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2003 was another year of growth for Football
New Brunswick. A record 1,840 players, coaches and officials were involved
with 66 teams in 12 different age groupings (programs). This is an 8% increase
over the previous year's 1,708. This does not include the 700 participants in
high school football who are not members of Football New Brunswick but still
rely on it to certify their coaches and help train their officials.
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. Fundy Minor Football runs a
Flag Football League for children ages 13 & Under. Capital Area Minor also runs
a Mosquito Tackle Football League for 9, 10 and 11 year olds.
Capital Area Minor (4 teams), Fundy Minor (Saint John) (5 teams) and Moncton
Football (7 teams) all operate PeeWee Tackle Football Programs for youth
aged 13 & Under. Moncton Football started two new teams in 2003, the Moncton
Warriors and the Dieppe Alouettes. The Sackville Titans won their fourth
provincial title in five years by defeating the Simonds Sharks 32-0 in the title
game. The Titans would go on win the Maritime Championship game by blasting the
Timberlea Titans of Nova Scotia 66-14 in a game played in Halifax.
Capital Area Minor (4 teams), Fundy Minor (5 teams) and Moncton Football (6
teams) all operate Bantam Tackle Football Programs for youth aged 14 and 15.
Capital Area Minor added the Fredericton Bantam Black Kats as a new team in
2003. The Oromocto Junior Blues won the provincial championship
with a 34-16 victory over the Riverview Junior Royals. With the victory
the Junior Blues became the first ever team from Oromocto to win a provincial
football championship at any age level. The Blues would lose a hard fought 12-7
decision to the Timberlea Titans of Nova Scotia in the Maritime Bantam Championship game
played in Halifax..
Capital Area Minor and Fundy Minor operated 13 & Under, 15 & Under and
17 & Under Elite teams in the spring of 2003. They played a home and home series in late May
and early June.
Moncton Football Association ran 15 & Under and 17 & Under Elite teams that played a home
and home series with Nova Scotia in late June and early July.
Capital Area Minor and Fundy Minor combined to form a Team New Brunswick West 15
& Under Elite team that played games against Moncton and Nova Scotia in
July.
Football New Brunswick's 19 & Under Elite Team ran into problems in its
tenth season
of existence. Organizational problems lead to the team folding in May. Efforts
to revive it in 2004 are going well.
The New Brunswick Senior Football League completed its third season with great
improvements over its initial two years. Started in 2001 as a June-August
league using idle high school and minor equipment, this program represents a
place for post high school non-university players to continue their playing
days. In 2001 and 2002 the league had three teams. In 2002 an interlocking
arrangement was set up
with teams in Nova Scotia. In 2003 the entry of the Simonds Seadogs gave the
NBSFL four teams. The Saint John Wanderers won the NBSFL championship defeating
the Moncton Marshals 33-13 in the title game. The Wanderers would go on to win
the the Maritime Championship game 50-12 over the Halifax Shockers.
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. Fair Play
banners were given to one team in each of PeeWee (Salisbury Silver Foxes), Bantam
(Leo Hayes Junior Lions) and High School (J.M.A. Armstrong High School Cougars) football. Football N.B. also paid for officials for the provincial PeeWee and
Bantam championship games and provided travel subsidies to teams traveling to
the Maritime PeeWee and Bantam championships in Halifax. Total cost of these
items was $4,000. Just under $5,000 was
allocated towards the provincial 19 & Under team.
In coaching development Moncton and Capital Area held Level
1 clinics. Football New Brunswick gave a contribution towards the travel
costs of coaches attending the Boston Clinic. 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 $3,700 to Coaching Development in 2003-4.
New Brunswick's football officials held Level 1 clinics in
Capital Area, Moncton and Saint John. Football New Brunswick contributed $800 towards
officials development in 2003-4.
Football New Brunswick spent $14,000 on liability and accident insurance for its
members in 2003-4 as well as remitting $3,800 in dues to Football Canada and
Sport New Brunswick.
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 2003 in Saint John. Lifetime Service Awards were given to Larry
Harlow and Mike Lavin of Saint John as well as Dan Fougere of Moncton and Don
Davis of Fredericton. Chuck Proudfoot of Fredericton was chosen as PeeWee Volunteer of the
Year. Rusty Kirkpatrick of Saint John was selected as Bantam Volunteer of the
Year. Dan Fearon of Moncton received the Gridiron Award for Outstanding Service to
Football. Net cost of this event was $3,200.
Football N.B. held it's 5th Annual Pass, Punt and Kick at Mount Allison
University in Sackville. It
contributed $500 to Prince Mwenga of Moncton to help offset his costs of
attending the Global Junior Football Championships in Houston as a member of
Team Canada. Prince was the only Maritimer on the team. Former CFL player Chris
Skinner of Saint John was inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of
Fame.
Football New Brunswick spent $500 to sponsor a table in his honour at the
banquet.
Football New Brunswick mourns the passing of its Director of Tackle Development,
Nick Desilets in June 2003. At the tender age of 29 "Big Nick" was
suddenly taken from us, leaving behind his wife Andrea and newborn son Alexandre.
Football New Brunswick made a $500 contribution towards a scholarship fund set
up for Alexandre.
For 2004 there is reasonable
expectation of further growth in participation levels. Fundy Minor
expects to add a PeeWee team in St. Stephen and a Bantam team in
Saint John. Moncton Football plans a new Bantam team in Salisbury.
Moncton will attempt to start an Atom tackle football league for players
aged 9-10. Our 17 & Under, 15 &
Under and 13 & Under Elite programs will operate with regional
teams in Moncton, Fundy and Capital Area. These teams will participate in tournaments on May
24 and May 30 along with Team Nova Scotia.
The 19 & Under Elite team has been holding regular practices and
intends to play Nova Scotia in the Merritt Cup series as well as participate in
the Football Canada Cup in Ottawa in July.
It is hoped that the Maritime PeeWee and Bantam Championships will
continue and grow in stature during 2004. Nova Scotia will be voting on changing
its age limits to be the same as N.B. in both classifications. If this happens
there will be a better chance of finding a sponsor and promoting this event in a
manner more suitable for a championship of this magnitude.
There are concrete plans in place to form a four team New Brunswick Women's
Football League to begin play in the summer of 2004. Groups are in place in
each city and a press release has been circulated to area newspapers. There is
also an initiative to start Junior football in Moncton.
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 2004.
The NFL/CFL Flag Football program will be introduced to Oromocto
elementary schools
in the spring of 2004 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. Moncton will be holding NCCP Level 1, 2 and 3
clinics in April and May. Capital Area will be holding an NCCP Level 1
clinic in May. Some of our coaches will also be attending the Boston Clinic.
There will be Level 1 Tackle Football Officials Clinics in Moncton, Fredericton
and Saint John before the 2004 season. The New Brunswick Football Officials
Association will be holding Level 2, 3 and 4 upgrade clinics in June 2004 in
Moncton.
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 volunteer screening policy will be developed and adopted.
The organization will develop the ability to deliver some level of service in French.
Terry McIntyre, President
Football New Brunswick
March 31, 2004
2003 Newsletter
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