Local teens make national water polo teams

Four young local water polo players have been selected to wear the maple leaf.

“This is an amazing opportunity for Manitoba athletes to compete at the highest level on the world stage,” David Paz, president of the Manitoba Water Polo Association, said in a statement.

“It’s also exciting for our young athletes to see what is possible and help build a strong future for water polo in Manitoba.”

Jayden Del Campo, an École Secondaire Kelvin High School alumnus who is currently a freshman at McKendree University in Illinois, playing water polo in the NCAA, will play for Team Canada’s 19U squad at the Pan American championships in Bauru, Brazil in September.

Canada Games trials wrap local curling season

Evan Boutet’s Heather team and Ainslee Card of West St. Paul will represent Manitoba in the men’s and women’s divisions of the Canada Games in Quebec City, Que., next February after winning the Canada Games trials on April 19 at the Pembina Curling Club.

Boutet’s team of third Bryce Buchel, second Tiernan Bertrand-Meadows, lead Quinn Lagacé, coach Blaine Malo and assistant coach Deb Popovic took men’s side honours by going 6-0 in round-robin play, which earned them a bye to the final, where they defeated Tyler Graham’s Gimli rink 7-3.

Buchel and Lagacé were members of the Boutet-skipped teams that won CurlManitoba U18 and U20 championships this season. Lagacé also won the Canada Games mixed doubles trials.

In the women’s division, Ainslee Card and her team of third Eva Le Heiget, second Amy Buchalter, lead Skye Spulnick, coach Kelsey Meger, and assistant coach Bryan Buchalter needed a steal on an extra end to defeat Ste. Anne’s Ally Fleming 6-5 in the final.

City golf courses now open

City of Winnipeg golf courses opened for the season on April 25.

Golfers can now book tee times for the Canoe Club, Crescent Drive, Kildonan Park, and Windsor Park golf courses online or by phoning the pro shops or 311.

The city is also offering special rates on green fees at the Canoe Club, Kildonan Park, and Windsor Park golf courses until Saturday, May 9.

Mixed, U-20 mixed doubles champs decided

Colin Kurz of Deer Lodge Curling Club took home the Manitoba mixed curling title on April 12, defeating Austin Peters of Rivers, Man., 9-4 in the final of the weekend tournament at Pembina Curling Club.

Kurz and his team of third Meghan Walter, second Brendan Bilawka and lead Sara Krym put up a perfect 6-0 record on their way to the championship. It was the second provincial win for the quartet, who won the provincial, national and world mixed championships in 2019. They will represent Manitoba at the 2026 national mixed championships in November in Prince Edward Island.

On the same weekend, the Pembina C.C. duo of Eva Le Heiget and Quinn Lagace, coached by Rej Lagace, took home the U-20 mixed doubles championship with 7-4 win over Sierra Smith and Jake Kowalchuk of Gimli, Man. Le Heiget and Lagace also posted a perfect 6-0 record through the championship.

For Lagace, the win was his third provincial title of the year, as he also won the U-18 and U-20 junior men’s championships as a member of the Evan Boutet team.

Rossmere celebrates 75 years this season

As it celebrates 75 years of supporting the community this summer, things have never been better at Rossmere Country Club. General manager Scott Parker said plans are well underway to make the 2026 season a memorable one.

Rossmere began its life as a nine-hole course which opened for play in 1952 on land that once stretched behind what is now the Curtis Hotel. In the late 1950s, the club and the City of East Kildonan traded that section of land for the golf course’s existing location. East Kildonan was planning housing developments and wanted to make Henderson Highway a main thoroughfare.

Rossmere’s 18-hole course was designed by Norman Woods in 1958, who also designed Falcon Lake Golf Course. Woods was a partner of famed golf-course architect Stanley Thompson. It opened for play in 1959, using three holes from the nine-hole layout.

In 1959, plans were approved to build a six-sheet curling rink attached to the clubhouse, which was a donated home that originally stood on the site of Lord Wolseley School at the northeast corner of Henderson Highway and Leighton Avenue. The curling rink opened in 1960 and suspended operations in 2018, when costly repairs to the ice plant proved prohibitive.

Pan Am boxers strike gold in Alberta

Fighters from Winnipeg’s Pan Am Boxing Club posted a strong showing at Boxing Canada’s recent 2026 Canada Cup and U17/U19/U23 national championships in Calgary.

The competition left Dylan Martin, Pan Am’s head coach and manager, excited about what the future holds

Damir Kudosov captured gold in the U19 65-kilogram class. Normally a member of Selkirk’s Maulers Boxing Club, he also trained with Pan Am in the months leading up to the Calgary event. A Ukrainian newcomer to Canada, Kudosov has quickly taken to the sport.

“He did amazing,” Martin said. “He had a great win in the quarter-finals and an extremely challenging fight in the semifinals. He lost focus and got hurt in the first round but came back to win. In the finals, Damir stopped his opponent in the first round.”

Mighty Mila will make you smile

Mila Wright is an eight-year-old Grade 2 student at Tyndall Park Community School, and she really enjoys school.

“My favourite class is physical education because we get to run around and get our energy out,” she explained. “We play a lot of fun games. Trying a lot of different sports is fun too.”

Mila is known by her family as being a little girl who lights up a room when she walks in.

Given her answer to my question about her favourite class, it doesn’t surprise me to hear that Mila is often giggling and will randomly do backflips, making everyone smile. She said she really enjoys being active, and her parents make sure she has an outlet.

Serving the prairies with pride

Four local tennis players recently represented the prairies with pride on the national stage.

Mariya Gedz, Jett Nguyen, Hudson Joseph Van Den Bussche, and Natalina Zappia all qualified to represent Team Prairies at the Tennis Canada Fischer Indoor Junior National Championships at the U16 level.

The event was held at Club de tennis Île des Sœurs, Montreal, Que., from March 22 to 29.

In the U16 boys singles tournament, Nguyen was defeated by ninth-seeded Ilya Sherifali 6-1, 6-0 in the second round. In the U16 boys doubles, Nguyen and Van Den Bussche lost to Milan Grabovica and Eli Thomas Marks 6-4, 6-3 in the round of 32. As well as his doubles appearance with Nguyen, Van Den Bussche was defeated by Simon Stoyanov 6-0, 6-3 in the first round.

So many sports books, so little time

The Children’s Hospital Book Market will be held at the St. Vital Shopping Centre from Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26. It’s hard to believe, but this year will be year 66 for the volunteer-run event that raises funds for the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba through the sale of used books.

The book market always has a special section devoted to sports books, and this columnist will be staffing it from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. on April 24. Stop by to say hello and, more importantly, purchase books. As a reader, collector and historian, I have been adding to my much-to-large personal collection for several decades.

On the opening morning, several collectors will be waiting for the volunteers to uncover the sports books and allow the battles to begin for the treasures. One regular comes for Montreal Canadiens books he doesn’t have. Another goes to the golf section in the hope of finding instructional books that will help his game. Parents ask for recommendations of books that might generate more interest in reading for their athletic children.

The largest section is hockey, and I guarantee it will include at least one copy of Manitoba Hockey: A History, by Vince Leah that was published as a provincial centennial project in 1970 by the Manitoba Hockey Players Foundation. One year I found a copy signed by NHLers Bill Mosienko and Bill Juzda, as well as by the author. A signed copy of Cowboy on Ice, a biography of the colourful former pro Howie Young, often shows up, as it was published in Winnipeg.

One for all

Winnipeg’s United Boxing Club has a special team of young boxers who were well-prepared for the 2026 youth boxing national championships in Calgary last month.

Several fighters came home with medals.

Liam Koppanyi, 16, won a silver in the U19 55-kilogram division. Benjamin Tibbs, a 15-year-old fighting in the U17 52-kilogram class, earned a bronze in his first national event; the only loss for the veteran of just 11 bouts came against someone with more than 40 fights. Kevin Thomas, 18, earned a bronze medal in the 80-kilogram U23 division.

Just 14, Hunter Gagne has quickly reached the national stage and registered a 1-1 record in Calgary. Teammate Sam Ebrahimi-Ich won a silver medal at the Canada Cup, a competition for fighters with less than 10 bouts of experience held concurrently to the youth nationals.

Aiming to make an impact

Emma Elliott is an 18-year-old Grade 12 student at Collège Jeanne-Sauvé.

“School is going well. I’ve focused a lot on my studies this year,” she said. “My favourite class is biology. I find it very interesting and challenging.”

Emma is a multi-sport athlete, who competes for her school in cross-country, flag football, and ultimate frisbee. Her favourite sport, however, has to be basketball.

“I just love competing and I love how fast the game is,” said the 5-9 guard. “I really like how many ways you can impact the game as a player on the court.”

Lancers girls go four for five

The powerhouse Dakota Lancers basketball team avenged its loss in last year’s final AAAA varsity girls’ provincial final by defeating the Vincent Massey Trojans 78-73 on March 23 at the University of Manitoba’s IG Athletic Centre.

Coached by Eric Sung, the Lancers earned their fourth provincial banner in the past five seasons, led by ball-handling Grade 10 guard Quinn Kelly, who scored 25 points, and by star forward Emilie McLean, who scored 19 points and added 23 rebounds.

Uloma Isinguzo scored 18 points for the Trojans, whose balanced attack featured 16 points from Emma Yard and 14 from Ese Imiefo. Massey led 23-19 after the first quarter, but Dakota rebounded to lead 44-40 at the half and 62-58 at the end of the third quarter.

Dakota’s McLean was named the tournament’s most valuable player, while Emma Elliott of Collège Jeanne-Sauvé Olympiens won the players’ choice award.

‘Champions are forever’

The Béliveau Barracudas girls’ hockey team has created its own little piece of history.

The team recently won the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League’s Division 3 title, beating the St. John’s-Ravenscourt Eagles two games to none in the best-of-three final — winning 5-1 at SJR’s Dutton Arena on March 16, and 5-3 at Southdale Community Centre’s east rink on March 17.

It’s the first time the Windsor Park-based team has won an MWHSHL divisional title.

“It’s fantastic,” said Braedan King, the team’s head coach. “The girls worked so hard, right from training camp.”

Glenlawn Lions girls’ win hockey title

The third time was a charm for the Glenlawn Lions girls’ hockey team.

The St. Vital-based team emphatically beat the Vincent Massey Trojans in two straight games to win the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League’s Division1/2 East title.

The Lions beat the Trojans 6-2 at Century Arena on March 17, followed by a 5-1 victory at St. Arena on March 19.

Significantly, the championship win came on the heels of heartbreaking, back-to-back playoff final series losses in 2024 and 2025, to Shaftesbury Titans and CJS Olympiens, respectively.

Speeding ahead

Skylar Van Horne’s junior speedskating career may have just ended, but she’s eagerly anticipating making the jump to the senior circuit for the 2026-27 season.

Van Horne, an 18-year-old who grew up in Bridgwater but moved to Calgary to study and train last fall, wrapped up her junior career in February after a successful final season in the junior ranks. In January, she finished second overall at the Canadian junior championships, which guaranteed her a spot on the Canadian team at the junior world championships in Inzell, Germany.

Van Horne, who races at the 500, 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000-metre distances, registered a couple of top 10s in her individual events and was a member of the Canadian trio that finished third in the team sprint event, setting a Canadian record in the process.

However, the Canadian skaters disqualified for an equipment issue, which left a bad taste, so Van Horne and her teammates set out to prove something when they got back to the training base in Calgary.