With teammates Abby Hettinga and Cali Cencig in support, Kelowna Owls' Ryenn Schutz rises for a block during the Best of the West girls and boys volleyball tournament staged at Kelowna Secondary this past weekend. Owls teams won both championship finals and the boys, who topped Langley Chrisitan for gold, can be seen in the midst of their match as well. (Photo property of KSS athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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A golden moment times two as Kelowna Owls girls & boy volleyball win simultaneous, side-by-side double gold at own Best of the West invitational!

KELOWNA — In case you were looking for signs of school spirit coming out of COVID’s lost 2020-21 season, the fans inside the gym as Kelowna Secondary School this past weekend, although limited by health protocols, gave every indication that it’s clearly alive and well.The Best of the West senior boys and girls volleyball tournament, […]

B.C. Place Stadium has turned into the dream experience for all high school football players in this province. This season, however, stadium officials have informed that their venue is not available.
Feature High School Football

Subway Bowl 2021 can’t find dates with B.C. Place Stadium: As high school football searches for new venue, Grade 12s miss out on ‘Dome experience’ two years running!!

(Note to readers — since it’s original publication we have added to this story)LANGLEY — When the thermometres dip, and the calendars hit November, there has been a singular destination for a generation-plus of high school football players in this province: B.C. Place Stadium for the Subway Bowl playoffs.Yet while B.C. high school football has […]

Carson Graham quarterback Logan Mellish fends off West Vancouver defensive lineman Reza Nia while Eagles' guard Sherwin Gozali (right) looks on. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Blair.photo 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Carson Graham’s Logan Mellish: Eagles’ senior QB and BCHSFB Player of the Week is “…the blackjack dealer, making sure all of the other guys get the cards”

NORTH VANCOUVER — As the starting quarterback of the Carson Graham Eagles, Logan Mellish puts all of his cards on the table each time he takes command of the huddle.“I love contact,” states the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Mellish, whose selfless, old-school approach to the pivot position has helped position the Eagles as provincial contenders amongst a […]

Simon Fraser's Jessica Jones has endured to enter her sixth season atop Burnaby Mountain. On Tuesday, SFU's senior guard was voted the GNAC's Preseason Player of the Year by the conference's coaches. (Photo property of SFU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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The rise of SFU’s Basketball Jones: Jessica Jones doubted her game early, but with perseverance Simon Fraser’s senior guard named 2021-22 GNAC Preseason Player of the Year!

BURNABY — Tuesday was a day for Jessica Jones to understand, with a veteran’s perspective, the meaning of perseverance in the face of adversity.After discovering that she had been named the GNAC’s women’s basketball 2021-22 Preseason Player of the Year, Simon Fraser’s energetic, shot-making senior guard put it all into words as best she could.“It’s […]

Lord Tweedsmuir senior quarterback McCord Leeson leads his team into Abbotsford on Friday for a AAA Eastern Conference Battle of the Panthers. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. High School Football Weekend Survival Guide 10.18.21 edition: Irish vs. Rams highlights quartet of Big 5-ranked battles!

LANGLEY — October has not disappointed in terms of providing the best match-ups we’ve seen this season.From a pair of games featuring ranked opponents last week, to four more this weekend featuring the same, it’s time to count down to three weeks remaining in the regular season.To keep up with it all, here is another […]

UBC quarterback Garrett Rooker continued to thrive in the pivot, engineering his team's comeback from a 23-point fourth-quarter deficit for a huge overtime win Saturday in Regina. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

A SUNDAY READ: After his young ‘Birds complete miracle rally from 23-0 down in fourth for a 31-30 OT win over Regina, UBC head coach Nill says “Maybe now the dam will break”

He is nearing a quarter of a century as a head coach in the U SPORTS football world, and along that journey, UBC’s Blake Nill has seen his share of comeback victories.Yet ask him to find something comparable to Saturday afternoon’s stunning rally from a 23-0 deficit in the fourth quarter to a 31-30 overtime […]

Just as they did in their season opener in early September, the Vancouver College Fighting Irish found reason to celebrate Saturday with another win at O'Hagan Field. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Fighting Irish top Belmont to keep pace with Jugglers atop AAA West as Saturday brings a close to a tough week for B.C. high school football programs!

VANCOUVER — Saturday’s two combatants at O’Hagan Field brought one of the most battle-scarred weeks f B.C. high school football to a close.With games being cancelled by extreme weather, injuries and just overall player shortages, noting about the last seven days was a guarantee for all of those involved with simply getting their teams ready […]

John Barsby's Ches Rednour-Bruckman (centre) splits past West Vancouver's Ryan App (left) and Danny Watts during heavy rains which feel over the North Shore Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Blair Shier property of Blair.photo 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Heavy rains mean power football! Says Barsby head coach Rob Stevenson after win over West Van: “The weather was like a 12th player on the field for us”

One of the great beauties of football is the fact that the elements have a way of forcing your hand, of raining down so hard that the message is clear: Strap it up and run.Yet such atmospheric dictates have never, ever backed Nanaimo’s John Barsby Bulldogs (3-1) into a corner, a fact that head coach […]

Special teams and defence carried the day for Simon Fraser as Burnaby Mountain's resident football team travelled to Montana and snapped a seven-game losing streak in impressive fashion. (Photo by Garrett James property of Simon Fraser athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Simon Fraser’s 30-3 win at Montana State Northern ticks all the old-school football boxes from pick-sixes, to blocked punts to goal-line stands!

From the moment Jerrell Cummings and Dayton Ingenhaag combined on a touchdown-saving tackle to stuff a fourth-and-one on the Simon Fraser goal-line on the first drive of the game, you got the feeling Saturday might indeed be a special day for the dedicated but long-suffering fans of the football team from Burnaby Mountain.Turns out it […]

Teams like Campbell River's Carihi Tyees, pictured here from their most recent 2019 season, are among the fabulous 40 which find themselves Top 10-ranked at one of B.C.'s four tiers to start the 2020-21 season. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of photographer 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Volleyball

BC Girls High School Volleyball rankings: The Fab 40 have arrived! Top 10s from all four tiers show South Delta, Mt. Doug, Abby Christian and Unity at the top of the charts!

LANGLEY — From every corner of our vast province, girls high school volleyball programs have been getting back to play over the past month.Finally, we’ve got our first set of Top 10 rankings at all tiers.Here’s the first set of B.C. School Sports girls volleyball rankings for the 2020-21 season.A regular landing spot for rankings […]