Men’s soccer team hosts Alberta on Sunday.

The Bateman Cup, first awarded in 2016, will be presented to the winning team of Sunday’s match between the Huskie men’s soccer team and the Alberta Golden Bears in Saskatoon. The game is in honour of Reginald John Godfrey Bateman. Born in Ireland, Bateman was one of the first professors at the University of Saskatchewan in the early 1900’s. He also captained the first men’s soccer team on campus. In 1909 there was a group of University of Saskatchewan athletes that boarded a train, travelled to the University of Alberta, and defeated the Golden Bears 1-0.

Bateman enrolled in the Canadian military in 1914 and was killed in the line of duty in 1918. “Colonel Bateman was a soldier that gave his life for our freedoms that we get to see in Canada,” said Huskie men’s soccer coach Bryce Champman. “There is a number of fallen soldiers that played football that resided in Saskatchewan. (The Bateman Cup) is a great opportunity to recognize those individuals who gave us what we have today.”

Chapman stressed that the Bateman Cup has provided many learning opportunities for Huskie athletes. “I think a lot of it for the players is just to provide that education from the past. I think it’s important for us to know where we’ve all come from.”

The Huskies will be involved in several activities in conjunction with the Bateman Cup. “We are going to take a trip to the bottom of the 25^th Street bridge and look at the monument that’s down there,” said Chapman. “There is a massive list of individuals who have taken care of our country!”