Atlantic Football League grows
Gridiron: Entries from Holland College, Dalhousie University bring the number of franchises to five

By Jon MacNeill
Published in the Telegraph-Journal on March 22, 2010
Appeared on Page B12

SAINT JOHN - The Atlantic Football League has expanded to a five-team loop for the 2010 campaign.

Two new teams were admitted to the fledgling league at its annual general meeting this weekend in Moncton.

The Holland College Hurricanes, based in Charlottetown, P.E.I., and the Dalhousie University Bengals of Halifax were voted unanimously into the fold by the three existing teams and league officials.

"We're pretty happy about it," league commissioner Pat O'Brien said Sunday. "It gives us more credibility and sustainability. We're in three provinces now and in all of the major football hotbeds of Atlantic Canada."

O'Brien said for several months organizers in Charlottetown and Halifax had been working on applications to join the AFL, a community-based league for players aged 18-24.

The University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves, Moncton Junior Raiders and University of New Brunswick Fredericton Red Bombers made up the league last fall in its first-ever season.

In that campaign each club played four regular season games, with the No. 1 team receiving a bye through the playoffs and into the championship game. This year, each club will play a six-game regular season, with the top four teams advancing to a semifinal playoff round.

O'Brien said he isn't surprised the league expanded after its first year of existence.

"If you stay stagnant that means people must be satisfied with it, but when you see people joining it and joining from quite a distance away and making that commitment, I think it's a sign that we're doing some things right and it's a nice competitive league," he said.

His main concern about expanding into other Maritime provinces was the effect higher travel costs might have on team budgets.

"The finances, from a traveling point of view, were an issue but we've got good rates for buses this year and so I don't think it will be as big of an issue as we'd thought," O'Brien said.

He expects the second campaign will get underway in mid-September and conclude around Nov. 20. A schedule will be drafted this summer.