QIS

QUEBEC CITY, CAPITALE-NATIONALE - College sports is a fickle creature that never seizes to draw a wide contrast of reactions, no matter who you are. It is a sport that neither fully professional nor fully youth/prospect-based, yet the allures behind it draw people from different parts of the world who would not always agree with each other, whether they be from Chromatika and Valanora, or Ranoria and Banija, and both NSCF and NSCAA continue to draw extremely high numbers on television and media engagements.

This is of no exception to this NSCF, as we approach the nonconference weeks of this hallowed competition. With the spring and early-summers being held off the windows, as well as historic presence of Quebecois schools over the last three decades, it brings together 42 schools from 31 nations who fight for a solitary title that has passed through the historic giants over the course of gridiron football history. 'The history does tell us good things that come from those who win it, and the countries that have won it,' says Dexter Ahn, the NSCF Commissioner and the Quebecois College and Pro Hall of Famer, 'You see major names like Osarius, Cosumar and Mytanija popping up there, and then there's of course the usual powerhouses like Banija, Ranoria, Drawkland, Karditan, Chromatika and Valanora, with few of us right behind as well. There's that pipeline we have that funnel talent, and there's also that standard we have that we set to the world with how vibrant our competition gets during summers.'

Of course, we remember the usual Quebecois candidates of St. Croix and Saguenay playing in the competition, even if St. Croix hasn't made the playoffs in eight cycles (to be fair, they were away from 19 to 22) and Saguenay Fighting Irish notoriously underachieving even with all the quarterback and defensive talent they have gotten over the Baek Sang-Joon years. Still, these two schools are almost always on the top 5 on the rankings (most likely both schools are, with the last time neither being in top 5 dating back to....the 90s? so that's around sixty years ago - jesus!) and most foreinners, who are often ready to take our jobs, know these two or University of Iqaluit for that reason.

Now, of course, these two schools aren't the only Quebecois schools worth noting. The nation of 74 million people does have a few dozen universities with different purposes and degrees of significances attached to them. Compared to other countries of its stature on international sports, the number of Quebecois universities are lot smaller than the likes of Banija (600 schools in 3 tiers!) or Drawkland (right, but they also have 2 billion drawk-ians anyway), and the tiers are slightly more established but convoluted as well. So there's a bit of that challenge when understanding Quebecois collegiate sports.

The Quebecois Intercollegiate Sports

As with any country that has a healthy, collegiate sports culture, you need a strong governing body, and in here it's named the QIS.

The Quebecois Intercollegiate Sports (QIS) is a nonprofit organisation headquartered in Quebec City that regulates not only student-athletes, but also the athletic programs of up to 70 universities and 6 multi-sport conferences (individual sport conferences do not count for this purpose). It is also known for organising the national championships for these college sports, which of course include gridiron football and basketball, and submit sides to the sports' respective international competitions in the NSCF and the NSCAA.

As have mentioned earlier, the QIS is known for its single-division system that does not categorise universities based on their athletic or student population distinction. As for those, usual reasons cited are the smaller number of college programs to start with, and also the fluidity of athletic scholarships and even NIL rights by these institutions for student-athletes who play in their sport. The QIS is also known for its strict academic requirements, where the minimum grades-point-average (GPA) is not necessarily the highest at 2.4 on a 4.0 scale (this department Vanorian and Chromatik schools are at their best, as far as my research is concerned), but each institution does maintain internal requirements that they are required to report to the QIS every calendar year, meaning that is

This, of course, means that there is a bit of variance and in some sports, lack of parity, especially as the top dogs and the small dogs have to compete with one another. That, combined with relatively stratified nature of Quebecois society, reflects well into the college categories and the teams. So let's find out:

St. Croix

On newspapers, the term 'The School' or in some cases, 'The Big Two' (usually implies Farrer as the other half) often comes up, and the sheer existence of either term can indicate something with these institutions.

Universite St. Croix of Quebec City is of course one of them. The Quebec City based institution that is famous for its residential colleges, strength in humanities and traditional sciences, and not to mention the connections to IRSEA-Saclay (), is one of them, while the other, Farrer University

St. Croix - Is viewed as a state institution with its own level of significance.

IRSEA is directly involved with the St. Croix athletic program. Some IRSEA degrees are conferred as St. Croix degrees, while most St. Croix students are able to receive instruction/coaching as IRSEA athletes.


The Pine League

- Consists of seven schools: Queen's College, Northwestern, Farrer, Saguenay, Mount Ester, Etoile-Nord, Yongma College
- Built by the interests of regional elites and/or businesspeople who have seen the need to establish a higher-education institution in the region without being explicitly limited to those of the Seonggyungwan University College. These institutions, often predating the arrival of state schools, are among the oldest universities in all of the country

- Belongs in the territories set under 1724 and does not include schools in the West Coast or the East Coast.

- High-spenders but tend to be more selective with athletic programs to focus. Mount Ester and Northwestern stand as exceptions in that they

- Usually these schools are known names on college football - Queen's College, Northwestern and Saguenay are almost always on top 10 - but not always the case. We don't really remember Mount Ester for football, Yongma College and Etoile-Nord have had good years in past, and Farrer always has to compete with other two major programs whose admissions are easier by numbers, not to mention St. Croix. This is mostly due to their status as smaller institutions with difficult admission standards, with many of them located in regional centres but in rural areas, and also the general atmosphere of the institution that doesn't always fit with recruits.

- But we do remember these schools for having few flagship programs that we remember them for: ​
[*]RSECQ: Etoile-Nord- HANDBALL - Field Hockey - Wrestling
NOTE: Handball team rivals IRSEA-St. Croix and Northwestern almost every year.
[*]B1G: Farrer- MEN'S BASKETBALL - Baseball - Women's Basketball
NOTE: Really a basketball school.
[*]AUS: Mount Ester- MEN'S BASKETBALL - Fencing - Football
NOTE: Everybody remember Mount Ester basketball being the biggest collegiate draw on AUS and nobody can deny that.
[*]B1G: Northwestern- HOCKEY - Men's Volleyball - Handball
NOTE:
[*]B1G: Queen's College- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Men's Volleyball - Fencing
NOTE: Riley Jeon-Keane and Heo Myeong-Yoon brought four titles, Laurent Ahn (as graduate transfer) and Jin Chang-Wook (who declared pro early due to his controversial romantic affair during olympics) delivered three, and fencing's won 14 over the last 53 years since their first title in 1999.
[*]B1G (Independent): Saguenay- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Fencing - Hockey
NOTE: Saguenay always produces excellent point guards and wings for national team. Fencing's a perennial top 5 name on both men and women's side, though they get streaky at times. Underrated hockey team.
[*]AUS: Yongma College- MEN'S VOLLEYBALL - Hockey - Baseball
NOTE: