Simon Fraser football team head coach Mike Rigell. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

4 Questions for Mike Rigell: As SFU football prepares for 2021’s final home game Saturday, the coach chats on WR’s Morrison, Meadors, the defence and Seniors Day!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — Week 4 and Seniors Day are two things that don’t go together in the lexicon of football, yet with summer barely over and the seats at the new SFU Stadium at Terry Fox still squeaky clean, that is the scene which has been set this Saturday night at Terry Fox Field.A curious […]

Longtime former UBC men's and women's soccer coach Dick Mosher will be honoured Saturday at Thunderbird Stadium. (Photo by Adrian Lam property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Soccer

Dick Mosher: UBC soccer set to pay tribute to its late heart-and-soul patriarch with Saturday celebration of life at Thunderbird Stadium

VANCOUVER — Come Saturday afternoon, in a quiet moment, Jesse Symons is sure to hear his own private ringing of a cel phone, and a special voice on the other end with a message he will never forget.“Back in 2019, right after we won the national championship, I got a phone call from him and […]

As he launched the TWU rugby program in 2019, head coach Andrew Evans welcomed South Delta's Caleb van Til into the program. Three years later, Evans has pencilled van Til into the first XV in what will be his debut start at blind-side when the Spartans open the Coastal Cup series as decided underdogs at UBC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature

4 Questions for Andrew Evans… On the eve of Trinity Western’s first-ever men’s XV match at powerhouse UBC, we talk with the Spartans head coach!

LANGLEY — On Saturday, in a 2:30 p.m. clash at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby centre, the young Trinity Western Spartans men’s rugby team will mark its first match in the inaugural Coastal Cup series as its’ first-ever 15’s meeting with the powerful, tradition-laden UBC Thunderbirds.In advance of that match, Varsity Letters got a hold […]

The Langley Events Centre was announced Thursday as the new home of the Fraser Valley Bandits. (Langley Events Centre photo)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Pro hoops come to the LEC: Fraser Valley Bandits make the move to Langley Events Centre for 2022 CEBL season!

Via Press ReleaseLANGLEY — The Fraser Valley Bandits announced Thursday that the club has chosen Langley Events Centre (LEC) as its home for the upcoming Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) season, which begins May 2022. As the new home of professional basketball in B.C., LEC builds upon its history of showcasing the province’s best players by […]

Prized UBC quarterback recruit Garrett Rooker eyes the scene downfield during throwing drills at UBC's 2021 fall training camp at Thunderbird Stadium. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

UBC Football 2021: Postmarked ‘Texas’, Garrett Rooker emerges from ‘Birds deep talent pool to be named starting quarterback ahead of Saturday’s opener at Alberta!

VANCOUVER — Sometimes, stuff happens that makes you want to thank your lucky stars.For UBC Thunderbirds head football coach Blake Nill, one of those days was May 8 of 2020.“Some days are better than others,” wrote Nill that day on his official Twitter account in announcing that quarterback Garrett Rooker, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound quarterback out […]

After a full season of waiting, the fun starts again for Danielle Steer and the rest of UBC's blue-and-gold-clad women's soccer team. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Soccer

UBC women’s soccer 2021 home opener: When it comes to goals, ‘Birds national MVP striker Danielle Steer takes the wheel and points the way!

VANCOUVER — There was a moment, back in the spring of 2016, when Danielle Steer might have wondered about the direction of the UBC Thunderbirds’ women’s soccer program.A shining Grade 11 youth soccer talent with both Coastal F.C. and her school team at Elgin Park Secondary in Surrey, Steer was in the midst of taking […]

Simon Fraser senior captain Kayla Goncalves loves the spirit of her team and the way its younger players have accepted the challenge of the new GNAC season. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Soccer

Thursday’s GNAC 2021 opener: It’s a youthful re-start atop Burnaby Mountain for SFU women’s soccer, yet coach Hamel says “…We’re one decision, one moment away”

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — Ask Annie Hamel what it’s been like pushing the re-start button on the B.C. women’s collegiate soccer program perhaps most limited since the pandemic’s arrival some 18 months ago, and the Simon Fraser head coach relates a moment early in the team’s preseason.“We wrote on the white board for the coaches ‘PATIENCE’,” […]

Vancouver College running back Tommy Carvaolho (28) finds some open field, eluding the tackle of Carson Graham's linebacker Kyle Carter Sept. 2 at O'Hagan Field. The Irish get back to action at home on Saturday when they face traditional rival St. Thomas More in a AAA Western Conference battle. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

B.C. High School Football Weekend Survival Guide 09.21.21 edition: New rankings welcome AAA Fox, plus Bateman & Langley shake up AA Big 5!

LANGLEY — The Varsity Letters’ Big AAA rankings remain relatively stable, with the Terry Fox Ravens parlaying a 2-0 start and an impressive win against South Delta to move into a spot within the Big 5.The most dramatic movement, however, comes at AA, where Abbotsford’s Robert Bateman Timberwolves and the unranked Langley Thunderbirds each make […]

Varsity Letters' first B.C. High School Football Players of the Week for the 2021 season are G.W. Graham's Grade 11 defensive end Vinny Branauer (left, 75) and Rutland Grade 10 quarterback Ty Walker. (Photos by Joanne Hewitt (left) and Martyne Vallerand respective property of G.W. Graham and Rutland athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

Varsity Letters 09.21.21 B.C. High School Football Players of the Week: Rutland’s Walker, GWG’s Branauer take top honours!

B.C. high school football is finally back into the full swing of things, and with that, Varsity Letters is honouring the top performances of each weekend by naming a winner and a runner-up as our Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week.Coaches should remember that nominations from each weekend’s games need to be sent to […]

UBC freshman receiver Jason Soriano spent the lost 2020 season honing his skills as a full-time pass-catcher for the Birds. Now, the ex-Vancouver College star is part of three-man receiving core head coach Blake Nill has nicknamed The Smurfs. Soriano digs in on a route during a fall camp session last week. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

UBC Football 2021: Thunderbirds’ head coach Blake Nill dubs his diminutive, speedy receiver trio of Soriano, Phillips, Williams as ‘The Smurfs’ ahead of Saturday opener at Alberta!

VANCOUVER — As children of the 2000’s, you couldn’t blame a certain trio of UBC Thunderbirds’ receivers for being a little perplexed last week when head coach Blake Nill announced during a team gathering that he had discovered their perfect nickname.“I have these three guys who are all around 5-10 and they have burners,” explained […]