November 2009 Update 11.18.09 To all Alumni and Friends of X-Men Football      I would like to begin by extending a sincere thank you to all of our supporters and fans. I have received such a tremendous amount of support from all of you this season that I know the future of this program is bright.      It goes without saying that our season did not end the way that we wanted it to. We are committed to competing for a National Championship each and every year, and we will not be satisfied until that becomes something we achieve on a year to year basis. In moving forward, however, there are certainly some positives that we can take from this season. We started the year well with a home victory against SMU. That was a hard fought game that got our season off on the right foot. That game, as well as our Homecoming win against Acadia, were both highlighted by great fan support and a genuinely exciting University football atmosphere here in Antigonish on our new field. I was also happy that we were able to get a win this year on the road in the Quebec conference, a feat that we accomplished after beating Concordia on their home field. The regular season was rounded out by two wins against Mt. Allison, a road win at Acadia, and losses to both SMU and Bishop’s. This takes us to our AUS Semi Final game against Acadia. Like many teams we were struck by the injury and flu bug late in the year, but even though we played many players out of position in that game, we managed to hold on for a thrilling come from behind win. This, obviously, led us to our recent Loney Bowl loss to SMU. It was again a hard fought game, but we made some mistakes and simply did not do enough to win. I can commit to you, however, that we will learn from this loss and use it to fuel our offseason training and recruiting, so that next year the result will be different.      To again focus on some positives from the year, I am happy to announce and congratulate our AUS All Stars and Major Award winners for the 2009 season. On offense, WR Akeem Foster, QB Steve Snyder, IR Mark Metulynsky, and OL Stu Walsh were all named AUS All Stars. Defensively, LB Tom Lynch, LB Henoc Muamba, DE Dave Skillen, DT Thomas Narbaitz, and CB Dylan Hollohan were all named to the AUS All Star Team. We also had two Major Award winners, as Tom Lynch was named the AUS Defensive Player of the year, and DT Nate Annan was named the AUS Rookie of the Year.      Another group of players that I would like to recognize are our 4th and 5th year seniors. Some of these players still have eligibility, and may or may not return for another season in 2010. To all that will not, I want to thank you for your hard work and dedication to this program, and I am confident that the lessons that you learned here will benefit you as you move on in your life.      I would like to also express a special thank you to our Antigonish Booster Club. It was our inaugural year for this club, and we are still feeling out the process. Even so, I enjoyed our weekly Lunch with the Coach meetings, and look forward to discussing many future plans and ideas with all of you. I would also like to especially thank Leo MacPherson and Dr. Sean Riley for your continued support of this program.      In moving forward, our 2010 recruiting is already well under way, and we already have some exciting prospects that I am looking forward to announcing in future updates. As you know, recruiting is an absolutely vital aspect of running any CIS team, and we are committed to working harder than ever to bring in an exceptional 2010 class. In doing so, however, we are going to need your support. There are many ways that you contribute to our recruiting success. One way is to donate Air Miles to our program. It is extremely important that we get our top recruits out to Antigonish on a visit at some point in the recruiting process. Once they see the school and the atmosphere here, they get very excited about becoming a member of the X-Men Family. Also, these Air Miles help my assistant coaches and I travel to various areas to help identify and meet with recruits all over the country and abroad. These are an extremely valuable commodity to us and any help we can get in this regard is appreciated. Other ways to help support our travels include donating things such as Hotel vouchers, Rental Car discounts, or any other kind of non-monetary assistance you can contribute. Also, support from the X Varsity Club is very important to both our travels as well as providing money that will be used as Athletic Scholarships. You can read more about the X Varsity Club by visiting this link:      http://www.goxgo.ca/index.php?athid=90      In closing, I would just like to reiterate how confident I am that the future of this program is bright. We have a core of good football players returning, and we are committed to working hard to bring in a quality recruiting class. I am also confident that our alumni support will continue to be strong, and that together we will achieve our ultimate goals. Hail and Health,