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2002 was another year of growth for Football
New Brunswick. A record 1,708 players, coaches and officials were involved
with 57 teams in 12 different age groupings (programs).
The Capital Area Minor Football Association (Fredericton) operates a Squirt Flag
Football League for youngsters aged 7-9. The Moncton Football Association has a
Junior Touch Program for kids aged 10 & Under. Capital Area Minor also runs
a Mosquito Tackle Football League for 10 and 11 year olds.
Capital Area Minor (4 teams), Fundy Minor (Saint John) (7 teams) and Moncton
Football (5 teams) all operate PeeWee Tackle Football Programs for youth
aged 13 & Under. The 16 teams that operated in 2002 represents an increase
of 1 team over 2001. The new team was started in Capital Area. This team, the
Albert Street Eagles would go on to win the provincial championship with a 56-6
victory over the three team defending champion Sackville Titans. The Eagles
would go on to lose to Truro in the Maritime Championship game.
Capital Area Minor (3 teams), Fundy Minor (6 teams) and Moncton Football (6
teams) all operate Bantam Tackle Football Programs for youth aged 14 and 15. The
15 teams that operated in 2002 is 1 more than in 2001. Fundy Minor started a new
team in the Kennebecasis Valley that will hopefully eventually lead to a team at
Rothesay High School. The Simonds Junior Seabees won the provincial championship
with an exciting 15-8 victory over the MacNaughton Junior Highlanders. The
Maritime Bantam Championship game was not played in 2002 because Nova Scotia
players can be 15 months older than their New Brunswick counterparts.
Capital Area Minor and Fundy Minor operated 14 & Under Elite and 16 &
Under Elite teams in the spring of 2002. They played a home a series in late May
and early June.
Moncton Football Association ran a 15 & Under Elite team that played a home
and home series with Nova Scotia in late June and early July. Moncton lost the
series by a narrow 28-25 margin.
Football New Brunswick's 17 & Under Elite Provincial team operated in its
third season of existence. It played a home and home series against Nova Scotia
for the Mullin Cup in late June and early July. New Brunswick edged their
neighbours 35-32.
Football New Brunswick's 19 & Under Elite Team operated for its ninth season
of existence. In the Merritt Cup game New Brunswick edged Nova Scotia 16-14.
Team N.B. competed in the Football Canada Cup in Ottawa from July 7-13. While
our boys were unable to win a game they did gain much needed experience against
top notch competition.
The New Brunswick Senior Football League completed its second season with great
improvements over its initial year. Started in 2001 as a June-August
league using idle high school and minor equipment, this program represented a
place for post high school non-university players to continue their playing
days. In 2001 the three team league played in a weekly jamboree format to allow
all teams to play every weekend. In 2002 an interlocking arrangement was set up
with two teams in Nova Scotia. This permitted all three teams to have a full
length games each weekend. The Saint John Wanderers finished first in the league
and advanced to the Maritime Championship game against the Halifax Subways. The
Wanderers lost a close 21-19 decision to their Nova Scotia opponents. Meanwhile
the Capital Area Gladiators got by the Moncton Marshals 21-7 to advance to the
N.B. final against the Wanderers. The Gladiators would repeat as champions
by edging the Wanderers 17-13 in the final.
Football New Brunswick provided support to its members programs in a number of
ways. Championship banners and gold and silver medals were supplied to PeeWee,
Bantam and Senior as well as for the Maritime Senior Championship. Fair Play
banners were given to one team in each of PeeWee (Fredericton George Street
Crusaders), Bantam (Mathieu-Martin Junior Matadors) and High School (Harbour
View High School Vikings) football. Football N.B. also paid for officials for the provincial PeeWee and
Bantam championship games. Total cost $3,500. Just under $4,000 was
allocated towards the provincial 19 & Under and 17 & Under Elite
teams.
2002 was a very busy year for coaching development. Moncton and Fundy held Level
1 clinics, Capital Area hosted a Level 2 Technical and the Maritime Coaching
Clinic took the form of a Level 3 Technical, the first in this region in a
number of years. Football New Brunswick gave a contribution towards the travel
costs of coaches attending the Nova Scotia Super Clinic and the Boston Clinic.
For the first time each of the three minor football associations received a
direct contribution to help offset the cost of hosting clinics. Football N.B.
contributed a net of $3,000 to Coaching Development in 2002-3.
New Brunswick's football officials were busy in 2002 holding Level 1 clinics in
Capital Area and Moncton. They also conducted a "Standardization
Clinic" during the year. Football New Brunswick contributed $1,000 towards
officials development in 2002-3.
No organization can operate without its volunteers. Some sort of recognition of
their efforts is key to its long term success. Football New Brunswick held its
annual awards banquet in April 2002 in Moncton. Lifetime Service Awards were given to Phil
McGarvey and Mike Murphy of Saint John as well as Andy Atkins, Mark Lenehan and
Louis LeBlanc of Moncton. LeBlanc was also chosen as PeeWee Volunteer of the
Year. Leonard Gervais of Fredericton was selected as Bantam Volunteer of the
Year. Marion McIntyre of Fredericton received the Gridiron Award for Outstanding Service to
Football. Net cost of this event was $3,750.
Football N.B. held it's 4th Annual Pass, Punt and Kick in Fredericton. It
contributed $500 to Dan McCullough of Fredericton to help offset his costs of
attending the Global Junior Football Championships in San Diego as a member of
Team Canada. Dan was the only Maritimer on the team. Finally it contributed $250
to help cover costs of holding an All-Canada Combine in Moncton in March 2003. A
combine tests high school athletes in a number of football related skills and
then makes the results available to university football coaches throughout North
America. This information organization was instrumental in helping Billy Wilson
of Oromocto obtain a full scholarship to NCAA Division I Syracuse University.
For 2003 there is reasonable
expectation of further growth in participation levels. Capital Area Minor
expects to add a PeeWee team in St. Stephen and Moncton Football plans a new
PeeWee team in Dieppe. Fundy Minor is working on adding a Bantam team in East
Saint John. The New Brunswick Senior Football League expects to add a fourth
team from Saint John in 2003. For the first time our 17 & Under, 15 &
Under and 13 & Under Elite programs are expected to operate with regional
teams in Moncton, Fundy and Capital Area. These teams will participate in
tournaments on May 25 and June 1. A provincial team in each age group will be
selected to play Nova Scotia on June 28 and July 1.
It is hoped that the Maritime Bantam championship last played in 2001 will be
resumed in 2003. It was not played in 2002 because Nova Scotia players could be
15 months older. Nova Scotia is adjusting its ages in 2003 to lower the
difference to 3 months. The PeeWee championship was played in 2001 and 2002.
Nova Scotia is also changing its ages for PeeWee in 2003, making their players 9
months younger than N.B.. Because players in this age group have not yet reached
puberty this age difference should not present a safety problem and hopefully
this series will continue as well.
We will be attempting to lay the foundation for some form of female only tackle
football. Only 33.2% of registered paid athletes in New Brunswick are female.
Our sport has almost none. Consideration will be given to a summer tackle league
for women that uses idle minor football equipment.
Football New Brunswick intends to spearhead some sort initiative to to start
football in an area of the province where there is presently none. Sussex,
Woodstock and Miramichi have been targeted as areas where we would like to hold
a camp or game in 2003.
Attempts continue to improve our relationship with high school football. Some
sort of "East-West Bowl" or "Senior Bowl" is under
consideration for 2004.
The NFL/CFL Flag Football program will be introduced to Moncton middle schools
in the spring of 2003 with other areas to be introduced in future years.
Football New Brunswick will continue to be involved in improving the coaches and
officials in the province. All three minor football associations plan to hold
NCCP Level 1 clinics within the next year. Mount Allison University and Saint
Mary's University both plan to hold clinics in N.B. within the next twelve
months. Some of our coaches will also be attending the Nova Scotia and Boston
Clinics.
There will be Level 1 Tackle Football Officials Clinics in Moncton, Fredericton
and Saint John before the 2003 season. The New Brunswick Football Officials
Association will be holding Level 2 and Level 3 clinics in June 2003.
Finally, Football New Brunswick will be addressing the problem of abuse and
harassment in our sport. A long overdue policy on this issue will be developed
and adopted. A new constitution is being written with the intention of having it
in force later this year. A Football New Brunswick "Wall of Fame" is
under consideration. A committee will be struck to study how to set it up.
Terry McIntyre, President
Football New Brunswick
March 31, 2003
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