Former Acadia Axemen head football coach John Huard has been named honorary chairman for the upcoming Football Canada Cup to be held in Wolfville.

Huard, who played in the NFL for Denver and New Orleans and later spent time as a player in the CFL, led the Axemen to Vanier Cup titles in 1979 and 1981.

After leaving Acadia, he held various coaching positions including the CFL expansion Atlantic Schooners, which never made it to the field, the Shreveport Pirates and the Toronto Argonauts.

Huard is the CEO of Northeast Turf in South Portland, Maine, and Northeast representative for FieldTurf. A member of the Acadia Sport Hall of Fame, he helped endow the installation of a new Field Turf surface at Acadia three years ago.

The Football Canada Cup will take place from July 11-17 at Raymond Field. British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario East, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia will participate.