Sage Stobbart has carved out her niche as one of the top defenders in the Big West Conference. (Photo by Mark Honbo property of UC Davis athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball University Women's Basketball

Sage Stobbart: Seycove’s former B.C. AA MVP turns her shot-blocking/three-point shooting skills into a sweet science with D1 UC Davis Aggies!

As an environmental sciences major at UC Davis, Sage Stobbart is gaining an ecological understanding that makes her feel more at home than ever in the great outdoors.Yet ask the redshirt junior forward about the other side of her life as a student-athlete, that of the agile and versatile 6-foot-3 junior forward with the Aggies’ […]

Walnut Grove's Kiera Pemberton glides through the paint against Duncan's Cowichan Thunderbirds during 2019 B.C. Quad-A tournament at the LEC. (Photo by Dan Kinvig property of University of the Fraser Valley athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

15 Players to Watch in 2021-22: Meet Quad’s A’s blue-chip stars, a crop of (mostly) well-seasoned rising seniors with the itch to play!

LANGLEY — Today, we wrap up a week of looking ahead to next season with 15 B.C. Quad-A senior girls basketball players to watch for the 2021-22 season.The list was prepared by the B.C. Secondary Schools Girls Basketball Association. Varsity Letters did not take part in the player selection.QUAD AKIERRA BLUNDELLKIERRA BLUNDELLSchool: Brookswood (Langley)In 2021-22: […]

Kalie Saari (left) and Jayse Matonovich of Kamloops' Sa-Hali Sabres welcome one and all to the debut of the 15 Players to Watch next season in B.C. senior girls AAA basketball. (Photo by Jody Vosper property of Sa-Hali Secondary athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

15 Players to Watch in 2021-22: B.C. girls Triple-A basketball has its greatest strengths centred around its Class of 2023 and beyond!

LANGLEY — From an organic standpoint, it’s B.C. high school girls basketball’s most unique tier. Very quickly, however, it’s beginning to gain its own identity.With the recent switch to a four-tiered province, the former top tier — AAA — has become a melting pot of sorts, a new home with both holdover programs and those […]

In 1972, Steve Pettifer worked out in the Langara Gym for an audience which included then-national team head coach Jack Donohue. (Photo courtesy Steve Pettifer)
Feature Podcast

VL Podcast 03.03.21: Centennial’s Steve Pettifer reflects on playing days at SFU and UBC, and a 40-year high school coaching career!

Welcome to the Varsity Letters podcast. There is no better time than this week, one traditionally reserved for the B.C. senior girls basketball championships, to catch up with former Centennial head coach Steve Pettifer, who in the last 1980s, led the Centaurs to five straight provincial Final Fours, including a pair of titles. Pettifer, brought […]

Seycove's Brianna Norman, a rising senior ahead of the 2021-22 season, is one of the players to watch next season in the B.C. senior AA ranks. (Photo by Sean Clancy property of Seycove athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

15 players to watch in 2021-22: B.C. girls basketball Double-A ranks filled with a class of rising senior talent

LANGLEY — Based on the tier’s senior Class of 2020, a group filled with as much dynamic talent as we’ve perhaps ever seen, the Double-A girls Class of 2o22 has a lot to live up to.Yet consider all of the senior varsity experience they have already accumulated and the betting money says they won’t disappoint.Day […]

You can re-watch the Britannia Bruins and Langley Christian Lightning in their 2020 B.C. AA title clash this week. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Tsumura: Join me for the LEC’s Must-See-TV! Tune in Tuesday to Saturday for classic re-plays of B.C. senior girls, junior boys championship finals!

LANGLEY — Last season, observers labelled the 2020 B.C. junior boys championship final between St. Pat’s and Sir Winston Churchill one of the best high school basketball games they had ever seen… at any level.How about that classic, as well as a huge helping of some of the best recent B.C. senior girls basketball championship […]

B.C. high school basketball's annual finale has fallen strangely silent this season. Nonetheless, Varsity Letters is determined to celebrate the spirit of March Madness. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

Welcome to March Madness! Varsity Letters tips it all off Monday as we begin the four-day countdown of B.C.’s Top Girls Players to Watch in 2021-22!

Welcome to March Madness!While we all recognize our shared fortune in being able to complete last season’s 2019-20 B.C. boys and girls basketball championships just days ahead of the global pandemic’s arrival, there is, of course, the disappointing reality of having this season’s provincial tournaments cancelled.And although any kind of virtual celebration of our yearly […]

Karn Dhillon (left) who has reffed in parts of the last six decades posed at KitsFest with the late Felix Gonzales. Dhillon eulogizes his friend, who passed suddenly this week, remembering him for his huge heart and his love for his family. (Photo by Tim Braund property of Tim Braund Photography 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature Podcast

VL Podcast 02.24.21: Veteran referee Karn Dhillon, who reflects on the sudden passing of friend Felix Gonzalez, speaks to the tight-knit bond of BC’s hoops community

Welcome to the latest edition of the Varsity Letters podcast. Today we chat with longtime basketball referee Karn Dhillon on a variety of topics spanning a career that began not too soon after he graduated from Vancouver’s Sir Winston Churchill in the late 1970s. Dhillon also eulogizes his friend, longtime and well-loved referee Felix Gonzalez […]

If Utah Valley's Fardaws Aimaq can maintain his current pace and win the NCAA Div. 1 rebounding title, he would have the highest average since the late 1970s. (Photo by Jay Drowns, property of Utah Valley University Marketing 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

Richmond’s rebounder for the ages: A craving for caroms has Utah Valley’s Fardaws Aimaq treading on historic NCAA Div. 1 hardwood!

As the NCAA men’s Div. 1 regular season draws towards its completion, the microscope trained one of B.C.’s high school basketball’s most remarkable grads has continued to intensify.Yet nothing is slowing down the per-game rebounding average of former Steveston-London grad Fardaws Aimaq, the 6-foot-11, 260-pound redshirt sophomore centre with the Utah Valley Wolverines.With four more […]

The work towards selecting the BC Secondary Schools Football Association All-Decade teams from the 1930s through the present day, is just beginning. A certain Pittsburgh Steelers receiver, however, is sure to be among those honoured this coming season.
Feature High School Football

The All-Time Dream Teams of B.C. High School Football: BCSSFA wants your help in selecting our best teams, by the decade, since the 1930s!

The longest championship streak in provincial high school sports history was snapped this past fall at 86 straight years.Ever since King Edward won the first B.C. high school football title in 1934, a gridiron champ has been crowned in our province.Thankfully, those behind the scenes at the B.C. Secondary Schools Football Association are trying to […]