Simon Fraser volleyball will return just two seniors for a hopeful 2021-22 GNAC season, and setter Julia Tays (left) and libero Bianca Te have epitomized the character and leadership needed to endure what may well be a near two-year span of inactivity due to the global pandemic. (Photos by Paul Yates property of Simon Fraser athletics 2021. Photo graphic created by Gabriel Lynn. All Rights Reserved.)
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Senior Service: Over a season that never was, Simon Fraser’s duo of Tays and Te kept character at the fore for the sake of the future!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — Bianca Te and Julia Tays never doubted they would finish what they started.Yet the two lone returning seniors with the Simon Fraser women’s volleyball team never figured that the toughest test of their NCAA careers atop Burnaby Mountain would be defined by their response to the day-in, day-out grind of not playing.In […]

Byrne Creek's Felix Chong (left) and Alex Flores (right) help steady videographer Sampson Fang as the trio captures images of multi-sport athlete Jas Sidhu for its Athlete of the Month feature. (Photo property Byrne Creek athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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At Burnaby’s Byrne Creek, Athletic Council class gives students an empowered ‘voice of community’ in a time of disconnect!

BURNABY — This past September, on what was the first day of a freshly-minted class in the curriculum at Byrne Creek Community School, the teacher posed a defining question to his students.“I had the kids write down what they thought the athletic climate was at Byrne Creek, and how they would perceive us if they […]

Terrell Jana of the Virginia Cavaliers brings a pair of sure hands to the CFL next season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. (Photo by Matt Riley property of University of Virginia media relations 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football University Football

CFL Draft 2021: A true purist’s receiver, STM grad Jana puts his hands to an ‘instrumental’ test as he prepares for rookie season with ‘Riders!

As a budding musician, Terrell Jana has discovered that striking a chord or two has not only helped relax his mind, but keep his hands dexterous and strong in his endless pursuit of catching the football.Taken on the whole, it’s just another example of the purist’s approach the Burnaby native and Virginia Cavaliers receiver will […]

South Delta's Grant McDonald is moving from the Calgary Dinos to a CFL career in Edmonton. (Photo by David Moll property of Calgary Dinos athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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CFL Draft 2021: For South Delta’s LB duo of McDonald & Moore its Subway Bowl, Vanier Cup and now, separate CFL futures!

At the time, the 2014 edition of the Subway Bowl B.C. high school Triple A champion South Delta Sun Devils showed all the signs of being a very unflappable football team.Of course, with 20/20 hindsight playing in the rearview mirror, a fast-forward to the events of Tuesday night may actually have unfolded without too much […]

UBC linebacker Ben Hladik (top) has been wreaking havoc on the field since the moment he set foot on the Point Grey campus. On Tuesday, the Vernon native became a member of his hometown B.C. Lions. Photo by Richard Lam, UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football University Football

CFL Draft 2021: As UBC sends three linebackers to the pros, coach Nill says B.C. Lions got ‘steal of the draft’ in Vernon’s Ben Hladik!

The UBC Thunderbirds have sent players to the Canadian Football League at every position imaginable, yet after Thursday’s draft proceedings were complete, it was pretty hard to not call them Linebacker U.Three Thunderbirds linebackers had their names called, including a homegrown product that UBC head coach Blake Nill could not hold back his praise of.“His […]

Nelson Lokombo, going airborne to make a tackle, was selected No. 2 overall by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Tuesday's CFL draft. (Photo property of Saskatchewan Huskies athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football University Football

CFL Draft 2021: Sask Huskies Lokombo goes No. 2 overall to Riders! Mouat grad B.C. high school’s highest pick since Fox’s Sukh Chungh in 2015!

Everyone who has watched Nelson Lokombo play football over the past few seasons has deemed him as special.On Tuesday, the 5-foot-11, 184-pound cornerback with the Saskatchewan Huskies discovered he’s being viewed the same way by the Canadian Football League.Lokombo, the 2017 graduate of Abbotsford’s W.J. Mouat Secondary, was selected second overall in the CFL draft […]

The BCSS governance proposal was passed Saturday morning. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. School Sports wins its governance vote: All of the voices weigh in on a tipping-point day in B.C. high school sports history!

B.C. School Sports has won the day, and its executive director says he’s confident the new governance proposal for high school sports in this province — one which unites all 20 of its member sports under one organizational umbrella — will be ready to begin operation, pending green lights from the health sector, this coming […]

B.C. School Sports will hold its AGM on Saturday, at which time its new governance proposal will be put to the vote. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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With pivotal AGM vote set for Saturday, BCTF claims no knowledge of its spot on BC School Sports’ proposed legislative council!

A B.C. high school sports commissioner says he has been stunned by the 11th-hour discovery of what he characterizes as a gross misrepresentation in the lead-up to Saturday’s pivotal vote on B.C. School Sports new governance proposal.Walter van Halst, commissioner of the B.C. Secondary Schools Rugby Union, called it “absolutely shocking” when it was discovered […]

B.C. School Sports offered their response after some big news was revealed Thursday, two days ahead of Saturday's pivotal AGM vote. (Photo property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. School Sports responds to criticism following BC Teachers Federation issue with governance vote fast approaching!

B.C. School Sports was contacted earlier today by Varsity Letters regarding issues stemming from the BCTF and its denial of communication and involvement as one of 10 key stakeholder organizations which would occupy voting seats within the proposed governance’s 54-member legislative assembly.In advance of Saturday’s AGM in which its new governance proposal will be voted […]

A target to rely on, Virginia receiver Terrell Jana's laser focus made him one of the most sure-handed receivers in all of college football the past two seasons. (Photo by Pete Emerson property of University of Virginia media relations 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football University Football

STMC’s Terrell Jana: As draft week arrives, sure-handed Virginia receiver leaves a legacy as a giver en route to his pro football future!

He has helping hands.That’s the best way to describe, in both the literal and figurative sense, the essence of Terrell Jana, who on the eve of both the NFL and CFL drafts, is every bit as much a giver as he is as receiver, and that’s saying a lot when you’re talking about a guy […]