Rebuilding mode

Chris Huggan says he’s now running the Boston Pizza Touch Football League the way it should have been all along

The Boston Pizza Touch Football League is in a rebuilding phase.

Chris Huggan has stepped in to rescue the league, agreeing to serve as president.

“The league was going to die unless someone came on board,’’ Huggan told The Guardian. “Two years ago I decided I would schedule for the league but then I got there this year and there was a $1,500 deficit.’’

Huggan, who also serves as UPEI’s director of athletics and recreation, said he’s busy enough running the university’s P.E.I. Aqua Farms 4-1 Source for Sports 4-1 Warriors 2-3 Merchantman Pub 0-5 athletics department but couldn’t bear to watch the league struggle, considering the history he personally has with it.

“There is a guy on my team, Logan MacDonald, whose father, Jason, was a star in the league for 15 to 20 years and he and I played with his father, Jerry, who played for 20 years. The league has been (running) at least 40 years. All kinds of great athletes have participated.’’

At its peak, the league featured nine teams. That dropped to five last year.

“Now, we’re in kind of a rebuilding phase. We’ve gone down to four teams to get strong commitment, to record records in the newspaper, standings and stats and, hopefully, when people finish playing tackle football they’ll realize this is a competitive, fun, recreational organized touch football league where you’re not at risk of injury as much as when you are playing tackle.’’

Huggan said the league simply wasn’t being run the way it should have been.

“To be brutally honest, the people who organized it the last few years were terrible. They didn’t get money up front; they didn’t have a schedule; you’d be getting a call on a Sunday saying you’re playing in a couple of hours. It just wasn’t professional.’’

Huggan’s goal league prosper.

“We want to grow. I know now people understand that payment will be up front but there’ll be good publicity, the schedule will be set, there’s games on turf under the lights and there will be games on Saturday mornings.’’ Stanstead College in Quebec has named Keiran Gallant of Covehead as its player of the week. The following citation appeared on the college’s website: “Keiran Gallant has been a model of consistency since the beginning of the season for the junior boys soccer Spartans. As a new student/ player to the team, the Covehead, P.E.I., native has adapted very quickly to the Spartan way of hard work. “In three games this past week Keiran, as a lone striker, scored five goals. His first came early in a match against Galt, which helped the team get off on the right foot. His best performance of the early season so far came in front of a large crowd for homecoming. In the 4-0 win Keiran managed to score three goals for his side, with two of them being spectacular individual efforts. His final goal of the week came against a strong Le Salesien side in which he scored early in the game, allowing the team to salvage a 2-2 tie. “The Grade 9 student works very hard in all practices and games and is quickly becoming a leader on and off the field. Keep working hard, Keiran, and you will continue to be rewarded.”