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Jim Mullin is stepping away from Football Canada to concentrate on his post with the International Federation of American Football (IFAF).

Mullin confirmed Monday that after six years as Football Canada’s president, he is resigning from the post. His decision came hours before the national governing body’s annual general meeting.

“I believe now I can leave the organization in the capable hands of executive director Kevin McDonald, board chairperson Peter Baxter and the staff,” said Mullin. “I wouldn’t have left unless the organization’s future had leaders who could steward it to a new professional function.

“We’re taking an organization from the kitchen table to the boardroom table.”

Mullin will remain as IFAF’s general secretary.

McDonald was named Football Canada’s full-time executive director in June, while Baxter became the organization’s chairperson in August.

Before joining Football Canada, McDonald spent nearly 20 years with the CFL in various positions, including its vice-president of football operations.

“Someone who has a lot of experience as a leader in the CFL is who I want on the ground operating the organization on a day-to-day basis,” Mullin said of McDonald. “I think he can take it to where it needs to be as one of the (national sports organizations) and as an Olympic NSO that stand with the best of them.”

Baxter served as Wilfrid Laurier University’s director of athletics and recreation for over 23 years before retiring in 2022.

He’ll be Football Canada’s president until bylaws are updated in October.

“Peter is someone with tremendous integrity who understands the challenges of governance in this space,” Mullin said. “He’ll be able to respond to the new landscapes that exist in sports in Canada with its various landmines and be able to diffuse them.”

Mullin’s decision comes three months after Canada captured a third straight and fourth overall gold medal at the IFAF world junior football championship in Edmonton. It was the first tournament staged in six years due to the global pandemic.

There were plenty of challenges in getting the event back on the field. Football Canada also had to add a second team to replace a country that withdrew.

“Quite frankly, many nations were skittish about jumping back into international tackle competition,” Mullin said. “It takes money, it takes extraordinary planning and it helps when you have partners like (executive director) Tim Enger and Football Alberta to put all of that planning into it.”

The organization navigated a coaching change ahead of the tournament, promoting Warren Craney to head coach of Canada 1. He replaced Steve Sumarah, who led the program to gold in 2018.

“There were many changes we needed to put through from a Football Canada side and identifying Warren Craney to take over turned out to be the right choice,” Mullin said. “I get to leave my final year with a world championship, which is pretty nice.”

Mullin spent eight years with Football Canada, two on its board and six as president. He was first elected to the position in 2019 before being voted in for a second term in 2022.

Mullin is the fourth person to serve multiple stints as president in Football Canada’s 142-year history. A big part of the job was trying to establish consensus on national matters within an organization that consists of multiple provincial bodies.

During his time with Football Canada and IFAF, Mullin also worked to get flag football into the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The sport’s inclusion is big for football globally, he said.

Mullin also helped Football Canada modernize its operation, comply with the Canadian Sports Governance Code, establish a reserve fund and develop Indigenous football in the country.

“Something I did coming out of the gate when I was voted in was creating a larger tent for football in Canada,” he said. “It wasn’t just about the (provincial sports organizations), it was about the sport in general so bringing in a path for associate members was extremely important.

“Working with Indigenous leaders, over quite frankly a long period of time, to be there to help them get Indigenous Football Canada started and off the ground was very rewarding. Working with (president/CEO) Kevin Hart and then seeing him and his people deliver that and create something I believe that’s sustainable over the long-term is another culture change within the sport.”

However, Mullin admits he’ll leave Football Canada with a regret.

“The core regret is we had to be reactive during the pandemic and that really took us away from our plan,” he said. “At the same time, I wish the reforms we brought forward in the last 18 months were brought along a lot sooner because we’d be ahead on things.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.

Herb Page was going about his business on a Tuesday morning when Mackenzie Hughes, one of his former star players on Kent State University’s men’s golf team, reached out to him on FaceTime.

Hughes said he just wanted to say hi because he was killing time at the kind of corporate function PGA Tour players are often invited to speak at. But just as Page bit on his story, Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners leaned into the frame on Hughes’s phone.

All three were in the midst of a practice round at Royal Montreal Golf Club, scouting the course ahead of the Presidents Cup. The three Canadians, all Kent State grads, would be named captain’s selections to the International team a few hours later and they wanted to surprise their collegiate coach with the news.

“I just about cried,” said Page, adding that he had goosebumps from retelling the story. “They’re better people than they are golfers. I know that’s a kind of a catchphrase, but even after they graduated, they keep me in the loop. I’m still part of their little journey.”

Hughes was a year ahead of Pendrith and Conners on the Golden Flashes, but they all overlapped at the university in northeastern Ohio in the early 2010s. They all turned pro and are now three of the top Canadians on the PGA Tour.

Canadian golf legend Mike Weir made them three of his six captain’s picks on Sept. 3 for the Presidents Cup which starts this Thursday at Royal Montreal. Their inclusion on the International team’s roster is the first time three Canadians have played in the best-on-best match-play tournament, with Hughes from Dundas, Ont., Pendrith from Richmond Hill, Ont., and Conners from Listowel, Ont.

It was the morning of Weir’s announcement that Hughes played his small “prank” on Page.

“It just meant so much to me. I couldn’t have been happier,” said Page, who retired from coaching five years ago. “It’s just the way these three young men are, who they are and what they stand for. It was pretty cool.

“He got me so bad. I cannot believe how he did it. It was crazy.”

Hughes said that Page, who is from Markham, Ont., left an indelible mark on him, Pendrith and Conners and there was no way they wouldn’t tell him directly about being named to the Presidents Cup.

“My time at Kent State really helped shape the player I am,” said Hughes. ” (Page) was like a father figure to me at Kent State, someone that I really trusted and really respected his opinion.

“He’d be the first to tell you that there was lots of tough love, and some tough conversations that we had, and that’s what I think helps you grow and evolve as a person and a golfer.”

An argument could be made that the Kent State Golden Flashes of the early 2010s is one of the most well-rounded men’s golf teams in NCAA history.

Although other teams can claim more PGA Tour wins — the 1995 Stanford University team, for example, went on to win 86 titles on the PGA Tour, but 82 of them are thanks to Tiger Woods with Notah Begay III adding four — the Canadian trio at Kent State with American John Hahn has arguably been the most successful collectively with five wins between Hughes, Pendrith and Conners.

“It was a pretty stout team,” said Hughes, noting that Hahn went on to play on the European DP World Tour. “Now, at the time, I don’t think we quite had it all together and everyone clicking as a team.

“But you look back on it and individuals that were playing and what they’ve achieved it was a pretty awesome group.”

Page, who recruited and coached that team, is more effusive.

“That era was pretty darn good, Pretty darn good,” he said. “Of course, during that era, Alabama was making runs with Justin Thomas and Texas was making runs with Jordan Spieth.

“The thing about all three (Kent State golfers), they just got better and better and better. They weren’t superstars, nationally ranked, coming out of Ontario. I don’t want to say this in a bad way, but it’s not like I had to fend off tons of schools to get them to come to Kent State.”

Hughes has added Page to his VIP guest list at Royal Montreal Golf Club so that his old coach won’t miss a single swing by his former student-athletes when play begins on Thursday.

“I’m flying in Monday night because I’m going to be there the whole damn week,” said Page with a chuckle. “And I’m not flying out until Monday morning because when they raise that cup, I’m going to be there.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.

Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime will lead the Canadian team into the Davis Cup Final 8, with Frank Dancevic returning as captain.

Auger-Aliassime will once again be joined by Denis Shapovalov, of Richmond Hill, Ont., Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo, Alexis Galarneau, of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., in the event taking place, Nov. 19-24 in Malaga, Spain.

It’s the same squad that posted a 7-2 match record during the tournament’s group stage in Manchester, England, earlier this month.

Canada, which won the tournament in 2022, will meet three-time champion Germany in the quarterfinals in Spain.

Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands.

“This group has shown time and again that it can compete at the highest level,” Dancevic said. “It’s the same five players that brought home the Davis Cup trophy for the very first time in 2022 and enjoyed a great week in Manchester to seal our place in this year’s quarterfinals. So, we will head to Malaga knowing we have tough matches ahead of us, but with confidence that we can reach our goal.”

Auger-Aliassime, ranked 21st in the world by the ATP, will represent Canada for the eighth time in the Davis Cup, where he boasts a career record of 13 wins and 4 losses.

Shapovalov will make his 11th appearance in the Davis Cup, with a record of 18 wins and 10 losses.

Diallo, the youngest team member at 22, will participate in the Davis Cup for the seventh time, while Galarneau, 25, has been named to the Canadian team for the eighth time.

The 34-year-old Pospisil, the second most prolific Canadian in Davis Cup history, will represent the country for the 28th time, entering Malaga with a record of 32 wins and 27 losses in 34 career ties.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.

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