On a team filled with talented Grade 11 players, St. Thomas More point guard Tarrence Booker is one of the big reasons that Burnaby's Knights sit at No. 6 in the B.C. Triple-A rankings. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

St. Thomas More’s Tarrence Booker: Through his basketball bloodlines & Knights’ hoop traditions, Grade 11 point guard gains deeper appreciation for the game!

BURNABY — At the age of 16, you could say that the pages of Tarrence Booker’s basketball life are just now being written.Yet engage the St. Thomas More Collegiate Grade 11 point guard on any number of topics, both on and off the court, and it becomes pretty clear that he’s already a few chapters […]

St. Thomas More's Sebastian Gorrie sacks Vancouver College quarterback Finn Teasdale, forcing the Irish to kick a short field late in the third quarter of Subway Bowl B.C. AAA Coastal junior varsity final. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Coach Dave Ruzycki gets a hero’s send-off! STM coach ends 20-year career with Subway Bowl B.C. junior AAA Coastal title after win over Fighting Irish!

VANCOUVER — The championship photo had been taken under the goal posts at B.C. Place Stadium on Saturday, and that’s when St. Thomas More’s Subway Bowl B.C. junior AAA Coastal championship final was official.Wait, not until virtually every player on the squad came over to offer a hug to the Knights’ longtime head coach Dave […]

St. Thomas More Knights senior boys basketball coach Aaron Mitchell. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2020. All Rights Reserved)
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Tip-off Wednesday: B.C. high school basketball is back, and minutes after news breaks, we catch up with six of our veteran coaches!

B.C. high school basketball coaches could barely contain their excitement Tuesday evening as they spoke with Varsity Letters just minutes after the official decision came down that B.C. high school basketball’s delayed opening was over, and that tip-off around the province would take place on Wednesday.“They have been waiting to go now for weeks,” said […]

There are still tickets available to attend the Rich Goulet celebration of life on Nov. 7 in Pitt Meadows. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Rich Goulet Celebration: Still plenty of available tickets to honour late B.C. high school coaching great on Nov. 7 in Pitt Meadows!

PITT MEADOWS — If you are still interested in attending next month’s ‘Celebrating the Wonderful Life of Richard ‘Rich’ Goulet’ event, being held in honour of the late, great B.C. high school basketball coach, there is still plenty of room available.The Nov. 7 gathering for the Pitt Meadows Marauders and St. Thomas More Knights head […]

Vancouver College running back Tommy Carvalho carries against the backdrop of a packed O'Hagan Field crowd Saturday in Vancouver. (Photo property of Bernie Crump 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

Fighting Irish vs. Knights: A traditional rivalry gets gleaming treatment! Fall high school football’s full spectacle comes to O’Hagan Field as 2,500 watch No. 1 Van College blank STM!

VANCOUVER — A three-game season-opening homestand at its own O’Hagan Field couldn’t have felt more like, well… home, sweet home for the defending B.C. AAA champion and No. 1-ranked Vancouver College Fighting Irish.Yet within the guts of a 32-0 win Saturday over one of its true traditional rivals, Burnaby’s St. Thomas More Knights, the Irish […]

The G.W. Graham defence was kept on red alert by the host St. Thomas More Knights late in Saturday's AAA clash in Burnaby. (Photo by Michelle Hewitt property of GW Graham athletics athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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09.11.21 B.C. High School Football Report: Saturday night FINAL edition features wins by G.W. Graham, South Delta and Rutland!

LANGLEY — Welcome to the Saturday night final edition of the B.C. high school football report.Our season-opening one-day grace period for Friday night games in Week 1 allows us to publish a total of three game reports today.SATURDAYG.W. GRAHAM 14 at ST. THOMAS MORE 12BURNABY — The G.W. Graham Grizzlies varsity team, in its 10th […]

From a title in 2019 to a No. 1 ranking to start 2021, head coach Todd Bernett and Vancouver College maintain their spot atop the B.C. high school football world. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Varsity Letters’ Big 5 Triple A high school football rankings: ‘Look up, look wayyy up’ at No. 1 Vancouver College and No. 2 Mt. Douglas!

LANGLEY — Back in the late 1960s, at my home in a rural part of North Delta, I’d watch a kid’s show on the CBC called ‘The Friendly Giant’ in which the title character, made to look larger than life by a simple upwards camera pan, would ask his young viewers to ‘Look up… wayyyy […]

Simon Fraser volleyball will return just two seniors for a hopeful 2021-22 GNAC season, and setter Julia Tays (left) and libero Bianca Te have epitomized the character and leadership needed to endure what may well be a near two-year span of inactivity due to the global pandemic. (Photos by Paul Yates property of Simon Fraser athletics 2021. Photo graphic created by Gabriel Lynn. All Rights Reserved.)
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Senior Service: Over a season that never was, Simon Fraser’s duo of Tays and Te kept character at the fore for the sake of the future!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — Bianca Te and Julia Tays never doubted they would finish what they started.Yet the two lone returning seniors with the Simon Fraser women’s volleyball team never figured that the toughest test of their NCAA careers atop Burnaby Mountain would be defined by their response to the day-in, day-out grind of not playing.In […]

Terrell Jana of the Virginia Cavaliers brings a pair of sure hands to the CFL next season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. (Photo by Matt Riley property of University of Virginia media relations 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football University Football

CFL Draft 2021: A true purist’s receiver, STM grad Jana puts his hands to an ‘instrumental’ test as he prepares for rookie season with ‘Riders!

As a budding musician, Terrell Jana has discovered that striking a chord or two has not only helped relax his mind, but keep his hands dexterous and strong in his endless pursuit of catching the football.Taken on the whole, it’s just another example of the purist’s approach the Burnaby native and Virginia Cavaliers receiver will […]

A target to rely on, Virginia receiver Terrell Jana's laser focus made him one of the most sure-handed receivers in all of college football the past two seasons. (Photo by Pete Emerson property of University of Virginia media relations 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football University Football

STMC’s Terrell Jana: As draft week arrives, sure-handed Virginia receiver leaves a legacy as a giver en route to his pro football future!

He has helping hands.That’s the best way to describe, in both the literal and figurative sense, the essence of Terrell Jana, who on the eve of both the NFL and CFL drafts, is every bit as much a giver as he is as receiver, and that’s saying a lot when you’re talking about a guy […]