ID Camp

There will be an ID Camp for individuals interested in playing for the RedBombers in the 2010 season. The camp will take place on Saturday April 3 from 3 -5pm at the Chapman Field Sports Dome. If you are interested in playing for the Bombers this is a great opportunity to come out and get noticed by the coaching staff early.

If you would like more information, or to indicate your interest email webmaster@redbombers.com

Phillips screws up storybook ending

Published September 28th by Chris Fox of the Daily Gleaner

The Fredericton-UNB Red Bombers seemed to have John Phillips’s number all night, unless, of course, you don’t count the final minute.

Phillips, the slotback and kicker for the UNBSJ Seawolves, overcame two blocked punts and a blocked extra-point attempt, to kick a game-winning 29-yard field goal with less than a minute left on the clock at Chapman Field Saturday night.

As a result the Seawolves won the first game in the newly-created Atlantic Football League by a score of 16-14 and Phillips became the unlikely hero.

“We haven’t had the chance to polish things and the things we needed to do tonight to finesse our offense or our defence we just weren’t able to do,” said Red Bombers head coach Mike Dollimore.

“To see the offence make the advances that it did a couple of times was really rewarding, though and I do think we have a lot of potential here.”

About 1,500 fans turned out for what was the first university football game contested at UNB since the original Bombers’ team was disbanded nearly 30 years ago. Many of the ex-Bombers were on hand to take in Saturday’s tilt including new UNB president Eddy Campbell who delivered the ceremonial opening kickoff.

Things got of to a slow start with both teams exchanging three and outs, but minutes into the second quarter, Justin Cavan of the Seawolves returned a Red Bombers punt 40 yards for a touchdown and the atmosphere turned electric.

Not to be outdone, UNB quarterback Brendan Cornford engineered a 50-yard drive shortly thereafter that was capped off with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Hubbard, alone in the corner of the end zone. Hubbard had set up the score by catching a 30-yard pass through double coverage three plays prior.

Hubbard in fact, was a fairly busy man on the night, also seeing action as a running back on several reverses.

“He (Hubbard) is a impact player for sure and we were able to hit him early, but of course they doubled up on him,” said Dollimore. “When you have players like that, they will shift over and double team him and it makes it hard, but Andrew is the kind of guy who can break away from some of that stuff.”

After UNB got the score, the teams battled back and forth for most of the quarter, but neither side could put points on the board. With 20 seconds left before half, the Seawolves broke through when Joe Crawford aired out a 30-yard pass to a shockingly open Ryan Morris, who reeled it in for the touchdown.

With much of their momentum seemingly sucked out of them, the Red Bombers struggled to even get a first down for the third quarter and most of the fourth. Then Cornford got hot. He threw five straight completions – three of them were to Hubbard – and took the Red Bombers 55 yards in about four minutes. Josh MacArthur, who had a relatively quiet night on the ground otherwise, then rumbled in from two yards out to put the Red Bombers up by one point with less than five minutes left.

At the time, it seemed like the winning score, but Seawolves’ quarterback Joe Crawford had other ideas. He threw first down passes to Joel Saele and Justin Cavan to set up Phillips for the game-winning field goal.

After the game MacArthur, who played football at Oromocto High School, said win or lose, getting to be on the field for the Atlantic Football League’s first ever game was a thrill.

“I wished we could have pulled out the W tonight, but it was great to be a part of,” he said. “Guys have been trying to get this up and running for years and it was just great and I loved the crowd.”

UNB’s next action will come on Friday, Oct. 16 when the Moncton Raiders come to town. Kick off is set for 7 p.m. at Chapman Field.

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.

Seawolves primed for historic contact

September 26, 2009 by John MacNeill of the Telegraph Journal

The wait is over.

After four years of planning and weeks of preparation, the University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves are ready to serve some no-holds-barred, smash-mouth football in the opening game of the Atlantic Football League’s inaugural season.

The Seawolves club team is in Fredericton today to make history with the University of New Brunswick Red Bombers at 7 p.m. at Chapman Field. The Red Bombers haven’t grazed the gridiron in 30 years, and while the Seawolves have never housed a football team, they’re just as pumped to make their debut.

“The guys are pretty fired up. We’ve had to hold them back in practice because we can’t run full tilt on our own players, so some of the guys are waiting to unleash (against the Red Bombers),” head coach Dave Grandy said.

“It’s exciting for them; they want to show us what they’re fully capable of. And as coaches, we’re excited to see it.”

Grandy and his coaching staff haven’t revealed who will be starting for the Seawolves today in an effort to keep the players competing hard for spots during their 16 pre-season practices.

That includes quarterbacks Jeremy McAulay and Eoin McIntyre, whom Grandy said will both see reps in Fredericton.

“They both bring different assets to the team and right now we’re looking to use both of them in there,” he said.

The 5-foot-10, 213-pound McAulay has played under Grandy before and “has a good understanding of what we expect from him out there.”

McIntyre, at about 6 feet and 175 pounds, can scramble a bit better than his teammate and has a skill-set that makes him a more mobile quarterback, Grandy said. As for the opposition, Grandy’s deep roots in the provincial football scene gives him an edge as he’s already seen a good chunk of the Red Bombers’ roster in action.

Grandy expects Andrew Hubbard, who he considers one of the Maritime Football League’s most talented receivers, will be a big piece of Fredericton’s puzzle.

“(Hubbard) is one of the guys we’re looking to shut down. He’s talented, so it’s hard to shut someone like that down, but at least you know that’s one of their go-to guys so you can plan around that,” he said.

Another force will be veteran quarterback Brendan Cornford, who, along with Hubbard, played for the Capital Area Gladiators in the MFL.

“He’s a big game quarterback with good throwing ability. I’m sure they’re going to look to stretch the field on us and good deep to Hubbard.”

“We know a bit of their base offense, in terms of personnel, but we don’t know formations and we don’t know plays. So we’ll be looking to play some good, fundamental football,” Grandy said.

“It’s a special time right now being the first teams in the new group, so it’s exciting to showcase this new league.”

The start of the three-team loop isn’t the only thing the Seawolves have to look forward to, however.

Next month, the squad of 45 players will venture to McGill University in Montreal, Que., to play an exhibition game with the junior varsity side of the Redmen.

The Seawolves will play in the Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, home to the Redmen and Montreal Alouettes, on Oct. 10. “It’s a rather historic place,” Seawolves president and general manager Barry Ogden said.

“This will give (the Seawolves) a vision; when they walk into that stadium overlooking the whole city of Montreal, I think they’ll just be blown away.”

Ogden engineered the exhibition game, which he hopes will become an annual event, in conjunction with McGill’s head of football alumni, Sonny Wolfe.

He’d hoped to organize a similar trip to Maine to play against the Husson College Eagles, but the plans fell through this year. Ogden said he’s already got the gears churning for a possible match up next season.

“This is the first time a team from Saint John has ever gone (to McGill) to play football at this level. The players are really, really excited,” he said, adding the players and team raised all the funds needed for the trip.

Although the squad will only face the junior varsity side of the Redmen, Ogden admitted it will be a challenging match. But for the football enthusiast and community activist, he’s more interested in the experience the players will get out of it.

“I’ve told them what they have to do is carry themselves with pride and do their best,” Ogden said.

“I just want them to have good character and never give up.”

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.

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.

AFL Blueprint for Success: a Passion for Football

Published Wednesday August 19th, 2009 by David Ritchie on page B2

They’ve ordered the uniforms and the gear. And the University of New Brunswick has put out an official press release.

So, are you ready for some football? The Red Bombers are back.

OK, not quite the way the oldies remember.

James Cress, co-ordinator of the UNB Fredericton sport club programs and listed as the liaison person to the Red Bombers operation, says: “Although the football team will not compete at the varsity level, UNB’s campus recreation departments are pleased to offer students an opportunity to play football while attending UNB.”

Natasha Kelly, campus recreation and special events co-ordinator for UNB in Saint John and listed as the liaison person for the Saint John Seawolves, says: “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.”

The release further states: the philosophy of club teams at the university level is “to promote health and wellness, and physical skill development. These interests can be competitive, recreational or instructional in nature.”

In other words, if you’re expecting to see a rebirth of the annual knock ‘em down, drag ‘em out battles between UNB and Mount Allison Mounties, or the return of them big bad Huskies from Saint Mary’s, it ain’t gonna happen. The Axemen from Acadia aren’t coming here any time soon. And neither are the St. Francis Xavier X-Men.

And if you’re expecting to make the trek down to College Field on a beautiful fall day with wine skins nestled underneath the jacket and listening to Dave Morell exclaim over the PA, “brought down by a host of tacklers,” it ain’t gonna happen, either.

But the Atlantic Football League (AFL), might be the next best thing.

The league makes its debut Saturday, Sept. 26. It will be played under the lights at Chapman Field at 7 p.m.

And two teams with virtually all university players will be pounding each other on the defensive and offensive lines, quarterbacks will be looking for that quick aerial strike to receivers and running backs will be zigging and zagging looking to find paydirt.

The plan is to invite Red Bombers alumni to mingle with the current guys sporting the red and black colours, talk a little football from yesteryear, maybe partake in a beverage or two, and really make a day/night of it.

It’ll seem just like the old days.

Well, sort of.

But just because it’s not CIS football with six-figure budgets and guys aren’t coming in from all parts of the country, that doesn’t mean the AFL concept is doomed to failure.

Just because it’s low-budget (upstart costs: $40,000, operating costs: $10-$12,000), doesn’t mean we’re talking about a rinky-dink league.

Just because guys like Larry Wisniewski, Barry Odgen, Terry McIntyre, Dan Fougere, Pat O’Brien aren’t appearing on TV every other day and hogging the limelight, that doesn’t mean they aren’t working behind the scenes and spending the hours doing what needs to be done with regards to setting up a league schedule, drafting a constitution, finding places to play and practice, securing fund-raising, ordering gear and the like and overseeing game-day responsibilities.

Just because the coaches and support staff are volunteers, that doesn’t mean they’re any less committed, or capable. Consider this coaching staff which is in place for the Red Bombers: Mike Dollimore, Mike DeMello, Peter Ayer, Jeff Taylor, David Knott, Jamie Edwards. All have played at a high level. All have made significant contributions to football in this area both at the high school and minor levels.

Just because players are going to be asked to pay to play to help defray costs ($200 for members of the Red Bombers), that doesn’t mean they can’t play, or haven’t suited up for credible programs.

And just because admission costs are going to be reasonable ($5 for adults, $3 for seniors and students, free for kids), that doesn’t mean the product won’t be worth watching.

If you haven’t already guessed: the No. 1 criteria behind this project and what will make or break it: a passion for the game of football. Simple as that. That, my friends, is priceless.

They’re giving themselves three years. Right now, it’s the teams out of UNBF and UNBSJ and a team out of Moncton with players no doubt hailing from Universite de Moncton and Atlantic Baptist University.

High school football rules big-time in Moncton, the Maritime senior team there has been dominant for years, so guaranteed there won’t be any lack of talent in that area.

There’s talk of teams coming out of UPEI in Charlottetown and Dalhousie University in Halifax maybe even as early as 2010.

When football was a varsity sport at UNB, there were six high school teams in N.B., all based in Moncton. Now there are 17 teams.

Minor football is a going concern in most areas. Twenty years ago, there was nothing.

So, there’s a feeder system in place.

“If we can have financial viability, a steady flow of kids who want to play and students who are willing to contribute to making it work, that’s what will make it successful,” says Wisniewski, who is listed as Red Bombers’ GM and league board member.

“We’re not looking to bring back CIS football. That’s not the intent of what we’re trying to achieve here.”

The AFL will involve players between the ages of 18-24. For the Red Bombers, the talent pool will come from kids attending either UNB or St. Thomas University, with perhaps the odd exception, says Wisniewski.

“We’re looking at this as a developmental tool for youngsters in university or planning to attend university. If a guy comes out who might be working this year but plans to attend university the next year and still wants to play football, he’d be a guy we might consider. You might get one or two guys like that. Everybody else will be going to UNB or St. Thomas.”

Because of that, training camp won’t begin until the week of Sept. 7 when the kids return to school. There’s room for 50, but Wiz says the roster will likely be around 40.

The Seawolves will also be university-based.

Players will hail from the UNB in Saint John campus or the N.B. Community College. Like the operation up here, the Seawolves will function as a club team.

Dave Grandy, who coached at Saint John High School and the senior Wanderers, is the head coach.

“We want to give guys from the area who are looking to go to university and play some football,” says Wiz. “I’ve gotten calls from guys who could play at the CIS level but really don’t want to move. Guys who haven’t been recruited just want a chance to play. That’s what we’re all about.”

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

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