Building a healthier community through competitive sports

Since 2017, Bison Sports has hosted six national championship events across four sports. Curt Warkentin, Associate Director of Operations for Bison Sports, says the push has been part of a conscious effort to build UM’s reputation as a leading sports program.

“It’s been years of work increasing our profile and exposure, so the best Manitobans choose to stay home [and compete] and that we attract great student-athletes from across the country,” Warkentin says.

Warkentin says these championships are only one area they focus on to build a culture of success and support within the Bisons system. He says Bison Sports continually works to build an inclusive, safe and competitive system centered around the welfare and well-being of all their student-athletes.

“We want joining our teams to be a welcoming situation where a student-athlete can thrive academically, socially and athletically,” says Warkentin.

Bisons men’s basketball head coach, Kirby Schepp

Kirby Schepp, head coach of the men’s basketball team, says part of Bison Sports’ role is to put their athletes in a position to be leaders in whatever fields they enter once their time on the fields of play is over.

“Whatever they’re going into, they become leaders in the community and that’s not by accident,” says Schepp, who likens Bison Sports to a “faculty of leadership.”

Schepp says building an environment to help student-athletes thrive is about helping them “stretch” in an environment that provides a safe place to be themselves while also being challenged.

“The first hurdle is getting them in a space where they’re willing to reach and try things that are outside of their comfort zone, and we have to create that environment,” Schepp says. “We’re trying to push people to maybe their limits, where they didn’t know they could go.”

Schepp says that to accomplish those goals and allow student-athletes to take the lead, they need to feel they’re “safe, supported and included.”

Warkentin says they’ve also been trying to grow the community around Bison Sports, between s

Associate director of operations for Bison Sports, Curt Warkentin

tudent-athletes, the wider campus community and alumni. He says they want to showcase the community surrounding these teams.

“It’s about trying to build that connectedness for everyone,” he says. “Finding these areas of connection and finding ways where we’re all on the same side and pulling in the same direction is a big thing.”

Schepp says he wants student-athletes to understand the scale of what they’re a part of and that it’s bigger than any one of them individually.

“It’s bigger than just their five years and we want student-athletes to know that,” he says. “But it’s also important for alumni to know that even though their time has gone and they’ve moved on, they’re a part of something bigger, and not only came before them but what comes after them as well.”

Warkentin and Schepp say they’ve seen growth in the connection between Bison Sports teams and their student-athletes over the last few years and are now excited to continue to build and strengthen the community across campus.

Connor Boyd