Volleyball, slo-pitch inducts members to halls of fame

At its annual awards and hall of fame banquet on June 7, Volleyball Manitoba announced its newest group of hall of fame inductees. Alicia Ogoms was inducted in the athlete category and Grant Wilson and Wilma Fehr were honoured as builders.

Ogoms, who represented Canada internationally for nearly a decade, played for the University of Southern California, Canada’s National Senior Women, and in professional leagues in four countries. Wilson coached the Brandon University Bobcats men to multiple Canada West titles and the U Sports national championship in 2025. Fehr is described as an athletic therapist, coach, mentor and volunteer, who has served the sport for more than 30 years in our province and country.

Slo-Pitch National (SPN) Manitoba will induct one player, one umpire and three builders into its Field of Dreams Hall of Fame later this year. Gary Ellis played slo-pitch softball for more than 30 years, including in countless provincial and several national championships. He later became a SPN umpire. Gerry Hiebert became an umpire for SPN in 2004. He is considered to be one of the top umpires by his peers and has worked in six national championships.

Builder Natasha Sanburn of Thompson, Man., was described as “the eyes and ears of the Northern part of Manitoba” for her 20-plus years of service. Kent Kamenz, who has served 25 years as the regional director of SPN National, finally has accepted his long overdue induction. Leadership, dedication, and passion are words that best describe Kent.

Track and field provincials held

The Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association’s provincial track and field meet was held the weekend of June 12 to 14 at the University of Manitoba Stadium.

Division banners were won by St. Paul’s High School (varsity, junior varsity boys), St. Mary’s Academy (varsity girls), and Sisler High School (junior varsity girls). The AAAA aggregate banner was taken home by Sisler High School.

Garden City Collegiate sprinters took home both the silver and gold medals in the unified 4x100-metre relay, setting a new record with the gold of 53.56 seconds. Dakota Collegiate won gold for the 4x100M varsity boys relay with a time of 43.82 seconds, while St. Mary’s Academy won the varsity girls relay with a 51.41 second time. Garden City won the junior boys varsity relay with a time of 45.69 seconds, while Sisler High School won the girls junior varsity relay, finishing in 52.04 seconds.

Garden City’s Alex Logan set a new record for boys para discus, throwing 19.63 metres. Meanwhile, Kaylee Robbins of Collège Jeanne-Sauvé set a new junior varsity girls record in the qualifying round, throwing 36.11M. For the final, Robbins threw 35.34 to earn the gold medal. Robbins also set a JV girls record for shotput, throwing 13.67M to earn the gold medal. Timi Inumoh of Pembina Trails set a new record for varsity boys 100M hurdles, with a time of 13.19 seconds.

Feeling the soccer love

Two high school soccer teams — one in southeast Winnipeg and the other in the West End — have been kicking up a storm recently.

That’s because the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association’s AAAA provincial soccer championships were held on the first weekend of June.

In the girls’ championship game, Centre scolaire Léo-Rémillard beat Kelvin High School 5-2, while Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute defeated West Kildonan Collegiate 2-1 in the boys’ championship game.

It’s the second year in a row the Renards have brought home the championship banner in the girls’ category. And the fact it was also a finalist two seasons ago is a testament to the legacy everyone involved with the team is creating.

Harbour View in review

I was picking up some auto parts for my kid’s car the other day in sunny Transcona, and while driving home along Springfield Road, I saw the gate for Harbour View Golf Course. I have fond memories of attending many weddings and a few retirement parties in the Icelandic themed social facilities. However, I had never golfed the course that surrounds the facilities and the adjacent man-made lake. Since I had time on my hands this day, I decided it was as good a day as any.

While parking, I noticed an ATCO trailer in the lot. A foreboding sign of what I would experience later. There was no one in the trailer, and no signage, so I continued down the path. Passing the lawn bowling green on the right, I noticed the fenced off remains of the aforementioned social buildings. Time has not been kind to these buildings, and basement design flaws have allowed the fake lake to do what water often does to buildings. Flooding and mould concerns have condemned the lot and they are now slated for demolition. As I walked along the fence line, I noticed another small building on top of a small hill with a sign for #1 tee. I thought this was the club house. It was not. I was told by the starter to go back to the condemned fence line, and go to a little building on the edge that was not within the fence’s perimeter. This turned out to be the clubhouse. I asked if the washroom was close, and the attendant said no. He then directed be to some portable facilities back down the path by the parking lot. Joy. If you have trouble walking a full game, this course may not be for you, as there are no motorized carts available, and the course does have some small elevation changes.

Returning to the starter for the second time, I noticed some of this course’s additional, if few, amenities. There is a mini-put course, a driving range, and a practice green. All of these surround the first tee. After the starter cleared me, I was off. This course is a par 3 course, and the first hole is 100 metres of simple, straightaway golf. It is too bad, from a teaching point of view; if you are out there with someone learning the game, this would be a great second or third hole to practice on and let other players play through. The second hole is simple in design as well, but it is almost double the length. Some challenge comes on hole three, as the fairway and green elevate from the tee. Hole four, the day I played it, had an interesting hill with a sand trap on top partially obscuring the base of the green. Right of the green is an abnormally large grassed embankment that if you sliced into, your ball would likely roll right back onto the green.

The fifth hole is the shortest, and it is a downhill roll. Watch your club selection, as you can easily overdrive the green, and water finally shows up as a behind-the-dance-floor hazard. I found most of the greens had some damage here and there, but the damage of this hole was very noticeable. The walk to hole six is very picturesque, and there’s lots of local geese in residence enhancing your views of the waters.

Breaking barriers in hockey

Winnipeg sports-lovers are working to start a queer hockey league in the city that’s accessible and not defined by traditional hockey norms.

The trio of founders — Key Caguioa, Brie Villeneuve, and Victor Selby — officially launched Prairie Pride Hockey League on June 5.

The group was inspired by the PWHL city takeover event where the Montreal Victoire and Ottawa Charge played in Winnipeg on March 22.

“We’re still coming down off the high from the launch,” laughed Caguioa. “It’s unreal. I can’t believe we did it in that short amount of time.”

“Try your best and you can win”

Grant Hrehirchuk is a 15-year-old Grade 9 student at River East Collegiate.

“School is good,” Grant said. “My favourite class is science.”

Grant loves sports. He plays hockey, soccer, baseball, and basketball.

“I am most focused on hockey and it is my favourite sport, too,” he said. “I like to do my goal cellies. I play forward because I like to score. Coach Halle in hockey is the best. Coach Faith at soccer is great, too. I like when she does the warm up. I hope to keep playing all the sports I love to play.”

Local football players get a taste of the big leagues

Two Winnipeg Rifles hope their Canadian Football League training camp experience with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will have them locked and loaded for the 2026 Canadian Junior Football League season. Linebacker Cohen McCluskey and receiver Jarome Penner earned the coveted invitations with strong junior performances in 2025.

Penner was a First Team All-Canadian in 2025, thanks to 40 receptions for 794 yards and three touchdowns in eight games. Despite missing three games, McCluskey registered 26 tackles, one sack and one interception. He holds the Rifles record with three interceptions in a 2024 game.

“The off-season was about two months shorter because Bomber camp starts in May rather than Rifles starting in July, so I had to shorten up all my training blocks,” Penner, a Dakota Collegiate alumnus, explained. “I focused mainly on transferring my strength into speed and power and being more efficient.”

“I was told by (head coach) Geordie (Wilson) this offseason to be ready because it might be happening, so I trained all offseason after recovering from my shoulder injury just on my own,” McCluskey added.

Lions leaving lacrosse legacy

The girls’ lacrosse team at Glenlawn Collegiate recently finished its season in style – and will leave a lasting legacy.

Now in its fourth year in the program, the St. Vital-based team won its first Manitoba High School Field Lacrosse League division 1 championship, beating Sturgeon Heights Collegiate 8-7 on June 14 at Shaughnessy Park Field.

Grade 12 student Vayda Rigaux, a midfielder, said as the season — which started in April — progressed, she started to believe the Lions could go all the way and win the title, adding that in the championship game the team went two goals up with a couple of minutes to go, so it was a case keeping hold of possession until the final whistle.

“It feels great,” said Rigaux, 18, who was preparing to graduate at press time. “It definitely means a lot to us to be champions at the end of the season. This honestly makes it harder to leave high school now … because of all the people I’ve met and all the fun and success I’ve had.”

Olympiens bring home softball bronze

The Collège Jeanne-Sauvé Olympiens won the bronze medal at the Manitoba High School Athletics Association’s provincial softball championship on June 6, defeating Vincent Massey (Brandon) 3-2.

The Olympiens beat Hamiota 8-3 to advance to the semifinals, where the team lost 10-0 to the eventual champion Stonewall team. Olympiens Linnae Johnson and Brooklyn Millroy were also named to the provincial all-star team.

Local boxer gaining international experience

Isaiah Rock came home from his first two international bouts with valuable lessons he knows will make him a better boxer in the future.

In February, Rock, 23, represented Team Canada at BoxAm in La Nucía, Alicante, Spain, a tournament featuring boxers with Olympic experience. Matched against the seasoned Kazakh fighter Nurzat Ongarov, a former BoxAm medalist, Rock lost a decision, but learned plenty.

“I didn’t know who I was going to fight, but I pictured it in my head,” the West End resident said. “I imagined it would be super uncomfortable and incredibly fast-paced. I overdid it a bit, but generally handled it well.

“At that level, the smallest things really matter,” he added. “The experience plays a role on the international level. I learned that my skills work there, that I can handle the moment. Even when I was about to fight, I felt nothing. It was just a job I had to do.”

A look at Manitoba’s best soccer teams

Over the next five-plus weeks, the FIFA World Cup will be front and centre in the sports world. Forty-eight teams will play 104 matches in the international competition being played in Canada, USA and Mexico. For most of the world, it’s a football championship. For North Americans, the sport is soccer.

In this week’s column, let’s first deal with the terminology for the world’s most popular sport. Both terms are correct with soccer first used in Great Britain as a shortening for association football. Rugby football was called rugger. In the United States, a sport called gridiron football combined elements from association football and rugby. That’s the sport Americans and Canadians now call football. When a Winnipeg team won its first Grey Cup in 1935, the team now called the Blue Bombers was officially the Winnipeg Rugby Football Club.

Now seems to be an appropriate time for Memories of Sport to remember our province’s best soccer teams. In 1999, the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inducted its first soccer team, the 1954 Army Navy Air Force Scottish. The ANAF squad won the provincial title by beating United Weston and Germania, then defeated Port Arthur United and Hamilton British Imperials to reach the national championship. In the best-of-three series against Vancouver North Shore United, Scottish won the first game 3-2. In the second match, 22-year-old keeper Walter Norget led Scottish to a 3-0 victory. Centre Jimmy Pines and centre-half George James, who had played in the First Division in Scotland, were the leaders of the eleven.

In 2004, when the HOF held its first special veterans induction, five teams from the past were recognized. In 1913, the Norwood Wanderers Football Club from St. Boniface won the first Dominion of Canada (national) championship beating teams from Montreal, Toronto, and Fort William. The Wanderers repeated the next season in the four-team Challenge Cup tournament. In 1915, Winnipeg Scottish beat the eastern rep Toronto Lancashire to bring the title to our province for the third straight year. The teams first played to a 0-0 draw before Scottish won the second match 6-1. George Mair and Charles Forsyth both scored twice and William Corrie and Jock Anderson added singles.

J.H. Bruns student stays focused on the pitch

Alessa Guzzi is a 15-year-old Grade 9 student at J.H. Bruns Collegiate.

“School is good,” Guzzi said. “I have great grades and great friends. My favourite class is science. I am very interested in biology.”

Alessa has always been very active and locked on to her favourite sport since a very young age.

“I have been fully focused on soccer since I started playing when I was three,” she said. “I started playing club soccer at U9 at Bonivital Soccer Club.”

Glenlawn wins big at high school pickleball championships

Two pairs of Glenlawn students recently served up success at the Pickleball Manitoba high school championships.

On May 14 at The Picklr Winnipeg South (262 Commerce Dr.), the pairing of Carlos Mendez and Jayden Lalla won gold in the boys’ doubles category. In girls’ doubles, Jessie DeCraene and Addisyn Courchaine won silver.

In the competitive divisions, there were 29 pairings in the boys category, 25 in the girls, and 10 in the mixed doubles.

“It feels good,” Mendez, 17 said. “We’ve been working really hard and going every week to play pickleball.”

Club volleyball champs crowned

Volleyball Manitoba held its 2026 club volleyball championship tournaments on four successive weekends from mid-April through the beginning of May.

On the weekend of April 17 to 19, the 14U boys and girls tournaments were held in Winnipeg and Niverville. The winners were:

14U girls – 1) Jr. Bisons Gold; 2) WinMan Storm; 3) WinMan Waves.

14U boys – 1) WinMan Bolts; 2) WinMan Ice; 3) Jr. Pilots.