Fagnan Brothers Commit to St. FX

Former Voyageurs players headed to prestigious college known for football program

Brothers, Jeremy and Isaac Fagnan have both committed to Nova Scotia’s Saint Francis Xavier University via the football program; affectionately known as the X-Men. The Bonnyville brothers both got their starts through the Bonnyville Amateur Football Association (BAFA) Program as Voyaguers. Both men say it was thanks to the lessons in commitment, teamwork and hard-workmanship that helped them aspire to do great things with their football careers.

Older brother Jeremy says he’s proud of what he and his brother have accomplished, “Isaac and I will be the second and third players to come out of Bonnyville to be able to come go to school and pursue football at the same time. The 22 year old says he’s been playing ball since graduating the BAFA program, “right after high school I went to Saskatoon and played for the Hilltops.” The Hilltops are in the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL), “we won a National Championship in our first year and then we made it to the semi-finals my second year.” An injury derailed Jeremy’s career for a year, but he worked hard to get back on track, “after a year of rehab and basically, working, I had an opportunity to play for a team in the City, the Wildcats. I played two years with them.” The Wildcats, out of Edmonton, play in the Prairie Football League; brother Isaac also spent some time as a Wildcat.

After graduating from BAFA, two years ago, younger brother Isaac went straight into the Wildcat program. The Cats record during Isaac’s time with the club was admittedly, “not that good, 1-18. I would say it was rebuilding. They had a lot of young players and lost some key guys. That’s how it goes in football.” Despite the win-loss stats, Isaac was able to make his mark and get noticed, being a major contributor to the team. 

Making his mark on the team had so much to do with the lessons he learned on Walsh Field, says Isaac, “growing up I didn’t know anything about football. But, I just gravitated to it. Whether it was coaches that were there or the people on the field. I was influenced by it. It taught me life lessons. By grade 12 I knew I wanted to move on with it.”

“It’s good to have somebody there that I’m familiar with,” Jeremy says he’s looking forward to attending university and playing on the same team as his brother. He’ll also know another X-Man, “another guy I played with will be there. It’ll be the three of us.” Isaac echoes his brother, “not many people get the opportunity to move on with football, let alone get to play along side of their brother.”

“I’ve had amazing support from my family,” Isaac says it’s thanks to this support and playing along side his brother, Jeremy, he’s not worried about moving across the country to Nova Scotia to play. “It’s a great opportunity.”

Jeremy laughs as he talks about his versatility as a player, “I play a little bit of everything. In high school I was a quarterback, in junior I went from defensive corner to defensive half-back. After the year off I went from a side linebacker to a middle linebacker; who knows where I’ll be player this coming year. I’m pretty versatile.”

Both men have one thing in common, dad, Mickey Fagnan – AKA the Head Coach of the Bantam Bandits, never coached either boy. He was always around, laugh the brothers, who both say he has been a major factor in their success.