Despite brief interruptions caused by two world wars and the great depression, the Canadian Bowl is standing the test of time.
And this weekend, the oldest championship in Canadian football is coming to Windsor, featuring an epic tilt between the visiting Okanagan Sun and the St. Clair Saints for Canadian Junior Football League supremacy.
This is the 115th edition of the Canadian Bowl, which takes place on Saturday, Nov. 9, with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff at St. Clair College's Acumen Stadium in Windsor, Ont.
"In life, very few things last this long," said Ron Seguin, a Senior Advisor in the President's office at St. Clair College. "The Canadian Bowl's perseverance to last this long is incredible."
The two teams competing for the title this season have a history, last facing off at the CJFL national semi-final in 2022, where the Sun edged out the Saints 42-24, later going on to win the Canadian Bowl.
The Saints organization last lifted the Canadian Bowl in a close 32-29 victory over the Sun in 1999. This year, they're ready to bring the title back to Ontario for the first time in 25 years.
The Saints, formerly the AKO Fratmen, have been to the dance many times before. The storied franchise has made eight trips to the Canadian Bowl, most recently against the Saskatoon Hilltops at Alumni Field in Windsor in 2017 but were on the losing end. The Saints/AKO Fratmen have won the junior football Holy Grail three times, with appearances dating back to 1952.
"This is Canadiana and it's a privilege for everyone at St. Clair to participate in such an esteemed event," Seguin said. "It's not lost on me that the Canadian Bowl is the weekend before Remembrance Day. It's also a time to remember and thank everyone from the AKO Fratmen, who truly paved the way for the continuation of junior football in Windsor."
The AKO Fratmen franchise was purchased by the Saints Student Athletics Association Inc. in 2020, bringing junior football to St. Clair College at the newly constructed Acumen Stadium, where the Canadian Bowl will be hosted.
"Football has officially arrived at St. Clair College," said Seguin. "The vision was always to create an opportunity for those students who choose a college pathway to play football for their school."
Seguin previously suited up as a defensive back for the AKO Fratmen in 1981, noting the creation of a College team in the CJFL ranks was intentional to level the playing field for Ontario teams against the west-coast powerhouses.
"This is an exclusively unique opportunity in Canada, and we are on the national stage just four years into our program," Seguin said.
Meantime, the Okanagan Sun, out of Kelowna, B.C., is one of the most successful teams in CJFL history. The squad has won the British Columbia Football Championships 14 times and hoisted the Canadian Bowl trophy three times, first in 1988, then again in 2000 and 2022.
The CJFL has been dominated by west-coast teams over the past quarter-century, where the Saskatoon Hilltops hold the record for most CJFL titles. Beginning in 1953, the Hilltops have won 23 Canadian Bowl championships, including six consecutive titles between 2014 and 2019.
Though the championship tradition has continued for 115 years, the name of the championship has changed a few times. Since 1989, the CJFL championship game has been known as the Canadian Bowl. Prior to that, from 1976 to 1988, the Canadian championship was known as the Armadale Cup, and from 1925 to 1975, it was known as the Leader Post trophy.
The first junior championship game was played in 1908 in Montreal, when the Parkland Canoe Club of Toronto defeated the Lindsay Jrs by a score of 22-0.
But from 1915 to 1920, there was no championship series due to the First World War. In 1934 and 1935, the Leader Post Championship was not played, and from 1939 to 1945, there was again no national championship due to the Second World War.
The Leader Post Trophy was first challenged in 1925, when the Montreal AAA defeated the Regina Pats.
"The Canadian Junior Football League provides the opportunity for young people aged 17 to 22 to participate in highly competitive post-high school football that is unique in Canada," reads the CJFL website. "The goal of the league is to foster community involvement and yield a positive environment by teaching discipline, perseverance, and cooperation. The benefits of the league are strong camaraderie, national competition, and life-long friends."
Tickets are selling fast for the Canadian Bowl between The St. Clair College Saints and Okanagan Sun, where extra bleachers are being brought into Acumen Stadium to accommodate the increased fan interest.
Gates open at 5 p.m. Nov. 9, and the game starts at 7 p.m.
