It was a breakout season on the football field for St. Francis Xavier University X-Men’s Logan Ritchie, but his successful campaign really started back in the gym.
Ritchie, a 21-year-old defensive back from Stonewall, knew he needed to elevate his game to find the success he wanted in his second season with the X-Men.
In his freshman campaign in 2023, Ritchie saw limited action as a redshirt on a Loney Bowl-winning team.
Instead, much of his time was spent in the gym, where he and the rest of the X-Men’s non-starters followed a different training regimen.
Working on specific aspects of his game, including speed and strength, Ritchie still found value in not logging game reps.
“Just understanding the concepts of defence and getting stronger every week,” said Ritchie, reflecting on his 2023 season. “The guys that weren’t playing were on a different training program than the starters, so we were able to get quite a bit stronger, faster, and I think that really benefited later on to this year.”
And it did. When the 2024 season kicked off, Ritchie hit the field with purpose. He emerged as an effective DB, recording 22 total tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery in eight regular season games.
Last Wednesday, Ritchie was recognized for his breakout campaign at the team’s awards ceremony. He and teammate Colin Buffalo both received Iron X Awards, given to the players who best exemplify the team’s values in the weight room.
“It’s awesome to get recognized for the hard work you put in,” said Ritchie. “I’m pretty determined and a hard working man. I try to get what I want all the time and it’s been working out pretty good. It’s awesome to have but it’s not everything — there’s a lot of guys that are deserving of this award as well but I was just fortunate enough to get it.”
A team-first player, Ritchie entered the 2024 season hoping to fill the shoes of a graduating defensive back.
Now thriving in that role, he says there’s still more to accomplish, especially with the team’s sights set on redemption after a disappointing playoff exit.
In 2024, the X-Men were eliminated in the AUS semifinals by Saint Mary’s University and failed to reach the Vanier Cup semis, where they had competed the previous year.
After falling short of their ultimate goal, Ritchie said the team is already fired up for another shot in 2025.
“We’ve all been talking about it but we want to become champs again,” said Ritchie. “Last year we didn’t meet that goal, which was a little disappointing, and I think we’re all pretty fired up to get back in the win column again for AUS champions. After that, we’ll see how far it takes us into the national games. If we win the Loney Bowl this year, we will play the Quebec league — the RSEQ — in the playoffs. We haven’t beat them in a while but that would be an awesome goal to have, is to make it to the next round.”
In the meantime, Ritchie is finishing the school year at St. FX before returning to Manitoba for the summer.
But his training won’t stop. He plans to lift four times a week and spend the remaining days on the field working on position-specific drills and speed work.
Being a hard-working player is what helped Ritchie reach the university level in the first place.
After playing high school football at Oak Park in Winnipeg, he didn’t head straight to the X-Men. Instead, he took a different path, spending two seasons with the Kamloops Broncos of the Canadian Junior Football League.
There, he got his first taste of competing against older players right out of high school.
“A lot of people see CJFL as not as good as U Sports in a way, football-wise, but we’re still playing guys that are 22, 23, and I came out right out of high school and I started right away. I was fortunate to start, and it went really well,” said Ritchie. “I grew as a player. The game’s a lot faster than it was in high school, so it was quite the transition, but I wouldn’t be where I am today without going there.”
Now, with the 2025 campaign on the horizon, Ritchie is primed for another big season anchoring the X-Men defence.
