Admitting later to massive case of nerves, SFU's Kristie Elliott came up short on this 39-yard field goal try in the first half of Saturday's game at Oregon's Linfield Wildcats. (Photo by Naji Sakir property of Linfield athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

“I’m getting chills…” says Simon Fraser’s Kristie Elliott, after 21-year-old kicker becomes Canada’s first female to score in a university football game!

There is a homespun appeal to Kristie Elliott’s personality that is so endearing, that even on her biggest days, it comes out of her soul and speaks as if a wide-eyed kid at the candy store.Saturday was one of those days for the Simon Fraser football team’s place-kicker.So, how does it feel, she’s asked, to […]

Simon Fraser's fourth-year sophomore slinger Justin Seiber heated up late as a ray lof light at Linfield on Saturday for the winless SFU football team. (Photo property of Linfield athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

As Simon Fraser suffers bleak loss at Linfield, super-soph QB Justin Seiber comes out of mothballs to show he’s still got the shine

Hey Justin Seiber, welcome back.Simon Fraser football fans hearty enough to follow their heroes into the second half of Saturday’s disappointing 56-20 road loss in Oregon to the Div. 3 Linfield Wildcats were no doubt looking for something to hang their hats on.And so amidst the expected fault lines of youth which have clearly been […]

Simon Fraser defensive end Tank Brewster's early sack of Idaho quarterback EJ Jordan produced a fumble that was recovered by SFU linebacker Griffin Barrett. (Photo property of Idaho Vandals' athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

Simon Fraser football season opener: Head coach Mike Rigell candid after young team suffers resounding loss to Div. 1 Idaho Vandals!

Coming off a cancelled season and not having played a game for 658 days, the Simon Fraser football coaching staff knew that Saturday’s maiden test of its 2021 season was going to be like the first day of class in the school of hard knocks.Matched against the toughest foe it will face all season, Div. […]

Simon Fraser guard Christian 'Boots' Butenschoen (66) and the rest of the young Simon Fraser offensive line gets a stern test Saturday when it opens the season on the road against the NCAA Div. 1 FCS Idaho Vandals. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

After a lost 2020 season, Saturday’s kick-off at Idaho can’t come soon enough for ‘Boots’ Butenschoen and Simon Fraser’s young offensive line!

BURNABY — Christian Butenschoen is not buying all of this talk of youth being served along the trenches of perhaps the youngest offensive line in all of NCAA D2 football.“Even though we’re young, the chemistry there is looking good right now,” the team’s 6-foot-3, 290 pound sophomore left guard out of Bellingham High explained earlier […]

Simon Fraser returning quarterbacks Justin Seiber (left) and Brandon Niksich are setting a tone of togetherness as they battle it out for the GNAC team's starting quarterback job. (Photos by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

SFU Football 2021: In its return-to-play GNAC season, classy duelling QB-1s Seiber and Niksich keep shared focus on team fortunes!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — It’s a vast understatement to say that a lot has happened since the last time the football team at Simon Fraser University found itself in the day-to-day preparations associated with the run-up to a season-opening game.It’s also the best way to set the scene for the NCAA’s only non-U.S. school, which as […]

SFU head coach Mike Rigell has listened and learned at every stop along his coaching journey. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

VL Podcast 01.20.21: Simon Fraser head coach Mike Rigell on his football journey from BYU to the sidelines of Terry Fox Field!

LANGLEY — From a college football career at Brigham Young University to an NFL coaching internship under Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy with the Kansas City Chiefs, Mike Rigell has travelled a long and winding road on his journey to becoming the head coach of Simon Fraser University football. Today, Coach Rigell joins the Varsity […]

Simon Fraser football hit the turf Wednesday, opening up with its first on-field session of the fall under new head coach Mike Rigell. The school's new football fieldhouse complex on Terry Fox Field, nearing completion atop Burnaby Mountain, can be seen in the background. (Photo by Jacob Hall property of Simon Fraser athletics 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

No games for Simon Fraser football, but “…it’s like bricks off our shoulders” says SFU coach Mike Rigell of team’s return to Terry Fox Field

BURNABY — A new head coach, a new stadium, a pending new nickname, and of course, in these times of global pandemic, a new reality of uncertainty in the world of collegiate athletics.

A study in determination over his entire four-year Clan career, SFU's Rysen John signed a contract with the NFL's New York Giants on Sunday. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

Rysen John: The Simon Fraser Clan’s pass-catching giant inks contract, set to attend main training camp with the NFL’s New York Giants

BURNABY — Its three-day virtual draft had just ended Saturday afternoon when Rysen John found out that even in these times of global pandemic, nothing has slowed NFL teams from reaching out and finding the best college football talent around.“After the last pick of the draft, I was like, ‘OK, cool,’” said John, the Simon […]

At the age of 42, former BYU Cougars' receiver Mike Rigell was last month named the new interim head coach of Simon Fraser Clan football. (Photo by Jacob Hall property of Simon Fraser athletics 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

A SUNDAY READ: Hailing from a decorated football family tree, new Simon Fraser head coach Mike Rigell hopes to plant deep Burnaby Mountain roots

BURNABY — There is an old saying about how storms can test our ability to stand tall, and in the process help our roots grow deeper.For new Simon Fraser head football coach Mike Rigell, who hails from a football coaching tree which traces its lineage back to some of game’s true greats, such deep-seeded roots […]