RRC Polytech athletics to be reinstated in 2026-27 school year

The Red River Rebels are returning this fall.

Red River College Polytech put its varsity sports teams on pause in 2020 before officially pulling the plug in 2022 after 50-plus years of competition.

“Since then, there’s always been students coming to us asking when varsity athletics would come back, or if they ever would,” said RRC Polytech Students’ Association president Jasmine Lucero.

Everyone that’s been asking got the news they’ve been waiting for on Wednesday when it was announced that the Rebels will be rejoining the Manitoba Collegiate Association Conference for the 2026-27 season in men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, and cross-country running.

Manitoban melee at Canada West curling championships

Carter Williamson will end his university curling career doing a familiar thing in an unfamiliar role.

Bisons volleyball squad has scrambling skills tested in injury-filled season

Julia Martens didn’t expect that she’d be setting balls for the two-time reigning U Sports Player of the Year in game action so soon, but the first-year setter has taken the opportunity in stride since being tabbed to tee up Raya Surinx and the rest of the Manitoba Bisons’ attackers.

The Westgate product has been nothing short of outstanding for the Bisons since assuming the starting role from fifth-year Elia Falcone, who developed a stress fracture in her foot in October.

While Martens would’ve liked her playing time to not come at the cost of a teammate, she’s run with the chance to play big minutes for the reigning national champions.

“It’s been amazing,” Martens said. “Unexpected, of course, but I’m super grateful just to have got the opportunity to play with all these fifth-year girls who are some of the best hitters in Canada. It’s been a really cool experience, getting to set them.”

Dedicated volunteers Kelly and Sandy Taylor receive prestigious Archery Manitoba award

Kelly and Sandy Taylor called it one of the greatest feats of their lives.

Bringing the largest event on the World Archery calendar to Winnipeg wasn’t easy, though.

Kapusta sniping her way to breakout campaign

Braya Kapusta has been a difference maker wherever she’s been this season.

The 18-year-old is in the midst of a breakout campaign on the ice, as she’s torched opposing defences across multiple leagues.

Kapusta has been one of the best forwards in U18 AAA, scoring 36 goals and notching 52 points across 43 games (including tournaments) for the Winnipeg Avros of the Manitoba Female Hockey League. In league play, she’s second in goals with 16 and tied for third in points with 24 in 19 games.

Kapusta is also stringing together one of the most prolific seasons in recent memory in the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League.

McDonald has repeat on her mind

As the national U18 women’s hockey team prepares to defend its title at the IIHF world championships, East St. Paul’s Hayley McDonald is putting the onus on herself to lead the charge.

As a 16-year-old at last year’s tournament in Finland, the talented forward was one of the youngest players on the roster, but she had a major impact, helping Team Canada unseat the U.S. and capture gold after it settled for bronze in 2024.

McDonald scored four times and tallied seven points in six games while skating on a lethal top line alongside fellow Manitoban Sara Manness at centre, and Toronto-born left winger Maxine Cimoroni.

Now McDonald, who turns 18 on Jan. 7, is expected to play a starring role as Team Canada looks for its fourth world championship in five years in Nova Scotia from Jan. 10-18.

Wesmen’s Stewart looks to conclude final hoops year on top after father’s death

Donald Stewart’s first reminder came one month after the fact.

The 24-year-old had found ways to distract himself up to that point, but fell into a familiar state of grief as he faced a first in his life: getting a repair estimate for his car.

It sounds silly, Stewart confessed, but the process of dealing with this speed bump was foreign to him.

It’s something his dad would’ve helped him with.

Snider credits mom, siblings for storied competitive frisbee career

Some kids grow up around the hockey rink or the soccer pitch. For Winnipeg’s Quinn Snider, it was the ultimate frisbee field.

Growing up watching their parents compete, Snider, now 27, his brother Luke, 29, and sister Anya, 30, all wound up playing ultimate frisbee. All three have represented Canada on the world stage.

Snider began playing ultimate in Grade 7 at Westgate Mennonite Collegiate, joining the program founded by his mom, Vaughn Rempel Snider.

“I was really just doing it because my mom was coaching and my brother and sister were doing it,” he said.

FFS sparks debate over ‘fair chase’

Technology has experienced consistent and remarkable development in sports fishing. The Global Positioning System has become a feature found in entry-level marine electronics, giving users navigation, geolocation and time information. Once exclusive to military use, it has been available for civilian applications for more than two decades.

RBC Future Olympian nod a game changer for East St. Paul product

Lexi Schimnowski had never even heard of rowing three years ago.

Fast forward to today, the 20-year-old from East St. Paul is on track to represent her country in the sport on the world’s biggest stage. She was recently one of 35 athletes to be identified as a 2025 RBC Future Olympian by National Sport Organization scouts.

“I’m kind of just in disbelief that this is my life and that this has all happened,” said Schimnowski.

“Sometimes it feels kind of like a dream.”

Winnipeg Wesmen women’s volleyball team hoping Classic sparks momentum

Grace Vallis wants to flip the script before the calendar flips to a new year.

It’s been tough sledding for the Winnipeg Wesmen women’s volleyball team, which owns a 2-8 record in Canada West conference play at the winter break.

It’s not the step that the program was looking to take following last season, when it reached the playoffs after sweeping the Calgary Dinos in a best-of-three play-in series.

The only team to post a worse record in the first 10 matches were the 1-9 Brandon Bobcats.

Wesmen hope to spike trend in new year

The Christmas break came in the Nick of time for the Winnipeg Wesmen.

At this time last year, the Wesmen were the talk of the U Sports men’s volleyball scene, as they surprised the country by jumping out to a 10-0 record out of the gates.

This season has been much different through 10 contests for the reigning Canada West champs. Their 4-6 record is good for a three-way tie of seventh place in the conference with the Manitoba Bisons and Calgary Dinos.

“Obviously not the record that we want right now, to be below .500, but I think there’s a lot of good things we’ve taken away, too. We’ve played some pretty strong teams,” said fifth-year middle Paxton Koop.

Tackling the pros next step for Winnipeggers

Trae Tomlinson is optimistic that he’ll still have a future in football beyond this week.

The Winnipeg-born defensive back will play the final snaps of his college career on Wednesday as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette face the University of Delaware in the LendingTree Bowl at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Ala., and while those downs will spell the end of many student-athletes’ playing days, Tomlinson has reason to believe a new door will open to his next chapter on the field.

When the game concludes, Tomlinson will declare for the National Football League and Canadian Football League drafts, and his focus will shift to raising his stock as much as possible.

“It’s crazy how fast it goes,” said Tomlinson, who started for three seasons at the University of Richmond (Virginia) before transferring to the Bayou State to play for the Ragin’ Cajuns in his senior year.

Local boxer earns invite to international tournament in Spain

Kicking Isaiah Rock out of the gym used to be a common occurrence for Jerome Peters.

Rock had a poor attitude, didn’t listen, and on at least one occasion, turned a friendly sparring session into an actual fight.

“The first time I kicked him out, I said ‘Don’t come back. Stay away from the gym for two weeks,’” said Peters, the owner of Power Boxing Club on Sargent Ave.

“Then, two weeks later he walked back in with his equipment like nothing happened.”