2007 was another year of growth for the Capital Area Minor Football Association. A total of  846 players aged 6 and up played on 35 teams in 10 different programs. This represents an increase of 10% over the 766 that participated in 2006. 
             On the field, the Fredericton Eskimos won the eight team Squirt Flag championship in that league's 12th season while the Devon Knights won the title in the 9th year of our Mosquito Tackle program. The Northside Mounties and the East End Crush were added to the Mosquito program, bringing the total number of teams to eight.
             The Albert Street Eagles won their fifth Middle School championship in the last six years with a 34-0 domination of the George Street Crusaders in the final. The Eagles defeated the Moncton Lancers 38-7 in the provincial PeeWee semi-final before losing a heartbreaking last minute 18-12 decision to the Hampton Huskies in the provincial final. Albert Street had rallied from a 12-0 halftime deficit to tie the game 12-12 before the Huskies scored with seconds remaining to record the victory.
            The 6th Annual Southside Bowl Game between the Albert Street Eagles and the George Street Crusaders was held at College Field on the U.N.B. campus with the entire student bodies (1,300 kids) of both schools in attendance.
             The Oromocto Junior Blues won their fourth Capital Area Bantam championship in the last six years with a come from behind 20-15 decision over a game Northside Junior Lions squad. The Junior Blues would prevail 19-16 over the Hampton Junior Huskies in the provincial semi-final before being drubbed 52-0 by a powerful Riverview Junior Royals team in the provincial final.  
              The Capital Area "Gladiators" 17 & Under team played games against Halifax, Fundy and Saint John. The 15 & Under Gladiators program had enough players register that two teams, the Trojan Gladiators and the Spartan Gladiators. They played games against each other as well as one game each against Moncton. The 13 & Under Gladiators program once again operated two teams, the Trojan Gladiators and the Spartan Gladiators. The two teams played one another several times.
              For the first time, Capital Area Minor Football operated an 11 & Under program. Three teams, the Spartan Gladiators, Trojan Gladiators and Roman Gladiators played a round robin schedule during the program.
                Capital Area Minor Football was once again actively involved again in operating the Capital Area Gladiators men's team during its seventh year of existence in the the Maritime Football League. The Gladiators ended the season with a record of 4-5.
                The Capital Area Lady Gladiators women's tackle football team operated in its fourth season as part of the four team Maritime Women's Football League. The Lady Gladiators won their second consecutive league championship with an exciting last minute 15-14 victory over the Moncton Vipers in Maritime SupHer Bowl IV.
               Individually, a number of our volunteers were honoured. Our association's "Coach of the Year" was 
Marty Arsenault.  His Albert Street Eagles came within a hair of winning the Provincial PeeWee championship. 
               James Strohm and his wife Cate Brander were selected to receive the association's "Ted Mather Volunteer of the Year" award. Over the last several years James and Cate have coached and managed at least two teams every year.  
               Junior Blues coach Dave Blanchard was selected as the Football New Brunswick Bantam Volunteer of the Year.
               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 over 250,000 visitors.  Our website Trivia Quiz, now in its 9th year and complete with CFL and CAMFA merchandise for prizes, continues to be very popular.  We held our 9th Annual Fastest Player Competition. C.A.M.F.A. players wearing their game jerseys were admitted free to a Leo Hayes High vs Oromocto High 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 9th Annual Pass, Punt and Kick competition.
               On the fundraising front bottle drives in the spring and fall netted over to $11,000. 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 also raised over $7,000 by including the cost of TURBO cards in registration fees. 
              Sponsors contributed almost another $6,000 to the budget. For the seventh year Devon Lumber paid for the T-Shirts worn by our Squirt Flag teams. "DQ" sponsored three sets of game jerseys for our 11  & Under teams. Tim Horton's sponsored the game jerseys for the two new teams in our Mosquito league. 
                Capital Area Minor Football paid $250 bursaries to Julia Coleman, Bobby McIntyre, Andrew Hubbard and Justin Conn of Fredericton High as well as Kyle Roesler, Brian Von Richter and Jeremy Bigger of Oromocto High.    
                During April 2007 C.A.M.F.A. held an NCCP Level I for a number of its coaches
                C.A.M.FA. spent over $127,000 in 2007, including $26,000 on tackle football equipment, $23,000 on uniforms and $10,000 on awards.  
                 For 2008  we are looking at the possibility of creating an 8 aside Bantam program to complement the current 12 aside Bantam program. This will help ensure that there is a place to play for all kids coming up from our Middle School League, regardless of ability. We are also working on getting some games for our 8 aside teams with three 8 aside Junior Varsity teams in Maine.
                 The popularity of our Squirt Flag program continues to grow. We may see another two teams join this league in 2008. We will also be modifying this program to conform more closely with the Football Canada flag program. Teams will play 6 aside ball on a 25 yard wide field 
                 Capital Area Minor Football has purchased flag football kit bags for use in the Oromocto elementary and middle schools. We will attempt to organize this program to some extent this year and in the future.
                 We will once again be operating 11 & Under, 13 & Under, 15 & Under and 17 & Under Spring programs. 11 & Under and 13 Under will each consist of local four team leagues. Negotiations to set up games with outside teams in 15 & Under and 17 & Under are in process.  
                 U.N.B. now has a new all-weather "field turf" field. CAMFA has arranged to play some games there in both our spring and fall programs.
                 We are also working on setting up a 6 aside High School Aged Girls Tackle Football Program starting in the fall of 2008.
                 On the development front, CAMFA will be hosting a National Coaching Certification Program Level I clinic in April 2008 as well as a Novice Clinic in August 2008.. 
                 While we got ourselves better organized in 2007 we still need reliable volunteers in all areas of our organization. If you can help, please volunteer!

Jeff Murdock, President
Capital Area Minor Football Association
April 10, 2008