Simon Fraser linebacker Griffin Barrett has his own definition of what legacy means to a university football team. (Photo by Paul Yates property of SFU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

A SUNDAY READ: In trying times for Simon Fraser football, an old school linebacker named Griffin Barrett defines legacy through his own actions on Seniors Night!!

BURNABY — He’s survived and thrived through three different coaching regimes with the Simon Fraser Football Team, but on Saturday night, at his home away from home atop Burnaby Mountain, you could say that for the first time, something actually caught up to Griffin Barrett: The pre-game Seniors Night festivities which marked the final home […]

UBC rookie quarterback Garrett Rooker is a harbinger for the future of UBC Thunderbirds football. (Photo by Don Voaklander property of U of Alberta athletics 2021. All rights reserved)
Feature University Football

UBC takes one on the chin in season-opening setback in Alberta, yet the freshman QB-to-WR duo of Rooker and Soriano keeps fires of hope burning!

Garrett Rooker and Jason Soriano are going to put up some big numbers over their five seasons together with the UBC Thunderbirds.It’s a fact which was borne out on the turf at the University of Alberta’s Foote Field Turf on Saturday, where the 1-2 freshman punch of the Texas-raised quarterback Rooker and the former Vancouver […]

Notre Dame's Massimo Ryan helped the Jugglers to a third-straight shutout win Friday over Seaquam at the Lakes. (Photo property of Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

FINAL EDITION: Varsity Letters’ B.C. High School Football Report 09.24.21 Friday Night Lights FINAL Edition!

Welcome to the Friday Night Lights Early edition of Varsity Letter’s B.C. High School Football Report.Please continue to check in with us throughout the course of the evening as we update this posting results from around the province.AAA WESTSEAQUAM 0 at No. 4 NOTRE DAME 42BURNABY — For the third consecutive game, the Notre Dame […]

Simon Fraser football team head coach Mike Rigell. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

4 Questions for Mike Rigell: As SFU football prepares for 2021’s final home game Saturday, the coach chats on WR’s Morrison, Meadors, the defence and Seniors Day!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — Week 4 and Seniors Day are two things that don’t go together in the lexicon of football, yet with summer barely over and the seats at the new SFU Stadium at Terry Fox still squeaky clean, that is the scene which has been set this Saturday night at Terry Fox Field.A curious […]

Longtime former UBC men's and women's soccer coach Dick Mosher will be honoured Saturday at Thunderbird Stadium. (Photo by Adrian Lam property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Soccer

Dick Mosher: UBC soccer set to pay tribute to its late heart-and-soul patriarch with Saturday celebration of life at Thunderbird Stadium

VANCOUVER — Come Saturday afternoon, in a quiet moment, Jesse Symons is sure to hear his own private ringing of a cel phone, and a special voice on the other end with a message he will never forget.“Back in 2019, right after we won the national championship, I got a phone call from him and […]

As he launched the TWU rugby program in 2019, head coach Andrew Evans welcomed South Delta's Caleb van Til into the program. Three years later, Evans has pencilled van Til into the first XV in what will be his debut start at blind-side when the Spartans open the Coastal Cup series as decided underdogs at UBC. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature

4 Questions for Andrew Evans… On the eve of Trinity Western’s first-ever men’s XV match at powerhouse UBC, we talk with the Spartans head coach!

LANGLEY — On Saturday, in a 2:30 p.m. clash at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby centre, the young Trinity Western Spartans men’s rugby team will mark its first match in the inaugural Coastal Cup series as its’ first-ever 15’s meeting with the powerful, tradition-laden UBC Thunderbirds.In advance of that match, Varsity Letters got a hold […]

Prized UBC quarterback recruit Garrett Rooker eyes the scene downfield during throwing drills at UBC's 2021 fall training camp at Thunderbird Stadium. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

UBC Football 2021: Postmarked ‘Texas’, Garrett Rooker emerges from ‘Birds deep talent pool to be named starting quarterback ahead of Saturday’s opener at Alberta!

VANCOUVER — Sometimes, stuff happens that makes you want to thank your lucky stars.For UBC Thunderbirds head football coach Blake Nill, one of those days was May 8 of 2020.“Some days are better than others,” wrote Nill that day on his official Twitter account in announcing that quarterback Garrett Rooker, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound quarterback out […]

After a full season of waiting, the fun starts again for Danielle Steer and the rest of UBC's blue-and-gold-clad women's soccer team. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Soccer

UBC women’s soccer 2021 home opener: When it comes to goals, ‘Birds national MVP striker Danielle Steer takes the wheel and points the way!

VANCOUVER — There was a moment, back in the spring of 2016, when Danielle Steer might have wondered about the direction of the UBC Thunderbirds’ women’s soccer program.A shining Grade 11 youth soccer talent with both Coastal F.C. and her school team at Elgin Park Secondary in Surrey, Steer was in the midst of taking […]

Simon Fraser senior captain Kayla Goncalves loves the spirit of her team and the way its younger players have accepted the challenge of the new GNAC season. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Soccer

Thursday’s GNAC 2021 opener: It’s a youthful re-start atop Burnaby Mountain for SFU women’s soccer, yet coach Hamel says “…We’re one decision, one moment away”

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — Ask Annie Hamel what it’s been like pushing the re-start button on the B.C. women’s collegiate soccer program perhaps most limited since the pandemic’s arrival some 18 months ago, and the Simon Fraser head coach relates a moment early in the team’s preseason.“We wrote on the white board for the coaches ‘PATIENCE’,” […]

Vancouver College running back Tommy Carvaolho (28) finds some open field, eluding the tackle of Carson Graham's linebacker Kyle Carter Sept. 2 at O'Hagan Field. The Irish get back to action at home on Saturday when they face traditional rival St. Thomas More in a AAA Western Conference battle. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

B.C. High School Football Weekend Survival Guide 09.21.21 edition: New rankings welcome AAA Fox, plus Bateman & Langley shake up AA Big 5!

LANGLEY — The Varsity Letters’ Big AAA rankings remain relatively stable, with the Terry Fox Ravens parlaying a 2-0 start and an impressive win against South Delta to move into a spot within the Big 5.The most dramatic movement, however, comes at AA, where Abbotsford’s Robert Bateman Timberwolves and the unranked Langley Thunderbirds each make […]