Mount A athletic director retires after 35 years

From afar, one theme of Jack Drover's four decades at Mount Allison was the tugging match between competitive goals and student participation in varsity athletics. In his time, Mount A went from having a nationally ranked men's hockey team in the '70s to not having one by the end of the '90s. It went from producing a timeless football player such as two-time Hec Crighton winner Éric Lapointe to once losing 105-0 on the gridiron to Saint Mary's.

The Times & Transcript's article certainly captured that:
"... (Drover's) other top memories include guiding the men's soccer team to AUS championships in 1978 and 1990, taking the reins of the women's hockey team one day before its first ever season in 2002, watching his son, Scott, play two years of men's soccer in the Mounties' garnet and gold, and last October's Globe and Mail Canadian University Report Card that gave Mount Allison an A- for its recreation and athletic programs.

"There were tough times, too. Most notably, the 1998 decision to cut the men's hockey team. Citing gender equity, increased professionalism in men's hockey and the need to re-allocate funds to other areas, Mount Allison pulled the plug on its century-old men's hockey program."
There are a lot of external factors which have affected smallish AUS schools located outside of Halifax, the Maritimes' hub city. Mount A has a tough job recruiting, given that it's hard to hide the football players in a very brainy student body of only 3,000 or so students. It owes more to some of the small liberal arts colleges in New England which play at the Division 3 level, rather than being a scale model of a D-1 school, like most varsity programs in the other three conferences.

Times have changed, plain and simple. Everyone has a soft spot for Mount Allison and hopes they can be competitive, but it's a tough job. Drover's successor will have to be very innovative.

Related:
Mount Allison veteran athletic director wraps up 35-year career (Sean Hatchard, Moncton Times & Transcript)
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