The 2009 AFL AGM was held on Saturday, January 17, 2009 in Spruce Grove. The AFL Council would like to thank the Parkland Panthers for hosting the meeting! The following items were discussed:

- The minutes from the 2008 Year-End conference call were reviewed and adopted.

- A review of the 2008 AFL Statistics was done. All teams were reminded about getting stats in on a timely basis.

- Treasurer Dave Hanni presented to the 2008 Financial sheet to the Council. The AFL will start in the black for 2009!!

- The Parkland Panthers were taken off probation and became a full voting member of the AFL.

- Each team gave a "state of the union" update regarding their teams. It would appear that all teams are healthy both on and off the field and eagerly await the 2009 season!

- Only 2 Bylaw Ammendmendts were tabled this year. One, presented by the Edmonton Stallions, was a new item that would see all AFL teams have to keep a team website up to date to a certain standard.....this ammendment was adopted. The second ammendment, presented by the Calgary Gators, sought to change an existing clause regarding scheduling Sunday games from before 4:00pm to before 12:00pm....this ammendment was rejected.

- Jim Lightfoot presented to the Council an update on the CMFL. The NFC will be holding their AGM on Saturday January 24, 2009. After that we will know when & where the National Championship will be held. Jim has also been contacted by the Ligue de football majeur du Québec. This group has indicated a desire to join the CMFL for the 2010 season.

- The AFL Council debated several different schedule formats. Division play was again discussed but rejected. The Council settled for an 8 game season that see's every team play every other team once, plus one additional game determined by random draw. The 2009 AFL season will commence Saturday June 6, 2009 and the AFL Championship will be held Saturday August 29, 2009.

- Election of Officers for a 2-year term was held. The 2009-2010 AFL Executive is:

President: Jim Lightfoot

Vice-President: Dave Hanni

Treasurer: Dave Hanni

Director Media Relations: Doug Robertshaw

Director AFL Statistics: Tom Elder

The AFL Council is pleased to announce the winners of the 2008 Alberta Football League Awards:

MVP Offence: QB Darryl Leason Calgary Wolfpack

MVP Defence: DHB Rio Wells Edmonton Stallions

MVP Special Teams: WR Brent Fulmek Grande Prairie Drillers

Outstanding Rookie: RB Josh Myshak Parkland Panthers

Outstanding Lineman Offence: G Randy Labreque Parkland Panthers

Outstanding Lineman Defence: DT Sheldon Southgate Calgary Wolfpack

AFL Most Valuable Player: QB Darryl Leason Calgary Wolfpack

The AFL Council is pleased to announce this years 1st and 2nd team all stars:

1^st Team: Darryl Leason Wolfpack

2^nd Team: Nathan Aldred Drillers

1^st Team: Josh Myshak Panthers

2^nd Team: Kenton Poelzer Buccaneers

1^st Team: Travis Lavitsky Vandals

2^nd Team: Nick Berry Gators

1^st Team: Brent Fulmek Drillers

1^st Team: Jordan Priebe Vandals

2^nd Team: Hugues Audet Wolfpack

2^nd Team: Tyler Fulmek Drillers

1^st Team: Mike Leason Wolfpack

1^st Team: Ken Fisher Vandals

2^nd Team: Evan Kaluta Wolfpack

2^nd Team: Terry Eldridge Wolfpack

1^st Team: Chris Fricker Panthers

1^st Team: Randy Labrecque Panthers

1^st Team: Clayton Siemens Drillers

1^st Team: Tim Mottershead Stallions

1^st Team: Bruce Theroux Stallions

2^nd Team: Gordon Schroeder Stallions

2^nd Team: Brent Richards Drillers

2^nd Team: Sean Brown Panthers

2^nd Team: Tyler Stroud Panthers

2^nd Team: Regan Schell Vandals

1^st Team: Tim Siewert Stallions

1^st Team: Chevy Judd Gators

2^nd Team: Dave Henderson Buccaneers

2^nd Team: Guillaume Petit Stallions

1^st Team: Sheldon Southgate Wolfpack

1^st Team: Brad Chamberlin Panthers

2^nd Team: Kerry Lynch Buccaneers

2^nd Team: Nathan Fung Stallions

1^st Team: Tyler Boyd Drillers

1^st Team: Devron Brown Gators

1^st Team: Lazar Velev Wolfpack

1^st Team: Winston Ford Vandals

2^nd Team: Brandon Lewis Panthers

2^nd Team: Yuri Wishloff Stallions

2^nd Team: Amos Aldred Drillers

2^nd Team: Jason Bobst Panthers

1^st Team: Grant Shaw Stallions

1^st Team: Brock Priebe Vandals

2^nd Team: Dan Rice Panthers

2^nd Team: Leigh Casey Gators

1^st Team: Rio Wells Stallions

1^st Team: James Kostuk Drillers

2^nd Team: Dirk Treptow Vandals

2^nd Team: William Quintal Drillers

1^st Team: Brad Ollen Vandals

2^nd Team: Derek Gervais Panthers

1^st Team: Brent Fulmek Drillers

2^nd Team: Leigh Casey Gators

1^st Team: Brent Fulmek Drillers

2^nd Team: Kenton Poelzer Buccaneers

1^st Team: Steve Wozimirsky Panthers

2^nd Team: Brad Ollen Vandals

1^st Team: Ian Hewitt Gators

2^nd Team: Tom Dixon Wolfpack

The 2008 AFL AGM was held in Edmonton on January 26, 2008. All 9 2007 teams were in attendance as well as two hopefull expansion teams. It was a very productive meeting and a great spring board into the 2008 season!! Listed below are some of the hilites of what occurred:

1. Expansion Two presentations. The AFL Council has accepted the Parkland Panthers (Spruce Grove) into the AFL for the 2008 season. The AFL Council has decided not to go ahead with an expansion into the Sylvan Lake area at this time. That brings the AFL up to 10 teams for the 2008 season. Congratulations to the Panthers and welcome to the AFL!

2. Elections Although a non-election year, we filled 2 positions that were vacant for this season. Dave Hanni (Buccaneers) will act as Treasurer for the 2008 season. Doug Robertshaw (Wolfpack) was elected as Director of Media Relations for the 2008 season. 2009 is a full election year and all 5 AFL Executive positions will be voted on for a new 2-year term.

3. Bylaw Amendments 10 amendments were proposed, 9 were adopted, 1 rejected The key changes:

- Team fees increase from $1000.00 to $1250.00

- Any ejection of a player or team official from a game now results in an automatic 1 game suspension....no appeal.

- A 2nd ejection of a player or team official from a game in the same season now results in an automatic 4 game suspension....no appeal.

- In order to be eligible for the playoffs, you must play at least 1 game, for that team, up to & including the 5th week of the regular season (this year...July 12th). Playoff rosters are frozen after week #5. New player may be added to your team after that....but they may not participate in the playoffs.

- The voting process for the AFL Awards & All-Stars was formalized & adopted into the bylaws.

A proposed amendment that would see fines for teams who were late reporting stats was rejected.

Updated 2008 Bylaws: 2008 AFL Bylaws

5. Team Updates Some interesting items:

- Tom Luzzi has stepped down as President of the Gators. Andrew Watson is the new President.

- Cindy Jensen & Verne Kot have left the Thunder. Dan Marsden is the new President.

- Grande Prairie are purchasing a 2nd set of jerseys that will be white with their vegas gold & blue trim.

- Gord Schroeder is no longer President of the Stallions. Yuri Wishloff is the new President.

6. 2008 Schedule Was presented & adopted. 9 game regular season. It is a tentative schedule subject to all teams field booking requests. All team reps have the schedules. The complete 2008 AFL Schedule will be posted on the AFL Website shortly

 7. 2008 CMFL National Championship Will be hosted by the AFL in Calgary on September 27 2008. All 3 Calgary teams have agreed to cooperate in hosting this event.

This is a milestone year for the AFL. 2008 will be the 25th season of AFL Football!! To celebrate this achievement we are going to hold a competition for a new AFL Logo!! The rules are simple:

- Logo must incorporate an Alberta theme.

 - There should be 2 versions of the logo...one that incorporates the 25th anniversary (1984-2008) for this season and one that doesn't, as the logo will continue to be used as we move forward.

- All entries should be in a .gif, .jpeg, or .bmp format - All entries must be in by February 29th

- AFL Council will select the winning logo

- Winning logo designer will receive a $100.00 gift card from the establishment of their choice.

All entries should be emailed to Jim Lightfoot or Calgary Wolfpack Football. There is no limit to the number of logos you can submit. Entries will be posted here on the AFL website for viewing. Have fun with it and we are looking forward to seeing what everyone can come up with!!