Head football coaches Kelly Jeffrey (Mount Allison), Perry Marchese (Saint Mary's), Jeff Cummins (Acadia) and Gary Waterman (St. Francis Xavier) briefed media and fans in attendance on this year's teams and their expectations for the season.
Each coach was joined by a pivotal player from their roster: fourth-year quarterback Brandon Leyh (Mount Allison), third-year linebacker Jonathan Langa (Saint Mary's), fourth-year defensive end Martin Pesek (Acadia) and fifth-year linebacker Ron Omara (StFX) were all in attendance.
Coaches and players partook in a question and answer period with members of the media as well as answering questions sent in by fans and media via Twitter and watching on AUStv.
AUS executive director Phil Currie announced the continuation and implementation of a number of conference initiatives. At last year's season launch, Currie announced plans for AUS to move towards a market-driven sports model which the Atlantic conference is now operating under, putting special focus on football, basketball and hockey. The objective of the plan is to generate significant fan interest and maximize revenues using the conference's highest profile sports, ultimately benefiting the association as a whole and all of its members.
The AUS's new football-specific TV ad was debuted and a significant new partner announced. Cineplex has come aboard for the 2014-15 AUS season, introducing a 'Cineplex Fan of the Game' promotion. The interactive contest will run at football home games and carry on into the basketball season, engaging fans in-game and via social media platforms.
Currie also announced several major steps being taken by the conference to protect student-athlete safety. "The concussion issue continues to be a focus for us and we are taking proactive steps to help our student-athletes understand the potential negative outcomes of ignoring or not reporting symptoms to their medical personnel," he said.
A short, informative video aimed to educate student-athletes on concussions is currently in the works. It will be hosted by Dr. Sonya McVeigh who is a member of the AUS head injury committee and will aim to help student-athletes make better personal decisions when they believe they may be concussed. This will be produced and circulated to student-athletes and accompanied by a supporting poster campaign highlighting the dangers of remaining in the game following a head injury.
In this same vein, Currie also announced the adoption of new rules in both football and women's rugby created to improve early on-field diagnosis of concussions. Under the new rule in women's rugby, a player with a suspected concussion is now able to leave the field of play to be assessed by a medical professional and be replaced by someone off the bench. Their return to play will be dependent on the outcome of the assessment.
In the sport of football, coaches across the country have unanimously approved the adoption of the NFL rule designed to protect a player in a defenseless or vulnerable position. The details of this rule can be found in the 2013 NFL Rule Book under Rule 12 'Player Conduct', Section 2 'Personal Fouls', Article 7 'Players in a Defenseless Posture'. This initiative was led by the Canadian University Football Coaches Association (CUFCA), of which Mounties head coach Kelly Jeffrey serves as president.
Currie indicated that a number of similar hockey initiatives would be announced in the coming weeks.
Other highlights and changes for this season include adopting a harmonized start date for training camp in CIS football of 14 days and an increase in the game-day dress rosters to 48 players per team.
Eastlink TV is back for another season of AUS Saturdays with 10 games, live and in HD, including the AUS semifinal and the Subway AUS Loney Bowl.
Every AUS regular season and playoff game this season will once again be available via webcast at www.AUStv.ca powered by Bell Aliant.
The AUS football regular season kicks off this weekend as the Huskies host the X-Men Friday night at 7 p.m. on their new turf field. The defending champion Mounties will then play host to the Axemen Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at MacAulay Field.
The complete 2014 Atlantic University Sport football schedule with links to live stats and webcast information is available here.