Football Mounties invited to attend top-level camps

Recognition of the existence of a solid football program at Mount Allison is emerging and this spring will see no fewer than six members of the team attending top-level camps as a result of invitations.
A trio will participate in the East-West Game with the remaining three included in a training camp for the country's under-20 team which will play in an eight-nation tournament in Canton, Ohio.
Head football coach Kelly Jeffrey says he believes this will send a message that Mount Allison is recruiting and retaining some very good players, raising the program's profile as coaches search for strong student athletes to ensure a solid program remains at the university.
Defensive half Luke Ekoh, corner Jermaine Dyer and offensive tackle Andrew Harper will help solidify the East team which will convene at the University of Western Ontario for the upcoming May 9 matchup.
Practices and combine testing will take place during the week with CFL scouts on hand to check out the talent.
For Dyer, this will be his second appearance in the all-star contest. He was joined by quarterback Kelly Hughes and receiver Gary Ross last season and the trio contributed greatly in their team's victory.
Oram, a native of Pickering, Ont., previously played CEGEP football and immediately solidified the Mounties at the corner spot, uniting with Bradley Daye.
Ekoh, a stocky 5"8', 195-pounder from Toronto, was the team's most improved player in 2008 and proved a solid hitter in the secondary.
Andrew Harper, a transfer from University of Manitoba, has started every game since arriving in Sackville and, according to Jeffrey is a consistent leader as a 300-pound offensive lineman.
Seeking berths on the under-20 unit will be corner Elliot Hicks, offensive lineman Mike Filer and defensive end Ryan Downe.
Hicks, a Fredericton High graduate, was named rookie-of-the-year by the Mounties. He stepped in to replace Daye who went down with a season-ending injury and immediately made headlines with some heady and hard-hitting defense while taking his turn at returning kicks. Jeffrey says he has great natural ability to go with above average speed.
Filer carries 290 pounds on a large frame as he sparked a youthful offensive line in 2008 that gave Hughes some decent protection. The Brantford, Ont. native started the last seven games of the season, unusual for a rookie, and is counted on to be an "anchor" there for the next few years.
Downe, another Fredericton graduate, will grow from his 235 pounds of his rookie year to provide some toughness against the run at his defensive end spot. He has been described by Jeffrey as "explosive for a big man with some great moves."
Most of the coaching staff have been devoting a good deal of time in the off-season to identifying and encouraging many outstanding student-athletes to join the Mounties.
Peter Estabrooks has been covering the Maritimes and is hopeful of having eight or nine of the better players attend training camp in August.
Kevin Artichuk has been working Western Canada, Jeffrey has been busy in Ontario and working with Pat LePain and several alumni in Quebec.
Jeffrey is a little skittish about announcing names of those semi-committed as such information has come back to haunt coaches in the past.

Surprising level of interest shown in athletic director position
The soon-to-become vacant position of director of athletics at Mount Allison has attracted an unexpected level of interest.
According to Ron Byrne, chair of the search committee, a total of 39 applications were received from candidates across Canada with two from the United States.
Byrne says he is confident a highly-qualified and experienced individual will be ready to move into the second floor office being vacated by veteran Jack Drover, who will retire at the end of June. Drover has been in the department for the past 35 years, including 17 as director.
After preliminary examination of the applications the list was pared down to five. Following telephone interviews and further examination, the list has been cut to just two.
Byrne says both candidates will be brought to the campus for in-depth discussions about such matters as philosophy of sport and a desire to adapt to a small campus-small town setting.
He says both individuals possess impeccable credentials and closely parallel the criteria or job description as laid out by the committee during early meetings.
Mount Allison officials have taken different routes over the years in choosing its athletic directors. Drover was promoted from within after 18 years as hockey and soccer coach while Gus MacFarlane was the obvious choice in 1961 when Waldo McCormack collapsed on the job. In between Warren Lutes, Garney Henley and Leon Abbott won the position in competitions so there has been no established policy.
However, by opening up the process, it has been discovered it is an attrractive position, offering the selectors a real choice.

Wrong place, wrong time
Former Mountie head coach Steve Lalonde resigned last June, leaving a recently-signed three-year contract, to assume the head coaching job at the North Iowa Area Community College in Iowa.
Well, on March 17, officials at that school announced cancellation of the program due to some serious government funding cutbacks, in essence leaving Lalonde without a team.
In its statement, officials said a 6.5 per cent cutback on top of an earlier one for 1.5 percent left little wiggle room. The cuts total around $800,000, thus resulting in the end of a program that was started in the 1940s.
The annual operating budget for the team was $250,000 with a large portion coming out of the college's general fund.
It went on to note that NIACC can no longer sustain the football program while continuing other strong athletic programs.
"NIACC administration is extremely saddened to learn that the much-publicized potential donation to save the football team that was presented to the administration earlier was not able to be substantiated."
According to the news release, the football coaching staff took it upon themselves to contact potential donors who would povide funding for the fall 2009 football season. It adds that any donor information be turned over by the coaches to the college so any further fundraising activity will be handled by the school's policy.
At the time of writing Lalonde had not been reached for further comment.