It’s December, which means half of the Ooks are finished their seasons, and the other half have gone home for winter break after an exciting few months. There are lots to get up to date with, from the potential championship contenders to the teams that might need to hit the reset button come January. Here’s everything you need to know about the state of the Ooks going into 2025.
Volleyball
The Ooks men’s team have started their 2024 Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) national title defence and are 5-4 entering the break. The blue and gold have picked up right where they left off last year on offence, dominating the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) with 427 kills. If the playoffs started today, NAIT would qualify for the playoffs. There are still 10 games left this season, but the Ooks are trending in the right direction.
After starting the year 0-2, the women’s team stormed back in November to sit 6-3 and fourth in the division heading into January. Their playoff chances are up in the air; the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings sit sixth and have an automatic spot as this year’s championship host. If the Vikings land outside the top four in the division, the Ooks must finish third or higher to make it to playoffs. The women have improved vastly from last year, surpassing their total of five wins from 2023/24, so they certainly have a shot to break their three-year playoff drought come February.
Basketball
The men’s team holds third in the North Division with a record of 6-4, so they are well above the cutline for the playoffs. If they make it, they’ll have to compete against the Keyano College Huskies, who have been at the top of the division for the last four years.
A 3-7 start to the campaign leaves the women with some ground to make up in 2025 if they want to secure a playoff spot for the first time since their CCAA title run in 2022. The good news? The Ooks are fourth in the division, which would qualify them for the playoffs. The bad news? With 10 games remaining in the season, the blue and gold have some tough competition for that final playoff spot.
Curling
A 1-3 start for the men and a 1-4 start for the women in curling leaves the program in a rough spot coming out of the fall regional tournament.
The men’s team excelled in 2023/24, taking home bronze in the ACAC championships and just missing the podium at the CCAA nationals. A nice bounce back at the winter regionals in January could help the men defend their bronze medal at the championships in February.
Badminton
A great opening tournament has the Ooks in a promising spot for the new year. NAIT finished with at least one duo or player in the top three in every event except for mixed doubles. The blue and gold came away with four silver medals at the conference championships last year and are on track to produce similar results in 2025.
Golf
Before the season, Head Coach Tyler Leicht said the team was ready to take the next step and “start chasing for that silver and gold.” Well, they lived up to their expectations. The blue and gold won one bronze, three silvers and sent six golfers to nationals. The future is looking bright for one of NAIT’s newest sports teams.
Cross-country
The other newest team at NAIT finished their second season with a pair of bronze medals at the ACAC championships. With an increase in players on the team from last season, the Ooks sent nine players to nationals—up from two in 2023. A nice improvement from their performance last year leaves room for some higher expectations next fall.
Soccer
The women’s team had 13 rookies this year, but they still had a solid performance. NAIT finished third in the division with a record of 7-3-2, yet did not qualify for the playoffs; their spot was taken by North Western, who received an automatic spot as hosts, despite finishing outside the top three. Either way, the team will have gained an important year of experience going into 2025/26 and should be a top contender.
It’s been a long time coming for the men’s soccer team to win their first ACAC title since 2018/19. The men finished the regular season 9-1-2 with 36 goals for and only 9 allowed—the best in the conference for each category. For the third year in a row, the Ooks made their way to the gold medal game, but unlike the past two, they finished the job and won the championship.
However, their national performance left NAIT without a medal at the CCAA stage after allowing seven goals in three games. With another year of experience, this team should again be a contender on the provincial and national stage in 2025/26.
Hockey
If there was such a thing as a championship hangover, the women’s team certainly doesn’t have it. They are on fire, winning 11 of their 12 games this season. The team retained most of their core players, putting them in a good place to secure another title. Four of the top five scorers in the conference are Ooks, and if the team’s performance in October and November is a sign of what’s to come, it will be an exciting second half of the season.
The men’s team has not hit the same level of success, though. The team sits 5-7 and are fifth in the division at the break. NAIT underwent significant changes in the summer with the departure of important pieces from the forward, defence and goaltending groups. A rough 1-3 start in October and a 4-4 record in November means that while the Ooks are in a playoff spot, the team needs to string together more consistent wins to finish in a higher seed.
