AUS and the City of Moncton announce 2011 Uteck Bowls to be held in Moncton

MONCTON, N.B. – At a press conference held this morning in downtown Moncton, Atlantic University Sport and the City of Moncton announced that beginning in 2011 the CIS Uteck Bowl national semifinal football game will be held at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium.

This will mark the first time a CIS Semi-Bowl game hosted by Atlantic University Sport (AUS) will be played outside the city of Halifax, N.S.

“Atlantic University Sport is excited and proud to bring the Uteck Bowl to the City of Moncton and the beautiful new Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium”, said Phil Currie, Executive Director of Atlantic University Sport and chairman of the Uteck Bowl Organizing Committee.

“The combination of a new state-of-the-art facility, an outstanding partnership with the City of Moncton and the support of football fans in Moncton and the Maritimes, will provide us with a fantastic opportunity to showcase and expose our product on a large stage.”

“The City of Moncton is extremely proud to host the Uteck Bowl! Thanks to our fantastic new facility and ability to host world-class events, we have shown the world that Moncton has some of the best fans around who want to see more football action in our city. Moncton will no doubt light up with excitement surrounding the Uteck Bowl,” said Mayor George LeBlanc.

The Uteck Bowl is hosted by Atlantic University Sport every two years and in November of 2011, the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champions will travel to Moncton to participate in the contest with a trip to the Vanier Cup on the line.

The first Uteck Bowl was presented in 2003. Following the 2002 season, the Churchill Bowl was re-named Uteck Bowl in honour of former Saint Mary’s Athletic Director and football coach Larry Uteck. From 1956-2001, the game was hosted in Halifax and was known as the Atlantic Bowl.
Sue Uteck, wife of the championship’s namesake, commended the effort to promote and advance the conference, “While I am disappointed the game will not be held at Saint Mary’s, I know that Larry would welcome any opportunity to promote the game of football in Atlantic Canada. I have every confidence that Moncton will do a great job.”

The AUS football conference currently consists of four participating universities, including Acadia, Mount Allison, Saint Mary’s and StFX. The Uteck Bowl has traditionally been held at Huskies Stadium in Halifax, regardless of which AUS team qualifies.

The new stadium, located on the Université de Moncton campus, has a capacity for 10,000 patrons with the capability to be expanded to 20,000 seats for the hosting of major sporting events, such as, the first ever regular season CFL game this weekend in Atlantic Canada. This past summer, the facility successfully hosted the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships.

“We are thrilled about having the Uteck Bowl in Moncton,” said CIS chief executive officer, Marg McGregor. “Moncton has hosted a number of major sporting events over the past few years, including two CIS men’s hockey championships, and we are very excited that university football playoff action will take place in a new market that obviously loves its football.”

Currie also announced plans for the Uteck Bowl weekend to have a true festival feeling, with a gala dinner in support of minor football in the works, a live entertainment stage during the week in downtown Moncton and pre-game tailgate activities.
Ticket details for the 2011 event will be available in the Spring of 2011.

About Atlantic University Sport
Atlantic University Sport is responsible for governing interuniversity sport in Atlantic Canada and is comprised of 11 member institutions and over 1,800 student-athletes who compete annually for 16 conference championships in 9 different sports, including basketball, cross country, football, hockey, rugby, soccer, swimming, track & field and volleyball.

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