Simon Fraser quarterback Brandon Niksich has shown a great touch on his deep ball, Now he's working on cutting back on his interceptions. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Simon Fraser Clan athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

Simon Fraser’s Brandon Niksich: Clan’s rookie QB, growing up quickly in the huddle, says “…I can’t be a freshman anymore”

BURNABY — Brandon Niksich signed up for a football adventure when he answered the recruiting call of the Simon Fraser Clan this past off-season.

TWU midfielder Domenic Poletto, while still nursing his way back to the lineup following a torn ACL, is all smiles about the future of Spartans' soccer and its class of blue-chip freshen players. (Photo by Scott Stewart property of Trinity Western athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

Renaissance in Sparta: Through the eyes of injured vet Poletto, blue-chip rookie class symbolizes a re-birth for Trinity Western men’s soccer

LANGLEY — Domenic Poletto was at a career crossroads late this past summer, but getting a chance to see the future of Spartans’ men’s soccer has him counting the days until his official return.Trinity Western’s leading point-getter a season ago as a standout central midfielder, Poletto had been a driving force in the resurgence of […]

Surrey's Panorama Ridge Thunder are back on top of the B.C. senior boys AAA soccer rankings. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Soccer

B.C. Boys Soccer Top 10 rankings 10.03.19: Surrey’s Panorama Ridge Thunder survive topsy-turvy week to move into No. 1 spot

Welcome to the first-in-season edition of the B.C. senior boys AAA soccer Top 10.This past week’s results did a lot to shift the form of the preseason chart. The scores that most impacted?On the North Shore, former No. 2 Argyle lost to Carson Graham, who in turn lost to new No. 9 Handsworth.On Vancouver Island, […]

Senior hitter Jesse Lee and the rest of Port Coquitlam's Riverside Rapids maintained their spot in the B.C. AAA Top 10 rankings. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball

B.C. boys volleyball rankings 10.02.19: Eric Hamber, Langley Fundamental make big climbs but Marriott and MEI still atop the tiers

LANGLEY — The defending B.C. AAA champion Earl Marriott Mariners of Surrey retained the top spot at the province’s largest tier after suffering its only loss of the season thus far, in the championship final of the UBC Invitational last Saturday to Edmonton’s Harry Ainlay Titans. Meanwhile, Vancouver’s Eric Hamber Griffins defeated Abbotsford’s AA No. […]

Vancouver's Little Flower Academy Angels, pictured last month at the UBC Mizuno Invitational, hold firm at No. 2 in the B.C. Triple A rankings this week. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Volleyball

B.C. Girls Top 10 Volleyball Rankings 10.02.19: Dover Bay, Notre Dame and Mt. Sentinel the big movers, No. 1’s hold ground

LANGLEY — Here are the latest B.C. senior girls Top 10 volleyball rankings:*At Quad A, Nanaimo’s Dover Bay Dolphins staked a claim to Top 10 territory coming off a Final Four showing and eventual silver-medal finish at the Vancouver Island University Mariners invitational. No. 6 Claremont held firm with a win over the Dolphins.*At Double […]

Feature Podcast

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 […]

MEI Eagles' Hunter Arulpragasam (left) and Tag Neufeld rise for a block against Lake Country's George Elliott Coyotes last Friday during the UBC Invitational at War Memorial Gym. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball

MEI boys volleyball: Multi-sport players, multi-experienced coach Olfert meld to lift Eagles into B.C. AA title contention

ABBOTSFORD — The 2019 edition of the MEI Eagles senior boys volleyball team has its fair share of standouts, and none of that is a surprise for the team which last week opened at No. 1 in the first B.C. Double A rankings of the new season.Senior Tyson Ardell spent the summer with Team B.C. […]

New Westminster running back Greyson Planinsic and the rest of the Hyacks are B.C.'s new No. 1-ranked Triple A team. (Photo by Alan Wardle property of New Westminster Hyacks football 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

Varsity Letters 09.30.19 BC High School Football Big 5: New West Hyacks new AAA No. 1! The parity of a September to remember

LANGLEY — Welcome to Week 5 of the 2019 B.C. high school football season. Parity is good for the Subway Bowl party, and this past week’s AAA results continued to show plenty of it. We haven’t even gotten out of September, and a third team has ascended to No. 1 at the province’s largest tier.Here […]

Vancouver College's Daesaun Johnson (2) rushed for three touchdowns Saturday in the Irish's win over Mt. Douglas. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
Feature High School Football

Varsity Letters’ B.C.High School Football Report 09.29.19 Saturday Night final edition

Here is Saturday’s edition of the B.C. High School Football Report:TRIPLE AWESTERN CONFERENCENo. 5 MT. DOUGLAS 14 at No. 4 VANCOUVER COLLEGE 35VANCOUVER — Vancouver College Homecoming at O’Hagan Field, on a perfect Saturday afternoon, complete with cheering Irish fans?Get a combination like that and you never want the spoil the occasion with a poor […]

UBC quarterback Gabe Olivares and the rest of the Thunderbirds endured a tough fourth quarter Saturday in a loss to the visiting Alberta Golden Bears. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC athletics 2019. All rights reserved)
Feature University Football

UBC football: After late collapse to Alberta, what’s most key for 0-5 ‘Birds over final three games? Forging a team identity for 2020

VANCOUVER — Over the window of their academic careers on the Point Grey campus, forestry students at UBC can put in the long hours required towards earning a Masters degree in the sustainable management of one of our province’s great natural resources.Over at Thunderbird Stadium, however, a whole other group of UBC students are attempting […]