| CAPITAL AREA MINOR
FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
"BETWEEN THE UPRIGHTS" NEWSLETTER- 2003 EDITION |
|
2002 was another year of growth for the Capital Area
Minor Football Association. A record 502 players aged 7 and up played on 21 teams in
7 different programs. On the field, the Oromocto Alouettes won the six team Squirt Flag (Ages 7-9) championship
for the second year in a row in
that league's 7th season while the Northside Knights won the title in the 4th
year of our five team Mosquito (Ages10-11) program. The Albert Street Eagles
were
our PeeWee champions, defeating the Oromocto Leopards 32-0. The Eagles would go
on to defeat the Sackville Titans 56-6 in the provincial championship game. This
made them the first ever team from the Capital Area Minor Football Association
to win the provincial PeeWee championship. The Eagles also travelled to Nova
Scotia to play the Truro Blue Bombers for the Maritime Championship losing 41-8.
Individually, a number of our volunteers were honoured. Our association's
"Coach of the Year" was Off the field a large number of significant events took place. Our website keeps growing in size and is becoming more and more popular. Since its launch in December, 1999 we have had almost 50,000 visitors. Our website Trivia Quiz, now in its 4th year complete with CFL and CAMFA merchandise for prizes, continues to be very popular. We held our 4th Annual Fastest Player Competition. C.A.M.F.A. players wearing their game jerseys were admitted free to a Fredericton High School football game. At halftime, representatives from each the teams in our four divisions participated in 40 yard races to determine the fastest player. We also held our 4th Annual Pass, Punt and Kick competition. Our 11 & Under winner, Patrick Downe, our 13 & Under winner Daniel Reid and our 15 & Under winner Jory Smith would all go on to win the New Brunswick championship. On the equipment front , the Oromocto Junior Blues raised sufficient funds through bottle drives, BBQ's, car washes. etc. to buy themselves brand new game jerseys and game pants. The association made $5,000 by selling "Peeler Cards" and another $2,500 from having parent volunteers do team pictures. This money was used to pay for year end Pizza Parties for all teams and to buy trophies for every single player on every team. The association raffled off a computer and other prizes to net $7,500. Tag Days at the Boyce Farmers market produced $1,000. We were able to start a fourth PeeWee team by dividing the Southside Red Bombers into two teams. Affiliation arrangements were set up with the two southside middle schools to create the George Street Crusaders and Albert Street Eagles. Many thanks to Mosaic Technologies and Tim Hortons for sponsoring the jerseys. Capital Area Football paid $250 bursaries to Jessica Forsythe of Oromocto High, Derek Corning of Leo Hayes High and Nick Johnson and Bryan Campbell of Fredericton High. During 2002 we were also able to conduct a Canadian Football Officials Association Level I clinic and certify three more much needed new officials for our programs. We now have 18 certified officials doing our games. We held a National Coaching Certification Program Level II Technical Clinic at Leo Hayes High School for 21 coaches. Local football legend Donnie Davis held a quarterbacks and receivers development camp in July, 2002 On the administrative front we took major steps in 2002 to improve how C.A.M.F.A. is organized and run. For the first time we have a formalized constitution and association executive. As well a number of "coordinator" positions were created to formally assign to our volunteers the various tasks that need to be done each year. All executive and coordinator positions now have detailed job descriptions.
For 2003 we are attempting to start another Pee
Wee team in St. Stephen-Calais. A sponsor has been found to pay for the initial
equipment outlay. A coaching staff is also in place so the chances of this team
operating in 2003 are very good. We also plan to seek an affiliation arrangement
for our Northside PeeWee team with Nashwaaksis Middle School. The Northside
Mounties would become the Nashwaaksis Nordics. Any PeeWee player living on the
north side of Fredericton would be eligible to play for this team. Our teams and volunteers will continue their fundraising efforts in ernest. New practice and game jerseys are one of our main priorities in 2003 along with PeeWee helmets and practice pants for all levels. On the development front, CAMFA will be hosting a National Coaching Certification Program Level I clinic at Leo Hayes High School on May 3-4, 2003.
While we got ourselves better organized in 2002 we still are in dire need of
reliable volunteers in all areas of our organization. If you can help, please
volunteer! Terry McIntyre, President |