UBC running back Isaiah Knight broke the 100-yard mark on the day in the 'Birds 14-12 win over the Rams on Saturday in Regina. (Photo property of Piper Sports Photography 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

UBC 14 Regina 12: Isaiah Knight carries the mail! A re-commitment to running game leads to first win of season as Thunderbirds rally past Regina Rams with fourth-quarter surge!

VANCOUVER — If you had been harbouring the unmistakable feeling over the first two weeks of the 2024 Canada West football season that the UBC Thunderbirds looked more like a team that had fumbled away its core identity, turns out you weren’t mistaken.Whether it was through patience, belief or perhaps good, old-fashioned desperation, the ‘Birds […]

Nicolas Hauka is back with Week 2 reports this weekend. (Photo courtesy Nicolas Hauka 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

Week 2: The B.C. School Sports Red Zone provincial high school football report 09.13.24 edition with Nicolas Hauka!

VANCOUVER — Welcome back to the B.C. high school football Red Zone report.We’re picking up steam as we continue to act as a portal to game reports from throughout the weekend from sportswriter Nicolas Hauka.Keep checking back as reports are posted beginning later today.Once again, click here for a direct link to all of the […]

Detroit Lions offensive lineman Giovanni Manu (59) during his first NFL preseason game, against the New York Giants on Aug. 8, 2024 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jeff Nguyen property of Detroit Lions via AP. Image provided by request to VarsityLetters.ca by Detroit Lions)
Feature University Football

Giovanni Manu comes home: On eve of season opener, UBC’s Pride of the (Detroit) Lions salutes his mentors past, relishes the chance to grow with the best offensive line in the NFL!

VANCOUVER — Perfect team. Perfect time. Perfect fit.So perfect, in fact, that you wonder if there had been more than a little divine intervention from the football gods above.How else does Giovanni Manu wind up a fourth-round pick of the Detroit Lions this past April, thus becoming the first UBC Thunderbird ever selected in the […]

Alberta's Matt Ljuden (left, 57) and Cody Neumann block for running back Matthew Peterson against UBC's Mitchell Townsend and Aaron Parker during Canada West Conference opener for both teams Aug. 30, 2024 at Thunderbird Stadium. No. 7 Alberta beat No. 3 UBC 42-28 before a sell-out crowd. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC Athletics 2024 All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

Alberta 42 UBC 28: No. 7 Golden Bears huddle behind dominant O-line performance, win second-half war of attrition to top No. 3 UBC in Canada West opener at sold out Thunderbird Stadium!

VANCOUVER — Isn’t it amazing how the simplest play in football, when executed with precision and consistency, can shift a game’s entire equilibrium.Yes, we’re talking about running the football the way it was meant to be run.. behind a wall of powerful push, snap after snap after soul-crushing snap.And as on cue, as such syncopated […]

UBC Thunderbirds' Blake Griffin has become a mainstay along the offensive line at left guard. (Photo by Rich Lam property of UBC Athletics 2023 All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

UBC Football ’24: An offensive line’s journey through NFL joy, the loss of a mentor and the rebirth of youth! On eve of opener, a look inside the Thunderbird trenches reveals the meaning of the game!

VANCOUVER — Football is a game of constant renewal, reinvention and rebirth, and perhaps nowhere is that more palpable than along its offensive line where its tackles, its guards and its centre can be looked upon as a union not unlike a musical quintet.Within its ‘lean-on-me’ kind of environment, offensive lines not only learn to […]

Former University of Calgary Dinos' head coach Wayne Harris has joined the UBC Thunderbirds as linebackers coach. (Photo property of Electric Umbrella 2023 All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

UBC football ’24: Can Thunderbirds find a way to snap 37-year Hardy Cup repeat drought? Ex-Dinos’ boss Wayne Harris reunites out west with old boss Blake Nill as ‘Birds new linebacker coach!

VANCOUVER — Last spring, coming off the team’s first Canada West title and Vanier Cup appearance since 2015,  Blake Nill’s cel phone began to elicit some interesting activity from the 403 area code.“When the University of Calgary decided not to bring in Wayne for this season, it was funny because I got calls from three […]

UBC Thunderbirds' quarterback Garrett Rooker and Alberta Golden Bears' free safety Jonathan Giustini will renew acquaintances Friday as the Canada West football season kicks off Friday at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC Athletics 2023 All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

UBC Football ’24: QB Garrett Rooker made Thunderbird Stadium his own ‘Home, Sweet Home’… Texas pivot soaked up Vancouver’s summer sun, now preps ‘Birds for Hardy Cup rematch Friday vs. Alberta!

VANCOUVER — Garrett Rooker has spent so much time on UBC’s Point Grey campus the past few months that the suburban Houston, TX neighbourhood of his youth may have, for the time being, defaulted in its status to that of his ‘second’ home.“I spent most of my summer here,” admitted the Thunderbirds’ fourth-year quarterback and […]

Viv Anderson-Francois of Vancouver's St. John's Eagles has been selected to take part in the 2024 B.C. high school All-Star Saturday showcase set for April 20 at Burnaby's St. Thomas More Collegiate. (Photo property of Wilson Wong 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

B.C. boys All-Star Saturday: We’ve got full rosters for all four teams as St. Thomas More hosts boys hoops finale April 20!

By Howard TsumuraLANGLEY — A galaxy of the some of the best graduating talent in the B.C. senior boys basketball Class of 2024 will gather at Burnaby’s St. Thomas More over the weekend.The occasion?None other than All-Star Saturday.Mark down Saturday, April 20 at STMC’s spacious gymnasium, located at 7450 12th Ave., Burnaby.The Single-A vs. Double-A […]

Joe Linder and the rest of Nanaimo's Dover Bay Dolphins will be among the marquee teams taking part in the 2024 Tsumura Basketball Invitational Dec. 4-7 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Ryan Molag property Langley Events Centre-TFSE 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

BOYS TBI 2024: The teams are now set for the Tsumura Basketball Invitational Dec. 4-7! It’s a 32-team affair with Super 16 and Select 16 pools!

LANGLEY — We’re just over a month past another thrilling season of B.C. senior boys and girls basketball provincial championships here at the Langley Events Centre.Now, it’s time to put a stamp on the upcoming 2024-25 season.Today we’ve got the 32 teams which will make up the boys field in the Super 16 and Select […]

Seaquam's Camryn Tait, the reigning TBI Super 16 MVP, leads North Delta's Seahawks back to next season's Tsumura Basketball Invitational set to run Dec. 11-14 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of Langley Events Centre 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

GIRLS TBI 2024: The teams are now set for the Tsumura Basketball Invitational Dec. 11-14! It’s a 32-team affair with Super 16 and Select 16 pools!

By Howard TsumuraLANGLEY — We’re just over a month past another thrilling season of B.C. senior boys and girls basketball provincial championships here at the Langley Events Centre.Now, it’s time to put a stamp on the upcoming 2024-25 season.Today we’ve got the 32 teams which will make up the girls field in the Super 16 […]