BURNABY — It’s hard to remember a span of time over the entire 55-year history of Simon Fraser athletics as emotionally charged as these past three days.
Feature
2020 B.C. Recruits List: It’s our last call to student-athletes to be part of Varsity Letters’ 15th annual edition!
Hello once again to all 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.This is our last call for names for the 14th annual Varsity Letters’ B.C. Recruits List, a project which had its genesis back in the spring of 2006 […]
Carlo Muro: “Oh hamburger, I gotta go!” After a near half-century as a teacher-coach, one of B.C.’s best takes retirement with no regrets
PORT COQUITLAM — Anthony Ciolfitto asked a simple question, yet the answer he received spoke volumes about one of the most enduring teacher-coaches in B.C. high school sports history.“It was maybe four years ago, and he and I were having a conversation about retirement,” the former principal at Riverside Secondary remembers of a casual chat […]
NCAA approves blanket waivers, yet Simon Fraser Clan athletics must weigh the costs amidst border issues and an uncertain GNAC fall season
BURNABY — Its campus may enjoy a lofty perch atop Burnaby Mountain, yet like the rest of the NCAA’s 1,200-plus member schools across the continent, the Simon Fraser Clan are trying their best to find the rays of sunlight obscured by the cloudy and uncertain skies of the COVID-19 pandemic.On Tuesday, Simon Fraser athletic director […]
Suraj Gahir: The ex-Huskies star, stronger and wiser, set to pay heartfelt homage to his North Delta neighbourhood when NCAA Div. 1 career begins at Cal Baptist
NORTH DELTA — No one can escape a future full of unknowns, especially these days, but the best way to brace for its inevitable challenges as you set out on a journey is to gain strength from the collective embrace of the neighbourhood which helped define you.For North Delta Secondary’s 2019 grad Suraj Gahir, such […]
UBC men’s basketball: Pandemic may have nixed UCLA Bruins visit to War Gym, yet despite uncertain times, ‘Birds plan with hope!
VANCOUVER — The Canada West’s winter conference seasons had a start date late enough to dodge the hammer of COVID-19 cancellations which fell hard last week on its fall sports cousins in football, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey and women’s rugby 15sYet with the deadline for official word on a best-case Jan. 1 conference […]
Stephen Burns: BCSS coaching honours awarded to South Delta Sun Devils’ longtime champion of B.C. high school soccer
TSAWWASSEN — It may have been the shortest and the quietest B.C. senior girls high school soccer season on record, yet its voice seemed to be within constant ear-shot of one its most passionate advocates.“Every time we had a game, I’d look at the schedule, and I’d think ‘Oh we should be playing right now,’” […]
The Fab Fifty-B.C.’s Top 50 high school boys Grade 12 rugby players! Despite a lost season, BCSSRU salutes the skill, heart & grit of its Class of 2020!
LANGLEY — Theirs was a season which was ended in its infancy back in March.Yet while the B.C. boys high school rugby graduating Class of 2020 didn’t get a chance to experience the tests of league, playoff and provincial matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no doubting its heart and its skill.That’s why […]
06.09.20 edition: Varsity Letters – The Podcast examines the ramifications of Canada West’s cancelled fall season!
NORTH DELTA — Welcome back to Varsity Letters – The Podcast for June 9, 2020. Big news this week in the world of Canadian university sports means we’ll welcome three guests to the pod this week! Joining us will be UBC Director of Athletics Kavie Toor, longtime Trinity Wester University head women’s soccer coach Graham […]
UBC football 2020: In wake of first cancelled season in 76 years, ‘Birds HC Blake Nill’s hopeful ‘redshirt season’ wish list includes the return of Shrum Bowl!
VANCOUVER — The first cancelled UBC football season in 76 years, and just the third over its 96-year history.