Fewer on field could boost football

More players, more participation, more opportunity — all prevented by a narrative that it’s not real football.

Sabres won’t be denied

The Steinbach Sabres had a taste of semifinal heartbreak in 2021. A year later, they weren’t about to be denied again.

Duncalfe leads Huskies to title game

The Sturgeon Heights varsity girl’s volleyball team was David, but leaned on a Goliath of its own to advance to its first AAAA provincial championship game since Sturgeon Creek and Silver Heights amalgamated to form Sturgeon Heights.

Crusaders the team to beat

The St. Paul’s Crusaders didn’t win a tournament until late October, but that breakthrough has made them the team to beat entering the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association AAAA varsity boys volleyball championship.

Talented Trojans not taking anything for granted in quest for MHSAA volleyball crown

A year ago, a youthful Vincent Massey Trojans squad was one win away from a berth in the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association AAAA varsity girls provincial final.

Raiders star springs back to new heights

Fiona Brown’s stellar play during the 2022 season has earned her the No. 1 spot in the Free Press’s inaugural coaches’ poll honouring the province’s best high school varsity girls volleyball players.

Crusaders march to title

It’s fair to say the celebration was worth the wait.

Kildonan East caps perfect campaign

The Kildonan East Collegiate varsity football team displayed excellence on a night they sought perfection.

Huskies, Vikings to meet in WHSFL Division II final

Eric Vincent’s recipe for a championship-calibre team has come together like many do, after a number of seasons and across a painful series of trial and error.

Brown leads Dakota to victory

Dakota Collegiate inched one game closer to its first triple-A varsity provincial football crown on Friday evening.

Lancers are in it to win it

Dakota Collegiate has never won a triple-A provincial championship in varsity football. It’s two games away from putting that slide to rest.

Sabres winning together

Boston Thiessen won’t deny it — he did not expect the Steinbach Regional Secondary School (SRSS) Sabres varsity boys’ volleyball team to be this dominant.

Buckeyes sink Clippers

An emphasis on responding was drilled into the Miles MacDonnell Collegiate football team all week with a pivotal matchup against the Kelvin Clippers on the horizon and the playoffs approaching.

Cold can’t slow down top cross-country runners

Manitoba’s premier young long-distance runners bundled up to trek the rugged terrain in Killarney for the provincial high school cross-country championships on Wednesday.

Oak Park gridiron star making daily commute and turning heads

Jerome Fouillard makes the same drive to Winnipeg every morning with one goal: to prevent his parents from ever having to spend another dime on his aspirations.

St. Mary’s, St. Paul’s successfully defend provincial golf titles

St. Mary’s Academy and St. Paul’s High School extended their reign over golf in Manitoba on Friday.

Springfield makes quick work of opposition

The Winnipeg High School Football League enters its third week of the 2022 regular season with some familiar squads atop the standings and noteworthy streaks on the line.

Legendary coaches hang up their clipboards

The reminders of past athletic glories are plastered all over gym walls at Oak Park High School.

It’s a proud legacy and two men — long-time varsity girls basketball coach Murray Brown and football coach Stu Nixon — were chief architects of programs that won 12 of those championship banners.

On Thursday, on the last day of the 2021-22 academic year, both men were retiring after lengthy teaching careers at the Charleswood area school.

Tears were shed and memories were recounted. There were no regrets.

Multi-sport athlete from Sanford takes top female honours

It was a 48-hour whirlwind for Gwen Bestland.

The 17-year-old graduated from Sanford Collegiate on Monday and thought she was going for lunch with her parents to celebrate on Wednesday.

That was until they made a pit stop at downtown’s Sport Manitoba, where a host of other secondary-school athletes and their families from across the province were gathered for the 2022 Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association (MHSAA) Athlete of the Year ceremony.

Bestland, surprised at the banquet by her hockey coach and two teammates, was a nominee for the award from the “AAA” girls category but had been kept in the dark about her nomination by her family and friends.

High-flying high-school standout a generational volleyball talent

Generational talent is an overused term to describe many outstanding athletes. It’s probably not an overstatement in the case of Raya Surinx.

The Grade 12 student at J.H. Bruns Collegiate has already been crowned the top female high school volleyball player in Manitoba and, unquestionably, the province’s top university recruit.

And, if not for a cruel twist, the 17-year-old would probably be one of the youngest players suiting up for Canada’s U21 team at the Pan American Cup currently underway in Mexico.

A positive COVID-19 test at the national team training camp in Edmonton forced Surinx into isolation for five days and a subsequent positive PCR test dashed any hopes she would travel with Team Canada.

Poirier keeps her eyes on the prize

Don’t tell Serenity Poirier that streaks are made to be ended.

The Grade 12 student at Lac du Bonnet Senior School hasn’t dropped a set in her high school badminton career and Poirier is determined to graduate with her flawless record intact. To do so, Poirier needs to end her high school career with a strong performance at this week’s MHSAA’s Provincial Badminton Championships at Prairie Badminton Club (May 5-7).

The junior varsity competitors get started Thursday while varsity action begins Friday.

“I know I’m one of the better athletes that are going to be out there. If someone isn’t as good of an athlete, I try to rally with them and get them moving. Cause you know, for other people to get better, playing against harder competition is what’s going to help,” Poirier told the Free Press over the phone on Wednesday.