UW to host East-West Bowl for second year in a row

For the second straight year, UW will host the 2025 East-West Bowl. The event is set to take place Saturday, May 10 at 12:30 p.m. at Warrior Field. 106 athletes have been invited to participate in this event and will arrive earlier in the week for combine testing and practice ahead of the game. 

The East-West Bowl features the top 106 U Sports athletes who are eligible for the 2026 CFL draft as a showcase of their skills to coaches and general managers across the CFL. Athletes are divided into Team East and Team West based on the location of their university.  

In general, any athlete who attends a university west of Toronto will be assigned to team West; everything East of that will be assigned to team East. However, on an as-needed basis – for example, if team East is short on a certain position or coaches – players will be borrowed from opposing teams. Each U-Sports team is granted the opportunity to elect three players as guaranteed spots for the East-West Bowl. If a team wants to elect more, they must be voted in by U Sports representatives. 

This year, six Warriors will be participating in the East-West Bowl, all part of team West:  defensive backs Mason Henry and Isaiah Blackson, defensive lineman Marcus Ola, offensive linemen Nick Gidaro, H-back Evan Basalyga, and quarterback Nick Orr.

 Three coaches on behalf of the Warriors will also be participating but on team East: defensive backs coach Jerome Erdman, receivers coach Rushon Dangleman, and women’s intern coach Sierra McPhail. 

With each East-West Bowl, the CFL also holds a free agent camp, set to take place on Tuesday, May 6 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Feridun Hamdullaphur Field House. This event allows individuals who are deemed CFL free agents the opportunity to showcase their skills via combine testing and position-specific drills to all coaches and general managers in attendance in an attempt to get signed. 

On top of the CFL free agent camp, there will be a coaches’ clinic held in partnership with Football Canada. This event allows coaches from across Canada at all levels to learn and expand their coaching capabilities from U Sport coaches nationwide. This is a two-part event set to take place on Friday, May 9, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday, May 10 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.. This clinic includes in-class learning taking place in the Optometry building along with on-field sessions set to take place in the field house. 

New to the East-West Bowl festivities, in an attempt to get the community involved, there will be an East-West Bowl Kids Fun Camp set to take place Wednesday, May 7, 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at the field house. This camp is intended for children aged 7-13 years old, allowing them the opportunity to learn fundamental football skills from U Sports players and coaches.