Vision
After a 34 year hiatus, football finally returned to Dalhousie University in September 2010. Thanks to two Dal Alumni, Jim Wilson (MBA ‘87) and Rick Rivers, Dalhousie Football was resurrected to the delight of many. In 2016, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of football at Dalhousie. During that season the Tigers went undefeated (8-0), outscoring their opponents by over 300 points overall. The Tigers then brought home their first championship in 62 years, with several alumni from the 1954 championship squad in attendance at the championship game on Wickwire Field. In the past three years, under the leadership of Head Coach, Mark Haggett, our record of 19 wins and 5 losses includes two perfect 8 and 0 seasons and two Championship wins out of three appearances.
This year the Tigers celebrated Dalhousie’s 200th Anniversary, handing out 30 awards to ten Decade Greats each from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Notable alumni from the first era of Tigers football were present to celebrate Homecoming and the history of Dalhousie Football.
The goals of Dalhousie Football include the development of young student-athlete leaders, engagement of the football community of Halifax, and promotion of school spirit through engaging Dalhousie students, faculty, alumni, and community members.
Contact Leslie Harnish at the Office of Advancement to make a gift over the phone: 902.494.6862.
Story
Dalhousie Tigers Football is committed to ensuring player safety. That’s why we’re the first university football program in Canada to order helmets equipped with Riddell InSite® technology, the leading impact monitoring system in football. Over 1200 programs in the USA are currently using this cutting-edge tech.
InSite collects an impact profile for each player during practices and games, allowing for precise monitoring. If an impact or sequence of impacts exceeds a threshold, an alert is wirelessly transmitted from the field to the sideline monitor in the hands of a trainer or coach. This will allow our medical staff to more quickly and accurately pinpoint concussions before a player can sustain any further injury. Additionally, coaches can identify training opportunities on the interactive InSite platform that may decrease head impact exposure.
See the platform in action here: https://youtu.be/QgUkonQFRFY
We hope to pave the way for player safety in university football through this precise player-monitoring system, and through potential research collaborations with Dalhousie.
Strategy
As a club team, Dalhousie Football is funded by player fees, sponsors, and our Founders Club. The Founders Club is a group of Dal Football supporters and alumni who helped provide the start-up funds for our team. Since 2010, over 350 student athletes have worn the black and gold of Dalhousie Football. As we near our tenth season in September 2019, we have purchased 60 new helmets as the existing ones reach the end of their ten-year life.
Impact
The safety of our student-athletes is our top priority. These funds will be directly used to purchase new helmets for the Dalhousie Football Club. Each helmet costs approximately $500, not including fees for upkeep and reconditioning every year. These helmets (Riddell SpeedFlex) were shown to be one of the safest helmets in a recent NFL Study of 34 helmet brands. Already, several past captains of the new-era Dal Football have offered their support for our campaign and we need a little more help from you.
We want to purchase top of the line helmets to ensure the safety of our athletes, reduce concussion risk, and ensure the academic success of our student-athletes. If you are able to make a donation towards the purchase of these helmets our players and coaches would greatly appreciate it. You will get a tax-receipt and the satisfaction of knowing that your Dal Football program is leading all University football programs in Canada in player safety.
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