Excitement is already building in advance of the upcoming Touchdown Atlantic game to be played in Moncton, especially amongst the local football community.
President for the Greater Moncton Football Association Dennis Ronan was thrilled to hear the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes will play at the Medavie Blue Cross Stadium on August 25th.
He remembers the previous years that Touchdown Atlantic came to the Hub City and what it meant for their organization, “2010, 2011, and 2013, that following year, Riverview for example had not only one full Bantam team, the numbers grew so that we had two full 12 man football teams. All the Moncton teams as well had a surge in growth.”
Ronan says as for whether the Atlantic Schooners find their home here or in Halifax, it doesn’t matter to him, “It’s regional East Coast football. I love the name, Atlantic Schooners. It creates a brotherhood forĀ all of Atlantic Canada. Football lovers really don’t care where it is. It’s football on the east coast, and it is great.”
Hundreds of kids come out each year to play with the GMFA every year, because they love the game. Ronan says when the CFL players are in town, they get a first hand experience, “The CFL players are so community focused. They come to our field and they guest coach with our minor football players aged 5 to 15. It just creates an added level of excitement.”