‘It’s so much beyond football’: Falcons Football Club gets big boost from NFL Canada

The spring months can make for some long days for Saphira Twoheart.

Once the snow melts, the 18-year-old goes from school during the day in Sagkeeng First Nation to football practice in the evening in Winnipeg. It’s a 90-minute commute each way from her community in Fort Alexander that usually doesn’t get her home until close to midnight three days per week, but Twoheart believes that trip has paid big dividends since starting with the Falcons Football Club three years ago.

She isn’t shy about voicing what the Falcons have meant to her.

“When I first started football, I was a very shy and timid type of person, but over the years of playing football, it’s made me more talkative and more comfortable in my own skin, to the point where I could coach other teammates with the skills that I have,” Twoheart said Tuesday.

Picklr Winnipeg South set for grand opening

Pickleballers rejoice — the first phase of The Picklr’s highly anticipated Canadian expansion is ready for play.

Winnipeg’s newest indoor facility dedicated to pickleball could open to members as early as Saturday, so long as its occupancy permit is passed by the city.

Skating body drops rule barring Russian ‘neutral’ athletes from media at Olympics

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The International Skating Union has scrapped a rule which aimed to prevent Russian skaters from speaking with the media or appearing at news conferences when they compete as neutral athletes at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

When it allowed some Russians and Belarusians to qualify as “individual neutral athletes” in 2024, the ISU issued rules saying those athletes and their support staff would not be allowed to give interviews, appear at news conferences or go through the media zone at qualifying events or the Winter Olympics.

In response to questions from The Associated Press about how that would be enforced, the ISU sent the AP an amended version of the rules for neutral athletes on Thursday.

The document now states the media restrictions apply only to qualifying events, which the ISU ran. It no longer mentions the Olympics, which are overseen by the International Olympic Committee.

Vikings sign defensive coordinator Brian Flores to contract extension after successful 3-year run

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have signed Brian Flores to a contract extension that ensures the defensive coordinator will return for the 2026 season if he is not hired as a head coach, the team announced on Wednesday.

The Vikings have allowed an average of 19.2 points in Flores’ first three seasons as defensive coordinator, the second-fewest in the NFL.

The Vikings allowed an average of only 105.4 rushing yards per game from 2023-25 under Flores, the fifth-fewest in the league, including a league-low 3.9 yards per rush.

Meanwhile, Flores' defenses have avoided giving up big plays. The Vikings' 147 plays allowed of 20 or more yards the last three years are the fewest in the league.

Brandon Aiyuk’s last snap with the 49ers: ‘It’s unfortunate and confusing,’ says Shanahan

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Brandon Aiyuk won't be part of the 2026 San Francisco 49ers with the only remaining question about when he will be off the Niners' roster.

General manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan held their season-ending news conference on Wednesday, four days after the team was eliminated in a 41-6 playoff loss at Seattle, and put to rest any possibility that Aiyuk could return after leaving the team during the season.

“I think it’s safe to say that he has played his last snap with the Niners,” Lynch said. "It’s unfortunate, a situation that just went awry. I will look long and hard at what could have been done differently, but sometimes just doesn’t work out. And I think that this was a case where that happened.”

Lynch said the final transaction, likely a release, will come in “due time.”

A capsule look at the 18 teams set to play at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts

MISSISSAUGA - A capsule look at the 18 teams competing in the Jan. 23-Feb. 1 Canadian women’s curling championship at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

Teams are listed by seeding in their pools, athletes from skip to lead, followed by hometown.

POOL A

CANADA