Bombers give Seawolves the boot in AFL final

By JON MACNEILL
Canadaeast News Service

SAINT JOHN – After 30 years, the University of New Brunswick Fredericton Red Bombers still know what it takes to win a championship.

Struggling against slick field conditions and outstanding defensive efforts on either side of the ball, the Red Bombers captured the first-ever Atlantic Football League championship Saturday and the Moosehead Cup with a 3-1 win over the UNB Saint John Seawolves at Millidgeville Field.

“It’s a big piece of history that we get to be a part of,” the Bombers Andrew Hubbard said.

“We had a former Red Bomber with us today and to have the traditions blending together feels great.”

The star wide receiver tallied more than 130 yards from returns and carries but it was the Bombers’ defence who put points up on the board.

As in the two regular-season encounters between the teams, the game was decided in the final frame but this time Fredericton prevailed to hand Saint John its first loss of the inaugural campaign.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Seawolves’ Tim Jackson attempted to return a punt from his end zone but fumbled it back across the line to give the Bombers a two-point safety.

With less than two minutes left in the game, Jackson was caught in the house by a swarm of Bomber defenders trying to return another punt and the Bombers took a 3-0 lead from the rouge.

Both scoring opportunities came courtesy of Alden Pezerovic’s reliable boot.

“Pezerovic kicked a phenomenal game for us,” Bombers head coach Mike Dollimore said. “Every punt he had helped us out and took the field position away from Saint John. He strategically placed it where we wanted him to and it was a direct result of his kicking game that we got the points we did.”

Points were otherwise hard to come by in a game dominated by solid defensive performances. The first three quarters were relatively uneventful, with each team struggling to sustain their offensive drives and failing to get within striking distance.

“It was tough to get the ball going today,” Seawolves head coach Dave Grandy said.

“It’s harder to click on offence and the conditions were slick out there,” added quarterback Jeremy McAulay. “But, no excuses, we just came out kind of flat and couldn’t get any momentum going and they shut us down.”

The Seawolves notched a rouge with 34 seconds left on the clock after McAulay marched the squad within range using a screen pass to Joel Seale who gained 30 yards.

John Phillips’ field goal attempt narrowly missed the uprights on the right side to make it 3-1 for the Bombers. Phillips had kicked the game-winning field goal in a 16-14 victory in September at Chapman Field.

“We played bend don’t break defence at times, especially near the end of the game,” Dollimore said. “We were trying to protect against some of their deep passes and we gave up some stuff across the middle, but we were protecting from the goal-line up.”

The single point came after McAulay fired passes to Seale and Justin Cavan who were both unable to corral the pigskin from their perch in the end zone.

“We had our opportunities near the end of the game to get what we needed and that just didn’t happen,” Grandy said. “It was there for us and we didn’t capitalize.”

Immediately before the Bombers notched their safety, Saint John’s Chris Reid recovered a fumbled punt return and ran it back for a touchdown. But the major was called back because the Seawolves had too many players on the field, drawing a chorus of disapproval from the estimated 800 fans in attendance on the overcast fall afternoon.

Dollimore said winning the championship was even more rewarding in the company of some former Red Bombers. He played and coached for the squad from 1970 to its final Atlantic Universities Athletics Association season in 1980.

“Our guys played really inspired football,” Dollimore said.

University football lures 2,300 fans to first game

Published on September 28th by Jon MacNeill of the Telegraph Journal

FREDERICTON – For years, Pat Gillin longed for the return of the Red Bombers football team to the University of New Brunswick Fredericton campus.

The UNB alumnus started his schooling in 1948, the inaugural season of the Bombers, and though he never played for the team he quickly realized how valuable the program was to the university community.

Pat died this July at the age of 84, and while he didn’t live to bear witness to his dream of the Red Bombers’ return, his passing played no small part in its realization.

Pat had arranged to leave a donation to the university upon his passing that would go towards funding a football program, should one ever start up again.

“He wanted everyone to get involved, so he structured the donation in such a way that other people could donate as well, to match (his),” Pat’s 37-year-old son Jeff said during halftime of the Atlantic Football League’s opening game between the Red Bombers and University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves Saturday night in Fredericton.

“Of course, he wasn’t here for this night, but he would have been thrilled. Just thrilled,” added Pat’s widow, Lois Walker Gillin.

Lois and Pat were members of the committee responsible for the creation of the AFL, a project four years in the making.

The two are listed as touchdown level (more than $5,000) contributors to the Red Bombers, a donation that helped purchase the squad’s equipment.

Lois, Jeff and his sister, Janet Campbell Gillin came to Fredericton from their homes in Ottawa and were honoured before the start of Saturday night’s game, in which the Seawolves edged the Bombers 16-14.

The family was presented with honorary jerseys, bearing the initials “PG” on each sleeve, and shook hands with the captains, coaches and managers of both teams at centre field.

“He always felt that (football) was very important for the kids coming to UNB because it was a way of getting together in the fall and it created such a good atmosphere,” Lois said.

“It brought the whole school together.”

For the family, knowing their father played a role in making Saturday’s game possible added to the already charged atmosphere at Chapman Field, where an estimated 2,300 people were in attendance.

“It’s extremely special, I know he’s up there smiling,” said Janet. “This would have been such a big thing for him – he said everything good from his life came out of UNB and I’m sure he’s happy with the way things turned out.”

The same can be said for former Red Bomber Stephen Gale, who flew in from his home in Waterloo, Ont., to watch the game with his school-days friend Bob Forbes.

Both men played for the Bombers from 1972-76. They were teammates, roommates at Bridges House, and wore the numbers 12 and 34. “I was one-two and he was three-four,” Gale said with a laugh.

“This is fantastic,” he added as the two teams battled on the gridiron. “I think it’s a great step for the university to build up some morale amongst students. Just look at the people here tonight.”

“Football is huge for the campus, it’s a rallying point,” chipped in Forbes, a family doctor based in Riverview.

“It adds a great deal to the campus spirit and it’s a meeting point for people. (A football program) is a tremendous thing to have, it adds a lot of character to the campus and I think UNB was really missing out by not having a team before,” Forbes said, adding his son might suit up for the Bombers next season.

Friday night and Saturday afternoon the football community in the Capital City was humming with excitement for the opening game. Tailgate parties took place around the city and at the parking lot of Chapman Field in anticipation of the Red Bombers first action in 29 years.

“It’s pretty darn exciting,” Dean Culligan said as his family and Fredericton neighbours the Burns and McGuigans grilled up some burgers and sausages before the kick-off.

“When you look at this – see the turnout, feel the atmosphere – you think maybe there’s a chance to get a varsity program back at UNB,” he said.

In the meantime, Culligan is more than content with the action presented by the AFL.

“I really think this might be a recurring event for us, to come up here and have a family tailgate party and support the team.”

Red Bombers co-coach Mike DeMello said the large turnout and obvious support for the new league was a good sign for the program’s future.

“I just had some people that I coached in football come up to me and say that the university should pay attention because the atmosphere was electric and there was a lot of excitement around the field,” DeMello said moments after the game ended.

“I would hope that this is something the university community would look at and say, ‘this is definitely a viable and exciting product,’ and let it grow over the years.”

Dollimore says Red Bombers ‘just want to win’

Published Saturday September 26th, 2009 by Chris Fox of the Daily Gleaner

It’s a new team, playing in a new league and on a new field, but when the UNB Red Bombers take the Chapman Field turf tonight against the UNBSJ Seawolves, one thing will be the same.

Head coach Mike Dollimore, who coached UNB’s varsity football team for 11 years up until their disbandment in 1980, will once again be calling the plays from the Red Bombers sideline.

“I have been trying to bring this team back for almost 30 years, so it will be pretty exciting to be able to see them actually on the field,” Dollimore said on the eve of tonight’s 7 p.m. contest. “UNB has been starving, the community has been starving, and hopefully we get a good crowd out.”

The Red Bombers will play a six-game season in the newly minted Atlantic Football League, a three-team circuit that also includes an entry from the University of New Brunswick Saint John and a club team from Moncton.

Brendan Cornford, the former Leo Hayes Lions quarterback who played senior football for the Capital Area DQ Gladiators this summer, is expected to be the go-to guy behind centre, and Andrew Hubbard, a star wide receiver out of Fredericton High School, will undoubtedly get plenty of balls thrown his way.

Past that, Dollimore is taking a wait-and-see approach.

“We haven’t had an awful lot of chances to do too much scrimmaging, so it’s hard to predict what they are going to be like in game circumstances, but I like the team,” he said. “(Andrew) Hubbard is a big threat, Josh McArthur is a good solid running back and defensively we have a solid core of linebackers who are moving and flowing to the ball quite well and we have some good quick defensive ends.”

Though the Red Bombers are associated with the University of New Brunswick, the Atlantic Football League is not a university league and Dollimore said the Red Bombers’ final roster includes several players from St. Thomas University and a few not currently attending classes at either of the city’s two universities.

Several players with prior university football experience, including defensive back Elliot Hicks, who was the rookie of the year with the Mount Alison Mounties last year, will also suit up.

“We have several people who have played some CIS ball and because of the short amount of practice we have had that is a real asset,” Dollimore said.

In addition to Dollimore, former Oromocto High School coach Mike DeMello will coordinate the offence and three former Canadian university players, Jamie Edwards, Jeff Taylor and Dave Knott, will serve as assistants.

Larry Wisniewski, general manager of the Red Bombers, said that coaching staff will in fact be the biggest strength of the 2009 UNB Red Bombers.

“One of the real strengths is the coaching staff. It is first rate. Mike Dollimore, Mike DeMello, all of these guys have played CIS football, all these guys know CIS football, all of these guys have coached at all kinds of levels and they are a very very good coaching staff who the kids will gain a great deal from,” he said.

Dollimore said he just wants to win and is planning to have a football team that represents that attitude.

The top team in the Atlantic Football League at the end of the regular season will get a bye to a championship game. The other two teams will fight it out in a winner-take-all semifinal.

“Hopefully we will have everything we need to win a ball game in our kit bag,” Dollimore said.

“We’re just going to go out and take what they give us, spread the field both ways to open up our long game and if we can connect with that great and if they take that away from us we will have another threat to come back,” he said. “We don’t want to be one-dimensional.”

Red Bombers return to UNB today

Published Saturday September 26th, 2009 by Chris Fox of the Daily Gleaner

Larry Wisniewski is the man bringing football back to the University of New Brunswick.

Wisniewski, a sociology professor at the school, is the general manager of the new UNB Red Bombers club football team, which begins play tonight.

Though not the varsity Red Bombers of the 1980s, Wisniewski has high hopes for this 2009 incarnation.

He recently chatted with reporter Chris Fox about the team, his excitement level for the coming season and the newly created Atlantic Football League, in which the Red Bombers will play.

***

Q: What was the last movie you saw and the last concert you went to?

A: Oh, I don’t even know. I am much more inclined to do neither of the above. What I am inclined to do is to go to my garden and work there or to go out with the dogs for a long walk.

I read books, walk dogs, garden, but do not get to movies or go to concerts.

***

Q: What is the excitement level like right now?

A: Right now, I couldn’t really tell you.

I am so busy running around doing a thousand little things and anticipating what the next catastrophe will be, but it does seem to be growing.

There are two sides to me – the side which is eternally optimistic and looking forward to a fine turnout Saturday, and the side which is saying let’s wait and see.

One of the most interesting things I think will be in finding a way to blend the enthusiasm and the initial energy about what is happening into a season-long commitment.

Nothing would make me happier than to sit at Chapman Field and see the stands filled and the players having a great time.

***

Q: Are you hoping to capture some of that old Red Bombers mystique?

A: Yes. Some of them (former UNB football players) are coming, and we hope quite a few.

That is important. I am hoping the new players will see them and understand what it meant to those players of the past to be part of a football program at university and that they will see the possibilities of continuing their support of football at UNB in order to achieve that.

I am also hopeful that the fans and the people at the game – young and old – will get a sense of how much can be gained by coming on campus at UNB, enjoying the fall and participating in the university community and in sports at UNB.

***

Q: What is this team going to mean to the developmental and high school football programs locally?

A: We hope it fills sort of a missing gap for them.

We have really strong programs that have been growing over the years at the pee wee, mosquito and minor levels and our junior varsity and high school programs have grown as well.

We have three high school programs that are doing very well indeed, and we just want this to be the missing piece in that football chain which will give them an opportunity after high school to stay play football while going to university.

***

Q: How did this league come about?

A: It started in part because of the efforts to organize a movement to CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) admission with a group from Ottawa that failed to materialize.

The university just wasn’t prepared last summer to engage in that kind of activity for any of a number of reasons.

When that did not work, a number of people sat down and said, “What do we do now?” and to everyone’s credit at the table, the thought of club football came up and we began sitting down, having meetings and talking about how it might work.

That lead to the development of a league, a constitution, a set of by laws and a financial budget, which, earlier this summer, gave us the foundation in which we began the organizational challenges of each community coming up with the resources and the organizational structure they needed.

That took a fair bit of a time, especially the financial part, and we did not get it resolved until the end of August when we had three weeks to get everything up and going.

***

Q: Any players in particular people will be excited to see on the Chapman Field turf?

A: I think it is going to be fun to see how it all works.

It is going to be a little bit disorganized, a little bit fractured and we in particular have only had two or three weeks of practice time, so it will take the league three or four games to hit its stride and for the players to sort of emerge.

***

Q: Is this a trial run towards CIS (varsity level) football at UNB?

A: Yes, that might be a long-term objective, but I am not focused on that at all.

My focus is on creating opportunities athletically for students at UNB.

It was part of what my experience was at university, it was part of what I thought was an important part of the university experience along with a library of guest speakers and academic programs, and I thought it would be useful, especially at UNB where we have had difficulty getting student participation and enthusiasm generated for all our sports, to create more opportunities.

Down the road if we can improve some facilities and generate enough interest in terms of community participation, and, most importantly, student participation, we can look again to see where we are and where we want to go.

Reporter Chris Fox is a journalism graduate of St. Thomas University. Q&A appears each Saturday.

Red Bombers back in the air and on the gridiron Saturday night

September 23, 2009 by David Ritchie of the Daily Gleaner

It’s been 30 years since there was a football game played at the University of New Brunswick.

So when they turn on the lights and crank up the music at Chapman Field for Saturday’s inaugural game in the Atlantic Football League, it’s anybody’s guess what kind of response they’re going to get.

Larry Wisniewski, the general manager and public face of the Fredericton-UNB Red Bombers, and others involved with this project including head coach Mike Dollimore certainly have every reason to be a little nervous about ‘opening night,’ if you will.

Wisniewski has stated that one of the criteria for determining the long-term viability of bringing back football to UNB, even if it’s a club team operating under the school’s campus recreational program, is the response of the paying public.

No guarantees. Even on opening night. Maybe because it’s opening night.

There are the selling points: the curiousity factor. The mystique of a new league. UNB vs. UNBSJ. Fredericton vs. Saint John. Part of the lure.

It’s not CIS-calibre football, but the league has been very up front about that. That doesn’t mean these guys can’t tap into Red Bombers’ nostalgia. Football at UNB. For people who used to make their way to College Field on Saturday afternoons, it’s got a nice ring to it. Or at least, people like Wiz sure hope so.

“From where I stand, I’m hearing from a lot of people who are planning to go to the game Saturday. But who really knows? There are any number of factors about whether people actually go or not,” says Wisniewski.

“Talk is cheap. You don’t know until you actually get up there on Saturday. A thousand? I’m hoping.”

Wisniewski says people need to understand what the league is all about. There are three teams for the maiden season including the Red Bombers, Sea Wolves out of UNBSJ and a club team out of Moncton run by former Football N.B. president Dan Fougere. Teams each play other twice plus playoffs.

“Basically, what we’re offering is a place for local kids to play local sports locally,” says Wisniewski. “In our case, it’s football. This is not about bringing back CIS football into UNB. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be part of the food chain for players who might aspire to play at that level. It’s a big step from high school to the CIS. For some kids, maybe a year or two playing at this level is what they need to prepare for the next level. Not everybody wants to go away to play CIS football, at least not right away. Those are the kids we hope to attract.”

Under the guidelines by which club teams operate, a team such as the Red Bombers includes both UNB and St. Thomas students plus youngsters from the community who are not attending university but meet the age critiera (18-24).

“We had about 70 people express an interest when we first started camp,” says Wiz. ” But you know how it is. When they realized we practised twice a week, some of them didn’t want to do that. It hasn’t been easy because we’ve had to move around (different facilities). But now we’ve got about 40 players in full gear now, and that’s about what we were really expecting. It’s workable.”

Wisniewski says the breakdown is about 25 from UNB, another eight to 10 from STU and the rest from the community.

“It’s an interesting mix,” he says. “Ideally, the players who are from the community are looking at football as a way of furthering their education down the road. That’s our goal with this.”

The $64,000 question, of course, is whether enough people will be intrigued enough to care.

Even under the ‘club’ designation, Wiz and his group are banking somewhat on the magic associated with resurrecting Red Bombers football, hoping for the best but fully cognizant that it could be a huge bust as well. Times have changed. People aren’t inclined to give the new kid on the block much of a chance anymore. And remember, the climate was such that UNB felt compelled to kill the sport from its athletic lineup 30 years ago.

But hope springs eternal.

For opening night at least, the group is pulling out all the stops to make it enticing. Flat fee of $5 for adults with students getting in free. Wiz says people within the alumni association at the university have been working diligently to contact many of the former Red Bombers to invite them to be part of the festivities.

The family of Pat Gillen, an alumus who was a major financial contributor to UNB athletics and a supporter of football before his death, will be on hand to receive a token of appreciation in his honour.

“We’re not planning any great elaborate pre-game ceremonies, but we’re hoping that many of the former Red Bombers will be on hand to help usher in the new Red Bombers and to be a part of all this,” says Wisniewski.

“There’s a rich tradition of football at UNB. We want to recognize that. It’s important that we do that.”

Sports editor David Ritchie can be contacted at ritchie.david@dailygleaner.com or at 458-6484. His y column appears each Wednesday.

UNB finally ready for kickoff

September 10, 2009 by Stephanie Fauquier for the Aquinian

T

he University of New Brunswick will have two football teams competing in the inaugural season of the Atlantic Football League (AFL).

Both Fredericton and Saint John campuses will have a team competing in the league. The Fredericton Red Bombers and the Saint John Seawolves will join the Moncton Raiders in the AFL, which has been a league in the making over the past four years.

“Our club teams contribute to the health and happiness of our students and allow everyone to get involved in friendly competition, which increases school spirit,” said Natasaha Kelley, the campus recreation coordinator at UNBSJ in a press release.

Mike Dillmore a former UNB football player will be coaching the Fredericton Red Bombers and Dave Grady will be responsible for coaching the Saint John Seawolves.

Neither of the teams will be competing at varsity status, instead they’ll be competing at the campus recreational level.

UNB students make up about 65 per cent of the club roster – St. Thomas students and other community members will round out the ream.

The first game between the Red bombers and the Seawolves will happen at Chapman Field in Fredericton on September 26.

A new set of downs for the Red Bombers

09 Sep 2009 by Valerie Woodman

After a 29 year hiatus, UNB’s beloved football team is alive again.

Eastern Canada is ready for some football, and this is the time for UNB students to step up and show their support for the Red Bombers by attending games.

After three decades, the UNB Red Bombers are coming back into action. People have long awaited the return of the Red Bombers to university football fields. However, this time around the Red Bombers are not a university funded athletic team; they are a team funded by students and the Atlantic Football League.

Since this is not a varsity level league, the students and citizens of Fredericton will have to show how much they want a team in the Atlantic University Athletic Association by supporting the Red Bombers.

From 1948 until 1980, the UNB Red Bombers were a part of the A.U.A.A. They even won back-to-back championships in 1969 and 1970. The UNB community as well as the citizens of Fredericton loved the football hype.

So what ever happened to the Red Bombers? Ten years later, in 1980, the university stated that the team would end for lack of funding. This was announced in the summer, when most of the students had gone home and could not protest. When September came, people were livid. There was even a petition where students signed to add a yearly fee for the football team, but the university declined.

Other universities had been able to save their football teams using Alumni or student funding, but UNB did not see such success.

Students in 1988 and 1996 tried to start the team up yet again, but UNB’s administration at the time said they would be unable to revive the long dead Bombers.

The Red Bombers will be competing in the Atlantic Football League, and will compete against teams such as the UNB Saint John Seawolves and the Moncton Raiders.  The university has also said that it is interested in playing the University of Maine Orono, which would make for fewer bye weeks and keep UNB sharp for games in the AFL.

There has also been talk of some more team additions to the AFL, such as UPEI and Dalhousie as early as 2010.

Playing at the Varsity level or not, James Cress, the co-ordinator of the UNB Fredericton sport clubs program, still has high hopes for the club.

“Although the football team will not compete at the varsity level, UNB’s campus recreation department is pleased to offer students an opportunity to play football while attending UNB,” Cress stated in a recent interview.

Sports teams at UNB are a big part of university life. UNB has more than enough spirit to include the Bombers.

With the encouragement of students and the Fredericton community, the Red Bombers could grow to match their glory days in the late 60s and early 70s. If we give our team as much spirit and support as our alumni did in the past, this year can be a great success.

A passion for football is all you need to try out. UNB students will make up approximately 65 per cent of the roster, while the other 35 per cent will be given to St. Thomas University students and the greater Fredericton community.

Tryouts will take place from Sept. 7 until Sept. 12, and hopefuls must be between the ages of 18 and 24.

UNB alumnus Mike Dollimore, who played for the Red Bombers in the 1970s, will be coaching the team this year. Home games will take place at Chapman Field.

The Red Bombers have already released their tentative schedule, with the first game of the season to be held at 7PM on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Chapman Field against the UNB Saint John Seawolves.

The other home game will be against the Moncton Raiders on Saturday, Oct. 17, also at Chapman Field. Playoffs will start Nov. 14.

Important Stuff

Support the Bombers by joining the Facebook Fan Page.

If you are interested in playing fill out this form.

To make a donation to the team email Larry Wisniewski.

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