Back in 2009, New West Hyacks assistant coach Ryan Leslie (left) poses with his infant son Liam, as does head coach Farhan Lalji and his baby son Lukas. (Hyacks football photo)
Feature High School Football University Football

Surgery leaves former Hyacks coach and UBC football player Ryan Leslie in a battle with paralysis

Ryan Leslie, a former UBC Thunderbirds football player and New Westminster Hyacks coach, underwent surgery last week to remove an infection near his spine.

New Westminster's Grace Fetherstonhaugh bettered her former meet-record time of a year ago this past Saturday in the 2,000m steeplechase at SFU's Emilie Mondor Invite. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
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A steep chase for Grace? Hyacks’ Oregon State-bound Fetherstonhaugh sets a sky-high steeplechase bar

BURNABY — Grace Fetherstonhaugh has got the first one out of the way. Now she hopes the path just keeps getting smoother as she attempts to round into the kind of form which will help carry her to the No. 1 goal of her senior season.

Heritage Woods' Breona Martin (left) contends with the defence of Kelowna's Rachel Hare during opening-round action at the 2018 B.C. senior girls AAA basketball championships. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

02.28.18: Complete Day 1 reports from the B.C. senior girls AAA basketball championships

We’ve got reports from all eight games played in the opening round of the B.C. senior girls AAA basketball championship draw, but first a look at Friday’s championship draw:

With both teams still in a state of shock Dec. 2 at B.C. Place Stadium, New Westminster's Severio Asaba shakes hands with the Terry Fox Ravens. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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Varsity Letters’ 2017 Story of the Year: Severio Asaba and the New Westminster Hyacks

NEW WESTMINSTER — Deep down inside, he always knew that he was reaching for something. If Severio Asaba could best describe what that was, he might call it his wildest dreams, the kind of stuff so precious that it will never fall into just any old pair of waiting hands.

New Westminster's Matthew Lalim (9) made a key catch during the team's 80-yard game-winning Subway Bowl 2017 championship drive Saturday at BC Place. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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Hail the Hyacks: Improbable, last-ditch 80-yard drive lifts New West past Terry Fox for its first-ever AAA Subway senior varsity title

VANCOUVER — It came out of nowhere, and if you ask the winners, just in time, too. For them, it unfolded like a dream, so many seemingly odds-stacked moments joining hands, becoming a chain which kept pulling them in a single, unified direction.

Friends and opposing Subway Bowl starting quarterbacks? You bet! New Westminster's Kinsale Philip (left) and Jevaun Jacobsen of Terry Fox celebrate their shared gridiron brotherhood. (Varsity Letters photos by Howard Tsumura)
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Jevaun and Kinsale: Subway Bowl’s two opposing quarterback linked by friendship, respect for the game they love

VANCOUVER — Last week, before each went to battle, they took the time to send the other an inspirational text. It’s risky business to predict outcomes, especially at this time of the season.

Terry Fox head coach Martin McDonnell (left, foreground) and injured running back Jaden Severy (right, foreground) watch Saturday as running back Cade Cote dargs St. Thomas More tacklers Michael Simone (10) and Joel Pielak during Subway Bowl semifinal Saturday at BC Place Stadium. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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Group hug steels Hyacks defence for fourth down stop, New West tops Sun Devils for first-ever Subway varsity berth

(Note — our report from the final of five Subway Bowl games on Saturday between St. Thomas More and Terry Fox will appear here on Sunday)VANCOUVER — Schematics and play-calling will never cease to be at the top of any list when it comes to last second execution on the football field. On Saturday night, in […]

The Hyacks who have toiled in the trenches this season have played a huge role in the team's success. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS SPECIAL: No. 1 Hyacks hunker down for Saturday Final 4 battle with Sun Devils

NEW WESTMINSTER — If the New Westminster Hyacks have shown anything this season, it’s that they have the depth, the belief and all of the pieces to play football their way. That said, the No. 1 Hyacks are not over-thinking anything, especially if it means getting into a game of chess with their opponents in Saturday’s […]

New Westminster running back Sammy Sidhu powers his way across the goal line in front of Mt. Douglas defensive back Connor Clarke as the Subway Bowl AAA quarterfinals opened at Mercer Stadium. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
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Super Sammy lifts Hyacks with grinder’s mentality, No. 1 New West tops No. 5 Mt. Douglas for Subway Final 4 berth

NEW WESTMINSTER —You’ve got to first be a grinder if you want to be a game-breaker. If you needed proof of what is surely a playoff football axiom, you saw it as the second half of the 2017 Subway Bowl quarterfinal clash between Victoria’s Mt. Douglas Rams and the host New Westminster Hyacks unfolded on Friday at […]