The play of Lord Tweedsmuir's Noah Anderson (8, with ball last season vs. STM) in Friday's win over New Westminster is a big reason Surrey's Panthers have moved up to No. 2 in first in-season VL Big 5 AAA rankings of the 2019 season. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

Varsity Letter’s 09.09.19 Big 5 B.C. high school football rankings: Tweedsmuir Panthers, Langley Saints make early climbs

LANGLEY — Week One of the 2019 B.C. high school football season saw a complete non-conference look to the schedule.Already, however, we’ve got change at both tiers in the very first in-season Varsity Letters’ Big 5 provincial rankings:TRIPLE A1 Vancouver College Fighting Irish (1-0, 0-0) (LW-1)LW — Def. Kelowna 34-7.TW — Friday at St. Thomas […]

Terry Fox's Kyle Huish (5) is one of a host of visiting Ravens attempting to slow the progress of South Delta running back Damon Badenhorst on Saturday in Tsawwassen. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

FINAL EDITION: Varsity Letter’s Saturday B.C. High School Football Report 09.07.19 edition

Saturday marks an end to our first week of the B.C. High School Football Report.SATURDAYEXHIBITION ST. FRANCIS (Calg.) 37 at No. 2 MT. DOUGLAS 0VICTORIA —They are No. 2 at the highest tier of competition in Alberta, and on Saturday, Tier 1 No. 1-ranked St. Francis of Calgary proved too much for the host and B.C. […]

Ty Martens (right) got into the swing of things on Friday, throwing a touchdown pass and helping lead the host Robert Bateman Timberwolves to a season-opening win over Surrey's Sullivan Heights Stars in Abbotsford. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

FINAL EDITION: Varsity Letters’ Week 1 B.C. High School Football Report for 09.06.19

That’s a wrap for Week One of the Varsity Letter’s B.C.High School Football Report!We’ve got an abbreviated schedule on Saturday, but check back with us for the results of some very big games!Thanks to all of the coaches who took part today.FRIDAYEXHIBITIONCARSON GRAHAM 0 at CLEVELAND (Wash.) 13 SEATTLE — Host Cleveland made it a battle for […]

Impossible to miss, Simon Fraser wide receiver Rysen John has been working on being impossible to stop as he opens his senior season Saturday against an NCAA Div. 1 Portland State team which might be one of the best teams the Clan program has faced in recent times. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football University Football

SFU’s football mojo is Rysen! As new season dawns, senior wideout Rysen John wants to take Clan to its loftiest NCAA heights yet

BURNABY — You can’t say there are a ton of certainties for a rising football team striving to establish both winning credentials and recognizable identity within the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.Yet Simon Fraser Clan head coach Thomas Ford is willing to put it all on the line when asked about one member of his 2019 […]

Simon Fraser's Devin O'Hea is that rare student-athlete able to make the switch fro football to soccer. (Photos by Jacob Hall and Paul Yates property of Simon Fraser Clan athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

The unique talents of Simon Fraser’s Devin O’Hea: Clan’s super sophomore makes the rare switch from football receiver to soccer striker

BURNABY —  For his entire athletic career, Devin O’Hea has had a tough time defining which version of football best fit his definition of The Beautiful Game.That is, until this season, when one of the most rare dual-sport athletes in a half-century plus of Simon Fraser Clan athletics decided it was time to look at […]

New Westminster Hyacks head football coach Farhan Lalji (left) and UBC head men's basketball coach Kevin Hanson each visit with host Howard Tsumura as Varsity Letters -- The Podcast returns to the pod stream. (Photos by Howard Tsumura and Richard Lam property of VarsityLetters.ca and UBC athletics)
Feature High School Football Podcast University Men's Basketball

We’re back! Varsity Letters – The Podcast makes its return! UBC hoops coach Hanson, New West football coach Lalji stop in to chat

LANGLEY — There’s a sense deja vu filtering through the airwaves this week around the province of B.C. with return of Varsity Letters-The Podcast. Long a weekly staple during my years at The Vancouver Province, we’re back for the first time since 2016, right here at our new home at VarsityLetters.ca This week, we’re honoured […]

After returning from Hawaii this weekend, the St. Thomas More Knights get right back to action Friday at Burnaby Lakes against Notre Dame. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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STM’s Knights fall at undefeated Honolulu-Damien, but RB Nick Osho cracks century mark, aerial attack shows great promise

HONOLULU— Led by the performance of running back Nick Osho, Burnaby’s St. Thomas More Knights hit the ground running Saturday night in Hawaii, and now they hope to keep their stride as they return to B.C. for this coming Friday’s official start to the 2019 provincial high school football season.As well, senior Alex Cordeiro caught […]

St. Thomas More's Rickey Parsons opens his 2019 season Saturday night in Honolulu along with rest of Burnaby's Knights. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

Aloha, it’s time for BC High school football! St. Thomas More Knights kick it off Saturday in Honolulu

The B.C. high school football season has never started further from its home base.Burnaby’s St. Thomas More Knights will kick-off the 2019 campaign Saturday (6 p.m.) in Hawaii as they face Honolulu’s Damien Monarchs, a tradition-laden program playing out of the state’s Div. 1 tier.The Knights enter the campaign looking to see which players will […]

Lord Tweedsmuir's Kojo Odoom (right, 23), B.C. Triple A football's Defensive Player of the Year, will land in London, Ont., this coming season to begin his U Sports career with the Western Mustangs. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football University Football

Varsity Letters’ B.C. Recruits List 2019: Where 104 high school football prospects are headed this coming season

LANGLEY — Months in the making, we’re thrilled to present Varsity letters’ 13th annual B.C. Recruits List, our annual look at who’s going where as it pertains to B.C.’s high school-to-university student-atheltes.

Despite playing just one season of football, West Vancouver's Simon Li has been signed by the Canada West power Calgary Dinos. (Photo property of West Vancouver Secondary athletics 2019. All rights reserved)
Feature High School Football High School Rugby University Football

West Vancouver’s Simon Li: Just 15 months after tackling football and rugby, the Highlanders’ raw rookie answers the call of the Calgary Dinos

WEST VANCOUVER — Out of nowhere, he established his high school’s new gold standard for raw rookies. Now, West Vancouver Highlanders’ graduating senior  Simon Li is headed off to a university career as a diamond in the rough.