NORTH DELTA – Heartfelt greetings to all of you, my loyal, longtime readers.It’s been five months since I decided to take a break from my writing life.As was the goal from the very start, my decision to take sabbatical after 40 years of daily practice — first from my typewriter, and of course later, in […]
University
The energy of Sophie Klassen: ACL surgery left Simon Fraser forward wondering if she had “…lost what makes me, me,” yet her crash-and-bang DNA impossible to miss!
BURNABY — Ask Sophie Klassen what was worse than the COVID-cancelled 2020-21 university basketball season, and she doesn’t hesitate to answer.“I tore my ACL last season, in September (of 2020), just a couple of weeks into practices,” Simon Fraser’s energetic 6-foot redshirt junior forward begins. “I got surgery in November, and I wasn’t completely sure […]
Simon Fraser forward Gemma Cutler does it by the book, but the 6-foot-2 rookie from North Vancouver also writing her own chapters atop Burnaby Mountain!
BURNABY — When it comes to being a voracious student of the sport of basketball, you could say that Gemma Cutler wrote the book.Or perhaps, in the case of Simon Fraser’s ultra-inquisitive rookie forward, it’s more accurate to say she digested it in its entirety.That’s the idea you get when you ask SFU head coach […]
Our 13th annual edition: Who are B.C.’s Top 15 Grade 12 boys volleyball players? Check out our 2021-22 Dream Team!
LANGLEY — Welcome to the 2021-22 edition of Varsity Letters annual B.C. Boys Top 15, our look at the top Grade 12 players in the province as voted on by our committee representing the five head coaches (UBC, TWU, UFV, UBC Okanagan, Thompson Rivers) of U Sports men’s volleyball programs in our province.A special thanks […]
Kelowna Owls’ Sebastien Manuel: B.C. Boys Volleyball 2021-22 Player of the Year brings a heart-and-soul love for the game to his hometown UBC Okanagan Heat!
KELOWNA — Let Sebastien Manuel tell you a volleyball story and before long you start to realize, from the conviction of his delivery, that he’s actually talking about what matters most to him in life.Is there a way to best describe him?How about the word ‘steeped’ as in “…to be surrounded by or filled with […]
After frigid start, Simon Fraser rallies from 22 points down to stun visiting St. Martin’s! Says point guard David Penney: “Now we know we have another gear we can get to!”
BURNABY — It wasn’t exactly a first half that you would put alongside the most inspiring in the history of Simon Fraser men’s basketball.In fact, it ebbed low enough about four minutes from halftime that the home team was staring a 22-point deficit straight in the eye Wednesday evening at the West Gym against the […]
As UBC Thunderbirds host UFV Cascades on Friday, the trick in a 2021-22 Canada West hoops season of stops and starts is finding a way to stay in rhythm with your routine!
VANCOUVER — You’re the head coach of a Canada West men’s or women’s basketball program, and as the most disjointed regular-season campaign in conference history does its best to wind towards an organized conclusion, one question seems to keeping topping all others in terms of relevancy.Between re-scheduled games and extended byes, what’s the best way […]
Our 13th annual edition: Who are B.C.’s Top 15 Grade 12 girls volleyball players? Check out our 2021-22 Dream Team!
LANGLEY — Pandemic or not, Varsity Letters has never failed to deliver what has become one of our most eagerly-anticipated features, and that’s why we’re happy to bring you our 13th straight edition of B.C.’s Top 15 high school volleyball players.Last year, even with the entire season cancelled due to COVID, our unflappable panel of […]
Notre Dame’s Mackenzie Pool: B.C. Girls Volleyball 2021-22 Player of the Year, a study in impassioned learning on & off court, makes Alberta Pandas her next stop!
VANCOUVER — Just as she’s done in laying the academic foundation for a potential future in law school, Mackenzie Pool has brought a student’s curiosity to everything she’s accomplished on the volleyball court as one of Canada’s up-and-coming young stars.And in keeping with that theme, it’s no stretch to say that on her way to […]
Mason Bourcier: With three triple-doubles over his past six games, Trinity Western’s well-travelled guard puts down his hoops roots at Langley Events Centre!
LANGLEY — Ask Mason Bourcier about the good times he is starting to have again on the basketball court, and he seems to first take a backwards glance into his own figurative rearview mirror before speaking.“I used to be that kid, who if you showed him a brick wall, he’d run right through it,” Trinity […]