Troy Westwood

Troy Westwood

Westwood's Sports Heroes

Former Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker Troy Westwood writes about Winnipeg’s unsung sports heroes every other week in the Canstar Community News weeklies.

Recent articles of Troy Westwood

Keeping her sporting options open

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

Keeping her sporting options open

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Wednesday, Mar. 29, 2023

Lainey Harding is a 12-year-old Grade 6 student at École George-McDowell.

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Wednesday, Mar. 29, 2023

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Lainey Harding plays volleyball, hockey and soccer and says she hasn’t yet decided which sport she might pursue seriously.

Meet a young goalie with lofty goals

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

Meet a young goalie with lofty goals

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Wednesday, Mar. 15, 2023

Kaia Sigurdson is a 14-year-old, Grade 9 student who attends Shaftesbury High School.

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Wednesday, Mar. 15, 2023

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Kaia Sigurdson attends Shaftesbury High School and plays goalie with The Rink Hockey Academy.

Young Thrasher aims to fly high

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

Young Thrasher aims to fly high

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, Mar. 1, 2023

Ed Salay is a 14-year-old Grade 9 student at Garden City Collegiate, a very hard-working and strong hockey player.

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Wednesday, Mar. 1, 2023

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Ed Salay, who played this season for the U15 Thrashers-White, has his sights set on playing hockey at the highest-possible level.

At home on the rink and in the fairway

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

At home on the rink and in the fairway

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023

Gavin Carver is a 14-year-old, Grade 9 student who attends St. Paul’s High School.

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Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023

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Gavin Carver enjoys hockey and golf but is determined to try to earn a golf scholarship to a U.S. college.

A balanced approach is best

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

A balanced approach is best

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023

Julian Antonation is a very impressive and insightful 17-year-old, Grade 11 student at Westgate Mennonite Collegiate.

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Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023

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Julian Antonation is a 17-year-old, Grade 11 student at Westgate Mennonite Collegiate.

Young soccer player aims to be the best

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

Young soccer player aims to be the best

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023

Romeo Ribeiro is an eight-year-old Grade 4 student at Oak Bluff Community School, where he is a very good student who is kind and respectful to other students and to his teachers.

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Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023

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Romeo Ribeiro hopes that practising with his four sisters will help him develop his soccer skills.

Two-sport athlete dreams big

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

Two-sport athlete dreams big

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023

Josh Caspillo is a 14-year-old Grade 9 student at Collège Jeanne-Sauvé.

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Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023

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Josh Caspillo goes up for a shot while playing with Collège Jeanne-Sauvé’s junior varsity basketball team.

Watch out Luka, here comes Bepo

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

Watch out Luka, here comes Bepo

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022

Bepo Malbasa is a seven-year-old Grade 2 student at Const. Edward Finney School.

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Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022

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Bepo Malbasa poses in the colours of the Croatian national soccer team in front of the family Christmas tree.

Young hockey player is on a mission

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

Young hockey player is on a mission

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Monday, Dec. 12, 2022

Mateo Saldivar is a 12-year-old student at the Starbuck Hockey Academy at Starbuck School.

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Monday, Dec. 12, 2022

She’ll tumble for ya

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

She’ll tumble for ya

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022

Emily Miller is nine years old and attends Forest Park Community School, where she is in Grade 4.

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Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022

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Nine-year-old Emily Miller does gymnastics at the Keystone Kips club and harbours dreams of one day competing at the Olympic Games.

This little soccer player has a dream…

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

This little soccer player has a dream…

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022

Lucas Kwiatkowski is a seven-year-old Grade 2 student at St. Alphonsus School, where he says his favourite class is gym.

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Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022

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Lucas Kwiatkowski loves playing soccer with his team, the Honey Badgers, and his father, Mike.

Kamenz shows his strong side for Rifles

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

Kamenz shows his strong side for Rifles

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022

Brandon Kamenz is a 21-year-old SAM linebacker in his fourth year with the Winnipeg Rifles junior football team, which plays in the Prairie Conference of the Canadian Junior Football League.

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Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022

Budding star sounds like a coach’s dream

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

Budding star sounds like a coach’s dream

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022

Max George is a 13-year-old who attends the Starbuck Hockey Academy at Starbuck School.

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Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022

Max George plays centre for the U15 AAA Winnipeg Wild Gold.

Player, captain, coach, ref… this girl’s got game

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

Player, captain, coach, ref… this girl’s got game

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 28, 2022

Brooke McNab is a 15-year-old Grade 10 student at J. H. Bruns Collegiate who plays soccer with the Bonivital U15 girls.

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Wednesday, Sep. 28, 2022

Brooke McNab is captain of the Bonivital U15 girls soccer team, and also coaches and referees the sport.

Always be confident in yourself

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

Always be confident in yourself

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2022

Nicholas Parrott is a 17-year-old Grade 12 student at Churchill High School. Away from school, he spends a lot of time training for and playing his two favourite sports — basketball and football.

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Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2022

Nicholas Parrott is a Grade 12 student at Churchill High School who hopes to earn a university football or basketball scholarship.

Young offensive lineman all-in for championship run

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

Young offensive lineman all-in for championship run

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022

Sean Rowe is a 17-year-old going into Grade 12 at Dakota Collegiate.

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Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022

Sean Rowe is 6-foot-5, 305 pound tackle on the offensive line for the Dakota Lancers football team.

For the love of the game

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

For the love of the game

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022

Leju James is a 15-year-old soon to be going into Grade 10 at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute. Leju is an exceptional student who has made the honour roll for the last two years.

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Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022

Leju James, 15, attends Daniel McIntyre Collegiate and plays soccer for the FC Northwest U16 team. An excellent student, he dreams of playing soccer professionally someday.

Rebels captain stays focused

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

Rebels captain stays focused

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022

Prabh Bhathal is a 13-year-old getting ready to enter Grade 8 at St. John’s Ravenscourt. Along with being a very good student, he is proving himself an exceptional young hockey player, too.

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Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022

Prabh Bhathal, who was captain of his AA Rebels team last season, works hard to b e his best on and off the ice.

For the love of the game

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

For the love of the game

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, Jul. 20, 2022

Lukas Bladon is a 15-year-old student at Kelvin High School who is enjoying the summer as he prepares to start grade 10.

“Grade 9 was really good,” he said. “I really enjoyed Kelvin. Overall the teachers were great at helping us and educating us. They did a great job of helping to make the experience fun.”

Lukas is an athletic young man who has tried and enjoys a number of sports, but he does have one sport that stands out as his favourite.

“I have been playing tennis since I was eight years old. The way I got into it was that my mom had a Leisure Guide and we were looking through it. We saw Taylor Tennis and decided to give it a try.”

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Wednesday, Jul. 20, 2022

Lukas Bladon is a promising young tennis player who says he plays the game to enjoy it — and to beat his dad.

Watch out world, here comes Kaiiana

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

Watch out world, here comes Kaiiana

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, Jul. 6, 2022

Kaiiana Olivier-Job is three years old and already showing promising signs of being a dedicated student and athlete. Asked to name one of her favourite books, Kaiiana said, with authority “Peter Rabbit!”

She has the entire Peter Rabbit collection and it is not unusual for her to be cuddled up in mom’s or dad’s arms reading her favourite book.

What the future holds athletically for this young lady is still yet to be known, but if mom and dad are any indication, Kaiiana is going to find something she loves to do and become very good at it. Mom Nicole is well known in the Winnipeg squash community, playing at a provincial level and she’s even competed in a number of professional matches in local tournaments. Dad Tevin is a university-level basketball and soccer player who can still be seen out on a court or soccer pitch in our city.

Kaiiana has taken to football and has lots of fun watching games with mom and dad. It is not unusual, while watching a game, for her to scream “You gotta catch it man!” or “Touchdown!”

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Wednesday, Jul. 6, 2022

Kaiiana Olivier-Job can’t wait to start training in the gym with her daddy.

Perseverance pays off with pro contract

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Preview

Perseverance pays off with pro contract

Troy Westwood 3 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 22, 2022

Matthieu Gomercic is a 24-year-old hockey player from Winnipeg who recently graduated with a degree in kinesiology from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, where he also played hockey for the Ridgebacks.

He’s now enjoying his life playing professional hockey, after finishing the 2021-22 season with the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL.

“University was a great experience for me,” said Gomercic, who was one of the 13 survivors of the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash.

“I was able to set up my classes so that my school day was done at about noon. After that I could relax a bit and focus on hockey. The last two years of classes were interesting with everything being online.”

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Wednesday, Jun. 22, 2022

Matthieu Gomercic turned pro last season with the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL.

Take him out to the ball game

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

Take him out to the ball game

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 8, 2022

Nixon Carriere is a 17-year-old Grade 11 student at Garden City Collegiate who is very focused and determined to do well.

“School is going good,” he says. “My favourite class is calculus. I like solving numbers, I find it fun.”

Nixon is also pretty darn busy with the sport he loves, and that sport is baseball. He plays for the North Winnipeg Pirates, the Elmwood Giants junior teams, the Garden City Gophers and he’s trying out for the U17 Team Manitoba Canada Summer Games squad.

“It would be a lot of fun to make that team,” he says. “The games are in Niagara Falls.”

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Wednesday, Jun. 8, 2022

Nixon Carriere plays on both corners, pitches and hits in the heart of the order for his baseball teams.

The five most important words in sport

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

The five most important words in sport

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, May. 25, 2022

Kruno Brnjas is a six-year-old Grade 2 student at Dr. F. W. L. Hamilton School in East St. Paul.

Kruno is a little shy but when he decides to speak he doesn’t mess around.

“I like math. I like numbers,” he said when asked how school is going.

“My teacher is Ms. Sarapu. We all call her Ms. S. She is a good teacher. She is nice and friendly, and she is good at math.”

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Wednesday, May. 25, 2022

Kruno Brjnas plays soccer at the A.K. Soccer Academy in East St. Paul but he says is favourite sport is hockey, much to the chagrin of his father, Joey.

Dedication, commitment help young player shine

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Preview

Dedication, commitment help young player shine

Troy Westwood 2 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2022

Payton Chornley is a 12-year-old Grade 7 student who attends Collège Churchill High School’s Churchill Hockey Academy.

Payton is incredibly mature and well-spoken for her age. She averages 98 per cent in school, so I asked her what happened to the other two per cent and we had a good laugh.

“Math is my favourite class,” she said. “I enjoy solving problems and trying to work things out. Math is very challenging.”

Payton also enjoys the challenge of the sport she loves, which is hockey. I loved her answer when I asked what her goals are for both her education and her hockey:

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Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2022

Payton Chornley was captain of the U13 Winnipeg East Saints for the 2021-22 season.