AUS welcomes new coaches, new partners, new broadcasts
The 2016 AUS football season gets under way this weekend. For two of the four football coaches, Saturday’s games will mark the first regular season matchups of their careers as AUS head coaches.
James Colzie III took the helm of the Huskies program in February. As a collegiate player and coach, Colzie has been a part of two national championships, six conference titles and 12 bowl games. Most recently, he served as an assistant coach with the reigning CIS champion UBC Thunderbirds.
Colzie will look to get the Huskies off to a winning start in their season opener Saturday versus the Acadia Axemen in Wolfville, N.S. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
The Mount Allison Mounties will be led the season by new head coach Scott Brady. Brady is no stranger to the Mounties program, having served on the coaching staff for the past six seasons following his own four-year playing career with the team from 2006 to 2009. As defensive coordinator, Brady helped lead the Mounties to back-to-back AUS titles in 2013 and 2014.
In a rematch of the 2015 Subway AUS Loney Bowl, the Mounties will host the reigning champion StFX X-Men in their home opener this Saturday at 2 p.m. at Alumni Field in Sackville, N.B.
Last season, AUS announced a five-year broadcast and webcast partnership with Bell Aliant Fibe TV1. In 2016-17, fans will once again be able to tune into more than 90 regular season and championship events broadcast live and available in HD to Bell Aliant Fibe TV subscribers on channels 1 and 401.
All AUS regular and post-season events will again be webcast live at AUStv.ca.
On television this season, fans can expect to see every AUS football game broadcast live on Bell Aliant Fibe TV1. Beginning in November, TV1 will bring fans an AUS men’s hockey game every Friday night, followed by a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader every Saturday night.
All 18 AUS championships will once again air on TV1.
Last month, Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced four CIS football games will be televised nationally on City over the course of the 2016 regular season.
The CIS Football Game of the Week, presented by Ontario University Athletics and Atlantic University Sport, will feature four matchups from Sept. 17-Oct. 15, on the road to the 52nd ArcelorMittal Dofasco Vanier Cup, to be played Nov. 26 in Hamilton.
City will broadcast live from Acadia University’s homecoming football game Oct. 15 as they play host to the Mount Allison Mounties. The national broadcast will be available to Bell Aliant Fibe TV subscribers.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to showcase our incredibly talented student-athletes to more and more fans each year,” said AUS executive director Phil Currie. “Our official broadcast partner Bell Aliant has given our product increasing exposure in Atlantic Canada and allowed us to reach a larger audience than ever before. We also commend the CIS for their efforts in making several national football broadcasts possible this year. We are looking forward to another exciting season ahead.”
The AUS conference has also announced a new partnership with the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation’s Keep It Social platform for the 2016-17 season.
Developed in partnership with several Nova Scotian universities, Keep it Social is designed to raise awareness and educate university students about the harms of high-risk drinking. The platform aims to effectively communicate what the social consumption of alcohol looks like and remind students that it’s always best to ‘keep it social’.
Keep it Social has expanded to be an Atlantic Canadian platform and will be on site at sporting events on at least of eight of the AUS member campuses this fall—at marquee games such as home openers and homecomings—to spread their message to student-athletes and fans.
The complete 2016-17 Atlantic University Sport regular season and championship schedules—with links to live stats, ticket information and webcasts—are available at www.atlanticuniversitysport.com.