It's been tough for high school recruits in the Class of 2021 to find places on college and university teams, yet Brookswood's Quinn Jasper and Harrison Robinson of Lord Byng have landed with Douglas College and Langara respectively. (Photos property of Howard Tsumura and Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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“They need to be really persistent…” B.C. high school Class of 2021 grads in tough to find spots on crowded university & college rosters!

VANCOUVER — What’s the toughest challenge for a talented B.C. high school basketball player looking to continue his or her career as a student-athlete this coming season at the college or university level?How about simply finding a place to play?Student-athletes from B.C.’s hard-luck Class of 2021 have not only lost their entire senior season of […]

St. Thomas More Knights senior boys basketball coach Aaron Mitchell chats with Howard Tsumura about a life that led to 'A Hoops Journey'. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2020. All Rights Reserved)
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VL podcast 10.28.20 edition: St. Thomas More teacher/coach and podcaster Aaron Mitchell takes us on ‘A Hoops Journey’

Welcome to the Varsity Letters podcast for Wednesday, Oct. 28. Our guest this week might be the only person to have led a B.C. senior boys basketball team to a provincial title as a head coach, while also having played in a B.C. senior boys hoops varsity final, a CCAA national final, and a U […]

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10.07.20: Varsity Letters-The Podcast salutes Worlds Teachers Day! Longtime teacher-coaches join Tsumura in saluting our classroom mentors!

Hey, it’s Howard and welcome to another episode of Varsity Letters—The Podcast.   Today we open the show with a short tribute to the late Karin Khuong from Mike Carkner, one of her basketball coaches at Terry Fox Secondary in PoCo. Khuong, 16, lost a two-year battle with cancer on Sunday. The theme of the […]

Now in his 20th season as UBC head coach, Kevin Hanson sits one win away from the Canada West's all-time conference wins record. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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Varsity Letters PODCAST returns to talk BCHS rugby at the World Cup, big high school football wins and the start of a new hoops season!

LANGLEY — Varsity Letters — The Podcast returns for another week, this time touching on football, basketball and rugby. Off the top, we visit with Canadian Under-20 men’s rugby coach Adam Roberts, the longtime head coach at Surrey’s Earl Marriott Secondary. Roberts and host Howard Tsumura talk about the inherent pride that comes with taking […]

Battling knee issues throughout his career, Langara's fifth-year guard-forward Drake Downer (14) has been an unquestioned leader on a team which includes the likes of (left to right): Tyler Anderson, Tyson Brown and fellow senior Timmie Choi. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

CCAA Nationals Day 2: Langara’s Drake Downer on his dozen-plus knee injuries and how he found the will to persevere

LANGLEY — Ask Drake Downer about perhaps the most battle-scarred right knee in recent B.C. high school and university basketball history, and he’s more than happy to give an aural history and guided tour.

Langara's Grant Galbraith (top) battled for a rebound with Hollaand's Roosevelt Whyley during opening-round action from the CCAA National men's championships held at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

CCAA Nationals Day 1: Langara coach Eberhardt on loss to No. 1-seed Holland: “We just got hit by a Hurricane”

LANGLEY — Paul Eberhardt didn’t rehearse the line, so when it came time to dissecting what went wrong for his Langara Falcons in the opening round of the CCAA National championships Thursday night, the head coach caught himself chucking just a split second before delivering an unintended pun. “We just got hit by a hurricane,” he […]

The host Langara Falcons may be huge underdogs in their CCAA National tournament opener against Charlottetown's No. 1 Holland Hurricanes, but Vancouver's Falcons are embracing their status and ready to come out aggressive. (Photo by Dom Gagne property of Langara Falcons athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

CCAA nationals 2019: Underdog Langara Falcons embracing their offence as they prepare for tournament fave Holland Hurricanes

LANGLEY — One more sleep until tip-off here at the 2019 CCAA men’s national basketball tournament, and if one thing is certain, the Langara Falcons are not attempting some grand, over-night re-invention of their hoops persona.

Langara's Royce Sargeant has returned to the Falcons' starting lineup this season despite a horrific accident in August. (Photo by Dom Gagne property of Langara Falcons athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
The 1999-2000 CCAA national men's basketball champs from UCFV. On ladder (left to right) Tycson Boult, Mike Lee. Back row (left to right) Pat Lee (head coach), Aaron Wells, Dan Young, Jamie Armstrong, Anthony Toth, Ryan Haviland, Jarami Reid, Brad Petersen, Pat McKay. Front row (left to right) Tom Antil (assistant coach), Mike McLaverty, Wayne Jones. (Photo property of University of the Fraser Valley athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)