan, a student, everyone is a Varsity Blue.

TV: That being said, where do you think that U of T teams will place in the OUA and the CIS this year?

BA: I would say that U of T always wins a certain number of championships and I think that that will happen again. We have excellent student athletes here, we have very strong coaches and we have good programs. We are always in the hunt for not only playoff contention, but winning the banners. I can’t tell you how many we’re going to win, but I think we’re going to be in the hunt for a number of them, I’m sure.

TV: Recently, Simon Fraser University in BC became the first Canadian school to enter the NCAA and compete in their Division II. Do you think this is a direction a lot of Canadian universities will begin to take?

BA: Most of the schools in the CIS are committed to the CIS. We all see that there are things that can be done better and everyone is working hard to make it better. The CIS board is very unique and we are very much about student athletes and the importance of academics around the experience of the student athletes. I will expect that we will push forward to make our brand better, not to look to somewhere else to find that.

BETH ALI’S PREDICTIONS FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON

FOOTBALL: We have a very good recruiting class for football this year and I think we’ll see a bit of a move there.

MEN’S SOCCER: We’re hosting the National Championships for Men’s Soccer this year. They came fourth in the nation last year, although they were ranked number one going into the tournament. They learned some good lessons and they’ll be playing on their home field so I think there could be a lot of excitement around that championship.

WOMEN’S FIELD HOCKEY: Women’s Field Hockey is always a perennial favourite, so we’ll see how they do.

WOMEN’S VOLLEY BALL: Last year our Women’s Volleyball team made it to the National Championship and weren’t necessarily expected to. They are obviously a good group of athletes and since they’ve had a taste of it I would imagine that they would want to get back there again.