St. George's Dillon Hamilton (with ball), pictured here during the 2018 New Zealand Shield final against Carson Graham, scored a try as part of his team's LM semifinal win over Handsworth last week. The Saints and Eagles clash again for the Mainland bragging rights on Thursday at Brockton Oval. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Rugby

B.C. High School Rugby Report 05.20.19: Get ready for St. George’s vs. Carson Graham, Collingwood vs. Rockridge in New Zealand Shield title tests

Welcome to Varsity Letters’ weekly B.C. boys high school rugby report. Conference semifinals dominated the landscape as Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland teams geared up for title tilts Wednesday and Thursday.

Trinity Western Spartans' new Director of Rugby Andrew Evans takes the time to chat with one of his new recruits, Caleb van Til of the South Delta Sun Devils, during a Fraser Valley playoff game Thursday in Abbotsford. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University University rugby

A Sunday Read: After a coast-to-coast journey, why Trinity Western’s Andrew Evans made Sparta his home, sweet rugby home

LANGLEY — Ask Andrew Evans how he got his chance to draw the blueprint and pour the foundation for a start-up Canadian university rugby program which embraces the sport’s true global spirit, and he’ll tell you that it’s because at every stop along his journey, he has seized his opportunity to glean a new perspective.

Yale's Brayden Stewart feeds the dangerous Lions' attack which was able to feast on the South Delta defence in Thursday's Fraser Valley Triple A Tier 1 semifinal played at the Abbotsford school. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Rugby

Yale’s pace wins race against No. 1 Sun Devils, pushes Abby’s Lions into FV AAA rugby title tilt against old foe Earl Marriott

ABBOTSFORD — Surrey’s Earl Marriott Mariners are about as expert a source as you’re apt to find on preparing for the Yale Lions within the high-stakes atmosphere of a B.C. high school rugby post-season.

Kiara Buono (right) of the Centennial Centaurs helped her team to the Fraser Valley Triple A championship title on Thursday following a 2-0 win over Surrey's Panorama Ridge Thunder. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Soccer

Centennial tops Panorama for FV AAA soccer title, heads to B.C.’s at 15-0-2! Argyle, Nanaimo Dist., McMath also claim zone titles

SURREY — Raegan Mackenzie’s well-placed blast off an indirect free kick 25 minutes in wound up holding as the winner, lifting defending B.C. AAA champion Centennial Centaurs to a 2-1 win over Surrey’s Panorama Ridge Thunder in Fraser Valley’s top-tiered title game Thursday afternoon at Cloverdale Athletic Park.

Ballenas tacklers including (left to right) Adrian Friesen, Gage Geiger and Demar Hohnstein all return to the senior ranks of Parksville's Ballenas Whalers this season. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All rights reserved.)
Feature High School Football

After plenty of heartbreak the hard way, Ballenas’ No. 4-ranked AA Whalers ready to make some waves

On Thursday, we introduced Abbotsford’s Robert Bateman Timberwolves as the No. 5 team as we opened our annual pre-season countdown of 2019’s top B.C. Double A high school football teams. Today, we swing over to Vancouver Island for No. 4. The countdown resumes Monday, and will be followed by our B.C. Triple A Big 5.

Robert Bateman's rising senior linebacker/fullback Jack Weinkauf (right) celebrates with SFU-bound teammate Sam Davenport during the Wolves' decisive Subway Bowl AA semifinal win over Holy Cross last November at B.C. Place. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

Robert Bateman looks to its rising senior Phoenix! Wolves come in at AA No. 5 as countdown to B.C. high school football 2019 begins

High school football season may still be over three months away. Yet how far can it really be when Varsity Letters starts its annual countdown of B.C.’s best teams?

Centennial's Meghan Harder (centre) kept her head in the game, helping lead the defending B.C. AAA champion Centaurs past host South Delta in a Fraser Valley semifinal clash at Winskill Park in Tsawwassen. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Soccer

Encore, encore? Constant refinement the key as defending B.C. AAA champ Centennial preps for FV title match

TSAWWASSEN — As accomplished as they are as B.C.’s reigning top-tiered girls high school soccer champions, Coquitlam’s dynamic Centennial Centaurs aren’t above having their collective re-set button pushed in preparation for what they hope is a long and healthy run to a repeat title.At their best, like they were upon hitting full attack mode Monday […]

Collingwood's Sebastian Hutton goes airborne in his team's Hatch Shield win last week against the Rockridge Ravens in North Vancouver. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Blair.photo 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Rugby

Varsity Letters BC Rugby Report 05.13.19 edition: Saints, Sun Devils and Cavs highlight three tiers of impressive victories

Welcome to Varsity Letters’ B.C. boys high school rugby report.Here’s a look at match reports from the past week:QUAD APREMIER LEAGUENo. 2 ST. GEORGE’S 34 at No. 4 OAK BAY 24VICTORIA — If you’re the visiting Saints, it wasn’t a bad way to move from the regular season to the playoffs.St. George’s, in much the […]

The words say it all. Former Yale basketball star Bradley Braich is shooting for new goals these days, including ending all of the stigmas surrounding mental illness. (Photo by Luke Ouellette property of Bigger Than Basketball 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

A Sunday Read: Why Bradley Braich counts his blessings and still celebrates the game through ‘Bigger Than Basketball’

ABBOTSFORD — It hasn’t even been 15 months since Bradley Braich delivered one of the most profoundly impactful messages I’ve received in almost 40 years as a reporter.Despite being just 17 years of age at the time, the direct message he sent me via Twitter was so heartfelt, a part of it which read: “Hey […]

After winning its first game on the final day of the regular season, Burnaby's Byrne Creek Bulldogs are playoff bound in their first-ever season of play. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Rugby

Byrne Creek rugby’s historic first win! Said ‘Dawgs head coach Stefanon: “You would have thought we had won just won a B.C. title”

BURNABY — The greenest team in B.C. senior boys rugby has done nothing but grow over its first-ever season. On Thursday at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex however, the hometown Byrne Creek Bulldogs enjoyed an historic coming of age.