By whatever new name B.C.'s high school football championships come to be known by, the emotion of its players will remain the same. In what is now the final Subway Bowl season on record, G.W. Graham's Theo Smith (2) and Colton Mocon found reason to celebrate a championship this past December at B.C. Place Stadium. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Saying ‘good-bye’ to Subway Bowl! After 20 years, B.C.’s high school football championships ready to embrace a new title sponsor!

VANCOUVER — It had one of the best names ever… you know, one of those names which so quickly became unforgettable, earning a place in our sports vernacular so accepted that we never, ever considered its eventual demise.Yet now, after two decades at the centre of most every conversation about high school football in this […]

B.C. high school football saw a big gain in player registration but also a steep decline in its coaching numbers. Is this the new normal? (Photo by Blair Shier property of Blair.photo 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Why B.C. high school football’s latest numbers might just be the first barometre of the new normal in our provincial high school sports world!

VANCOUVER — Set against the unpredictable backdrop of a pandemic now just weeks shy of its second birthday in this province, no one can yet fully define what the so-called new normal in B.C. high school sports is going to look like.B.C. high school football, however, released numbers earlier this week which may well provide […]

Connecting with players and a creating a connected culture between the program and its community was a founding principle of outgoing Hyacks head coach Farhan Lalji. (Photo by Alan Wardle property of New Westminster Hyacks football 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Farhan Lalji: As the New West Hyacks’ football founder bids adieu, his charter words from 2003 continue to speak an essential & universal truth!

“One of the parents of a player came up to me and said, ‘You’ve basically given my son his life back because this has helped motivate him in so many other areas.’ I don’t take myself seriously enough to think that it’s because of me, but it is because of this whole package that we’ve […]

Terrell Jana of the Virginia Cavaliers brings a pair of sure hands to the CFL next season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. (Photo by Matt Riley property of University of Virginia media relations 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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CFL Draft 2021: A true purist’s receiver, STM grad Jana puts his hands to an ‘instrumental’ test as he prepares for rookie season with ‘Riders!

As a budding musician, Terrell Jana has discovered that striking a chord or two has not only helped relax his mind, but keep his hands dexterous and strong in his endless pursuit of catching the football.Taken on the whole, it’s just another example of the purist’s approach the Burnaby native and Virginia Cavaliers receiver will […]

New Westminster Hyacks' coach and B.C. high school football caretaker Farhan Lalji joins the Varsity Letters' podcast. (Photo by Alan Wardle property of NWSS athletics 2020. All Rights Reserved)
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VL Podcast 12.03.20: TSN’s Farhan Lalji on Subway Bowl, the Seahawks, Claypool and a coaching life well-mentored!

This week, the Varsity Letters welcomes an enduring friend of the podcast! TSN’s Farhan Lalji, a 31-year high school football coach in the province of B.C. stops by to chat with host Howard Tsumura about a whole host of topics.   This coming Saturday at B.C. Place Stadium would have been the 2020 Subway Bowl […]

Greyson Planinsic (left) and Michael Udoh comprise B.C.'s most devastating offensive backfield. (Photo by Alan Wardle property of New Westminster Hyacks football 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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New West’s dynamic RB duo: With Greyson Planinsic and Michael Udoh, the whole & the heart of these Hyacks always greater than the sum of its parts

NEW WESTMINTSER — Their running styles are a study in contrasts, and the length and the breadth of their respective resumes couldn’t be any more different.Yet the bottom line in the New Westminster locker room following every Hyacks football game this season is the single-mindedness which drives every post-game gab-fest between running backs Greyson Planinsic […]

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Varsity Letters PODCAST returns to talk BCHS rugby at the World Cup, big high school football wins and the start of a new hoops season!

LANGLEY — Varsity Letters — The Podcast returns for another week, this time touching on football, basketball and rugby. Off the top, we visit with Canadian Under-20 men’s rugby coach Adam Roberts, the longtime head coach at Surrey’s Earl Marriott Secondary. Roberts and host Howard Tsumura talk about the inherent pride that comes with taking […]

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)
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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 […]

If New West's Greyson Planinsic (left) snuck up on teams last season, he won't this coming campaign as one of the key components of the Hyacks' 2019 offence. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Former Holy Cross star basketball player Jonathan Kongbo gave football a late try, and now goes from the Tennessee Volunteers to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. (Photo by Andrew Ferguson property of Tennessee athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football University Football

Eight B.C. high school football alums picked in 2019 CFL Draft! Coaches agree player development is on the rise

LANGLEY — B.C. high school football’s best night ever at the CFL draft? No one can be sure, yet what is certain is that the eight players chosen from some of this province’s top programs is the most in over a decade.