Canadian Track and Field League to start May 21, receives Olympic support
Aaron Brown, Melissa Bishop-Nriagu, Brandon McBride and Tim Nedow will serve as the four CTFL team captains
The new Canadian Track and Field League (CTFL) has announced the schedule for their inaugural season. The league will make four stops in three Canadian cities in Ontario and Quebec between May and July. The league will be led by team captains and Olympians Melissa Bishop-Nriagu, Aaron Brown, Brandon McBride and thrower Tim Nedow.
The league will kick things off in Montreal on May 21, followed by a meet in London, Ont. on May 28. The final prelim meet of the season will be held at Ottawa’s Terry Fox Athletics Complex in early July, before the same venue hosts the CTFL final on July 20. “The first meet in London will follow the Bob Vigars Invitational meet,” CTFL founder Quinn Lyness says, “while the meets in Montreal and Ottawa will be run during a local twilight meet.” All meets will be held in Ontario and Quebec this season, but Lyness has mentioned that other provinces are interested in the league’s expansion for 2023.
Four teams of 38 athletes will compete, accumulating points to help their team in the CTFL standings. The names and team captains of the four CTFL teams are as follows:
The Bears (Aaron Brown)
The Spitfires (Tim Nedow)
The Huskies (Melissa Bishop-Nriagu)
The Arctics (Brandon McBride)
In April, the team captains and general managers will draft 38 athletes to represent their team for the season. Each team will strategically draft 24 athletes to fill a position on the roster for each CTFL event (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m., 1,500m, 400mH, long-jump and shot-put). They will also draft six utility athlete spots, who are eligible to earn points at meets outside the CTFL meets. The team captains also have the choice to compete for their teams.
Some of the utility athletes who have already declared for the draft are Olympians Crystal Emmanuel, Sage Watson, Sarah Mitton, Bolade Ajomale and Noelle Montcalm.
Athletes looking to participate in the inaugural CTFL season have until the end of March to register for the draft pool. The standards were set based on the top 50 performances in Canada per event last season.
New Balance Canada will sponsor the CTFL and provide support through its Give Back Program, whose mission is to fund high school and elementary school track and field programs across Canada. New Balance will also be providing all of the singlets for the CTFL.
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