Local football program still going strong after 40 years

BEDFORD/SACKVILLE
By Yvette d'Entremont - The Weekly News
This year, the Bedford/Sackville
Minor Football program celebrates a 40-year anniversary with its founder, Bud Bremner still at the helm.
"This is a milestone, that's for sure. People say they can't believe I've had it going for 40 years, but when football season comes up, I don't know what else I'd do," he said. "I plan my life around it."
Bremner remembers when he first started the local football program in 1969 with just 16 participating youngsters. This season, about 150 children between the ages of seven and 16 are enrolled.
"I had coached in Montreal, and came back here (in 1969) and saw there was no football in the Bedford-Sackville area," Bremner recalled. "So with help from the Montreal association I was with, I was able to put together a Peewee team."
When those Peewee team members grew into Bantam age two years later, Bremner added a Bantam team. Membership has grown steadily ever since, and the program now includes Mite, Atom, Peewee and Bantam divisions. The sports group also hosts a summer football training camp.
They've come a long way from the early days when Bremner and his late wife had to draw numbers on used football sweaters donated from Montreal. They'd then have to wash the sweaters and redo the numbers by hand after games.
"We definitely had humble beginnings. I believe some in the Bedford area didn't want football at the time because they were worried it would interfere with hockey and baseball," he said.
The team's early practices were held behind the Lions Club in Bedford, where players were packed like sardines.
"I had to teach them not to bunch, because they didn't know what to do when they got out on a big open field," Bremner said with a chuckle.
The Bedford/Sackville Saints now practise and play at Range Park, behind the Bedford Legion. Bremner's wish list for the future includes fields with artificial turf, something he said HRM needs desperately.
The long-standing community sports club recently joined the Registry of Joint Stocks and now boasts a board of directors.
"It's very odd this year, because going into Joints and Stocks is weird for me," Bremner said. "I've been a one-man operation all these years, although I've had a lot of help and other people to ask for help. But it started and stopped with me. It's like giving away a part of the family after 40 years."
Bremner credits the high quality of coaching for the program's success, and he also thanks the children and parents who have participated over the years.
"Of all the kids I've coached, I could count the bad kids on my hand," he said. "If you can keep a young person entertained and give them something to aim for, they'll respond to it."
For more information about the Bedford/Sackville Minor Football Association, visit bedfordsackvillefootball.com.
ydentremont@hfxnews.ca