Hello B.C high school student-athletes, as well as your parents, and the entire community of coaches, athletic directors and administrators around our great province.It’s time to begin compiling the 14th annual Varsity Letters’ B.C. Recruits List, a project which had its genesis back in the spring of 2006 when I worked at The Province newspaper.Each […]
Author: Howard Tsumura
B.C. coaches say “…basketball is going back to being about you and a hoop” How to summon your inner-Naismith in a time of social distancing
NORTH DELTA — What defines a self-made athlete?As the 2019-20 B.C. high school basketball season was coming to an end last March, just days ahead of a province-wide COVID-19 shutdown, it was certainly not a topic I spent much time pondering.Yet some two months later, I can say with great confidence that it has emerged […]
Garrett Rooker: How the UBC Thunderbirds found a Texas 6A-tier football/basketball standout in time for the 2020-21 season!
VANCOUVER — UBC reputation as one of the world’s great universities is certainly no secret to academia’s global community.On Friday, however, that same reputation not only earned the the school a top-flight entrant into its kinesiology program, but a blue-chip high school senior from Texas with the ability to be a difference maker both barking […]
Picked for last, but all alone in first place when COVID cancelled GNAC season, SFU Clan softball sees bright future in 2021 under coach Tina Andreana
BURNABY — Getting a second chance to continue making a great first impression is all Amanda Janes and the rest of her Simon Fraser Clan softball teammates could have hoped for.
Cascades vs. COVID-19: UFV varsity alumni Wauthy, Carroll, Wierks, Douma leading the way in the pandemic battle
ABBOTSFORD — Fraser Valley Cascades’ sports information director Dan Kinvig takes us right to the front lines of the battle against COVID-19 as told through the illuminating voices of four former student-athletes who have found their calling in the medical professionClick here to read their stories!If you’re reading this story or viewing these photos on […]
Varsity Letters PODCAST 05.06.20: ND Huskies coach/teacher Jesse Hundal on educating during a pandemic, the Class of 2020 and the late Brandon Bassi
NORTH DELTA — The Podcast is back. Apologies for our extended absence. Today, we are joined by Jesse Hundal, a teacher and boys basketball coach at North Delta Secondary School. Jesse chats openly and positively about the challenges facing both teachers and students these days as the 2019-20 academic year comes to a […]
UFV men’s volleyball: Recruiting in a time of pandemic, Cascades come together sight-unseen for debut 2020-21 Canada West season
ABBOTSFORD — Recruited in the time of COVID-19 by a coach he’s never met, and headed off to a university campus he’s yet to even set foot on?On the basis of those two factors alone, you could correctly assume that Zach Wikenheiser has a lot of things on his mind as he prepares for a […]
Nikola Guzina: With a versatile game that hints at shades of Conor Morgan, UBC inks multi-skilled King George Dragons’ star
VANCOUVER — Ask Nikola Guzina to talk about his rise to prominence on the hardcourt, and the standout incoming recruit of the UBC Thunderbirds proceeds to do so with a nod of thanks to the basketball gods.
Trinity Western women’s basketball: Veteran coach Cheryl Jean-Paul keeps her youthful Spartans on a proven path to Canada West success
LANGLEY — There is a virtual mountain of statistical evidence to illustrate just how unforgiving a season the young Trinity Western women’s basketball team endured in 2019-20.The good part for the Spartans is that head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul has been through this tough, early part of the journey before with her program, and its precisely […]