Adam Olsen of Surrey’s Elgin Park Orcas faced Vancouver’s St. Patrick’s Celtics in the 2022 B.C. Triple-A championship final last March at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

A phenom for the future, UBC Thunderbirds basketball spreads its wingspan and welcomes Elgin Park’s 6-foot-7 guard/wing Adam Olsen to War Memorial Gym for 2023-24 season!

VANCOUVER — Adam Olsen is all business when it comes to the level of compete he will bring to the UBC Thunderbirds basketball team next season.In fact if there was a metric capable of measuring just such an intangible among B.C.’s graduating high school Class of 2023, the 6-foot-7 guard/wing Olsen might well sit at […]

Fleetwood Park's Aaron Uppal, pictured at this past December's TBI, helped his Dragons to their first-ever championship title at St. Thomas More's Rich Goulet Chancellor Memorial on Saturday in Burnaby. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2022 All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Goulet Chancellor Memorial 2023: Eesher Sarai plenty big enough to meet the challenge as Fleetwood Park edges St. Pat’s for Dragons’ first-ever tourney title at STMC!

BURNABY — B.C.’s No. 5-ranked Quad-A senior boys basketball team is playing up to its provincial pedigree, and that means a lot of good things have been coming the way of the Fleetwood Park Dragons.On Saturday, the Surrey squad achieved a program first, defeating Vancouver’s St. Patrick Celtics 71-68 in the championship final of the […]

Burnaby Mountain's Aidan Lear (left) is defended by Vancouver College's Aidan Lear during opening-round play in the TBI Super 16 draw Wednesday at the LEC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2022 All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Tsumura Basketball 2022: We’ve gone final for Day 1 of the TBI Super 16 draw! Game reports, photos and Thursday’s schedule are all here!

LANGLEY — We are complete here after Day 1 at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational’s senior boys Super 16 draw.THURSDAYQUARTERFINALS (all games at Centre Court)3:30 p.m. — Kelowna vs. St. Patricks5 p.m. — Burnaby South vs. Enver Creek6:45 p.m. — Vancouver College vs. Fleetwood Park8:15 p.m. — Oak Bay vs. Sir Winston ChurchillWEDNESDAY’S GAMESVANCOUVER COLLEGE 83 […]

Lord Byng point guard Eli Mullin (left) drives past Brookswood's Logan Stewart at the 2022 Tsumura Basketball Invitational Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2022 All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

WE’RE COMPLETE! DAY 1 at Tsumura Basketball 2022: Complete game reports from our senior boys Rising 8 draw!

We are now complete after Day 1 of the inaugural Rising 8 bracket here at the 2022 Tsumura Basketball Invitational.SCHEUDLETHURSDAYSEMIFINALS(games at South Court)6:45 p.m.– Spectrum vs. Lord Byng8:15 p.m. — Steveston London vs. North DeltaFor a complete report of the Local 8 tournament, please go to the bottom of this story for a filing from […]

Captured hugging the basketball, could there be a more apropos image of St. Patrick's B.C. tourney MVP Irish Coquia at the B.C. Triple-A senior boys basketball championship final Saturday at the Langley Events Centre? (Photo by Blair Shier property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

A SUNDAY READ: How the simple words “…Irish, it’s your time” lifted St. Pat’s Celtics past Elgin Park and to a B.C. Triple-A title dedicated to a hurting teammate!

LANGLEY — In the biggest games of his young basketball life, Irish Coquia has averaged an amazing 30 points per game.Yet in any description of the seemingly-indescribable St. Patrick’s Celtics’ Grade 11 guard, it’s important to note that despite his gaudy point totals, he scores higher in the intangibles department than any other statistical category.On […]

Nick Johnson (7) and Kendall Homenick (8) have been two of the senior leaders for Surrey's Quad-A No. 2 Elgin Park Orcas this season. The entire program is thriving due to the efforts of a simple but unique way of introducing its youngest player to the sport. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball

A SUNDAY READ: How to keep kids invested in B.C. high school sports? By using a unique no-pressure introduction, Elgin Park boys volleyball creates model success, and a B.C. Triple-A No. 2 ranking!

SURREY — To the wise and sage among us, the B.C. high school sports experience continues to represent the ultimate environment for student-athletes to glean the kinds of lessons which have always transcended the games themselves.Mike Jamieson needs no convincing in that regard, yet the teacher-coach at Surrey’s Elgin Park Secondary will be the first […]

Oak Bay senior boys volleyball coach Allan Carmichael and his Barbers sit at No. 9 in the recent AAA boys volleyball rankings. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball

B.C. Boys volleyball rankings Week 2 10.06.21 edition: Owls, Eagles, Knights hold court at No. 1, biggest climbs taken by McMath, Duchess Park!

VICTORIA — Last week’s initial set of rankings at all three tiers of B.C. boys senior varsity volleyball, coming off a cancelled 2020 season, held remarkably true over the past seven days.Top threes at all three tiers remained static with Kelowna, MEI and Abbotsford Christian set to spend another week defending their No. 1 status […]

Trinity Western's Aaron Boettcher has put shoulder surgery and a missed 2017-88 season behind him, helping lead the Spartans back to the national championships which open a three-day run Friday in Quebec City. (Photo by Scott Stewart property of Trinity Western athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Volleyball

A better Boettcher? You bet! Trinity Western’s Aaron Boettcher older, wise, happier in his last trip to U Sports nationals

LANGLEY — Aaron Boettcher’s greatest skill had always been his ability to rise above the crowd and block out any obstacles that came his way.

Luke Wagner helped lead Surrey's Elgin Park Orcas past Kelowna's Mt. Boucherie Bears and into the Final 8 at the Big Kahuna boys AAA volleyball championships Thursday at the LEC. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball

Orcas surface in B.C. AAA quarterfinals! Elgin Park’s 8-man squad finds a way into provincial Final 8

LANGLEY — There were more than a few sage experts who felt that Surrey’s ‘Little Team That Could’ would be in for a real battle just to qualify for the Big Kahuna B.C. Boys Triple A volleyball championships, which opened Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre.

Luke Stroud is one of only eight Orcas making up the 2017 Elgin Park senior boys volleyball team. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball

TSUMURA: A coaching co-op which empowers youth? Rare vision, ingenuity creates volleyball family at Elgin Park

SURREY — No less wise a person than the Greek philosopher Plato once opined that necessity is the mother of invention. Over the past few seasons at Surrey’s Elgin Park Secondary School, it has been the mother of a recent grad who has embraced that old saying with gusto, and in the process helped make the […]