The Yukon High School Volleyball Championships wrapped up over the weekend, and what an incredible turnout it was! This year’s event saw the Junior and Senior Championships being held together on the same weekend, making it easier for rural teams to participate – and participate they did! We had the most rural teams in attendance ever, representing communities from across the territory!
A big round of applause to everyone who competed, including teams from the four Whitehorse high schools: F.H. Collins, St. Francis of Assisi, Porter Creek Secondary, and CSSC Mercier, as well as teams from Inuvik, Dawson City, Carmacks, Faro, and Watson Lake!
Championship Results
YSS 2024 Volleyball Championship
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
Grade 8 Girls
St Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School
Porter Creek Secondary School
F H Collins Secondary School
Grade 8 Boys
St Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School
F H Collins Secondary School
Porter Creek Secondary School
Junior Girls
F H Collins Secondary School
St Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School
Porter Creek Secondary School
Junior Boys
CCSC Paul-Émile Mercier
F H Collins Secondary School
East Three Secondary School (Inuvik)
Senior Girls
F H Collins Secondary School
St Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School
Porter Creek Secondary School
Senior Boys
F H Collins Secondary School
St Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School
CCSC Paul-Émile Mercier
A big THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS to all the players, coaches, tournament organizers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication throughout the weekend! See you all again next year!
PEISAA Recipient of Special Olympics President’s Award
PEISAA ishonoured to accept the Special Olympics Presidents Award for our partnership with Special Olympics PEI for unified bocce on helping bring inclusivity to school sport. Accepting is PEISAA President Joel Arsenault and Sport Coordinator Mike Connolly
The Coaches Association of Ontario (CAO) completed a report this fall that examines values, behaviours and hazing to better understand Ontario amateur sport culture in practice, in 2024.
The Coaches Association of Ontario (CAO) is an independent, non-profit organization that supports coaches from community to high performance across all sports in Ontario. We work to provide coach development, funding opportunities, and events to provide support, recognition and representation for all coaches in Ontario.
We serve the needs of coaches to create an exceptional, safe and positive experience for all athletes and participants at every stage of their sport participation.
CAO delivers the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) in Ontario.
What’s the State of Sport Culture in Ontario? The 2024 Ontario Coaching Report is Here!
In partnership with Hydro One, we’re excited to announce the release of the 2024 Ontario Coaching Report!The Ontario Coaching Report is the most comprehensive study on the impact of coaching across all sports and competition levels.
The 2024 report reveals unprecedented insights into coaching culture, values & behaviours, hazing practices and more. It also provides actionable steps that coaches, parents, and sport administrators can take to foster sport experiences which are safe, inclusive and fun for all.
This year’s Report found that, overall, the majority of Ontario coaches embody positive sport values that are common across the Canadian sport system. However, that majority is modest (about 60%) and leaves a significant amount (one third) not coaching in ways that reflects these values.
Key Highlights: The 2024 Report reveals how Ontario coaches’ behaviours align with positive sport values: 83% agree that creating a positive sport culture is essential, yet 4 in 10 cannot identify what values make up that culture.4 in 10 are aware of hazing activities within their team & 6 in 10 personally experienced it as athletes. More than 600 million hours are spent coaching annually in Ontario.
Who is the Report For? The 2024 Report is relevant for stakeholders across the sport system including: Coaches (all levels, age, demographics).Parents/guardians of athletes participating in any sport or recreational activity.Organizations of all levels (recreational, competitive, schools, post-secondary).Program administrators & managers who oversee sport programming.Funding & policy decision makers.
This year’s report builds on the findings of 2023’s report, which underscored the positive mental health and life benefits of coaching but also revealed the issue of hazing within clubs and organizations.
Boys All Star: Kai Gaudet, MacGregor Mustangs; Darius Schriemer, Immanuel Christian; Zachary Rolland, Goose Lake; Nicolas Leflar, Morris; Tanner Manning, Morris; AJ Peters, Rosenort
Boys Players Choice: Kai Gaudet, MacGregor Mustangs
Westgate Mennonite Collegiate Institute
Provincial All-Star Team:Varsity Girls: MVP: Jersey Hansen-Young, Vincent Massey Vikings
All-Stars: Anna Filippin-Buller, College Jean Sauve Olympiens; Danika Jakabek, Lord Selkirk Royals; Hannah McGregor, Vincent Massey Vikings; Celeste Pelletier, College Jean Sauve Olympiens; Zoe Price, Vincent Massey Vikings; Kiersten Reimer, Steinbach Regional Sabres
Dairy Farmers of Manitoba Player’s Choice Award: Danika Jakabek, Lord Selkirk Royals
École secondaire Neelin High School
Provincial All-Star Team:Varsity Boys Dairy Farmers of Manitoba Players Choice Award: Ethan Pauls – Calvin Christian
All-Stars Ethan Pauls – Calvin Christian; Gabriel Beaudin – Dauphin; Jackson Friesen – Garden Valley; Alfredo Enns – Garden Valley; Owen Falk – Neelin; Kal El-Wilson – Neelin
MVP: Junior Martine – Neelin
Provincial All-Star Team:
Girls: MVP: Jersey Hansen-Young, Vincent Massey Vikings
All-Stars: Anna Filippin-Buller, College Jean Sauve Olympiens; Danika Jakabek, Lord Selkirk Royals; Hannah McGregor, Vincent Massey Vikings; Celeste Pelletier, College Jean Sauve Olympiens; Zoe Price, Vincent Massey Vikings; Kiersten Reimer, Steinbach Regional Sabres
Dairy Farmers of Manitoba Player’s Choice Award: Danika Jakabek, Lord Selkirk Royals
River East Collegiate Institute
Provincial All-Star Team:
Boys: MVP: Matthew Brown, River East Kodiaks
All-Stars: Nathan Adam, Vincent Massey Trojans; Logan Barnabe, Gabrielle-Roy Les Roys; Keon Elkie, St. Paul’s Crusaders; Liam Mancer, St. Paul’s Crusaders; Eli Ulrich, River East Kodiaks; Gavin Ulrich, River East Kodiaks Dairy Farmers of Manitoba Player’s Choice Award: Max Jehle, Lord Selkirk Royals
Boston Pizza Players of the Game:
Girls Semi Final #1- #7 Jersey Hansen-young, Vincent Massey Brandon and #13 Jubilee Steppan, Steinbach Regional
Girls Semi Final #2- #11 Anna Filippin-Buller, CJS and #18 Danika Jakabek, Lord Selkirk
Boys Semi Final #1- #9 Eli Ulrich, River East and #15 Nathan Adam, Vincent Massey
Boys Semi Final #2- #3 Keon Elkie, St. Pauls and #10 Martin de Moissac, Gabrielly Roy
Boston Pizza Players of the Game, Semi-Finals
MHSAA 2024 VARSITY VOLLEYBALL PARTICIPANTS
GIRLS
BOYS
A
Baldur School/Cartwright Community Independent School (Co-Op)
Alonsa School/McCreary School (Co-Op)
Chief Sam Cook Mahmuwee Education Centre
Elm Creek School
Deloraine School
Fisher River High School
Gilbert Plains Collegiate Institute
Glenboro School
Hamiota Collegiate Institute
Hamiota Collegiate Institute
Miami School
Mel Johnson School
Morweena Christian School
Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute
Reston School
Miami School
Rivers Collegiate Institute
Ste Rose School
Ste Rose School
Wawanesa School
AA
École/Collège régional Gabrielle-Roy
Elton Collegiate Institute
Elton Collegiate Institute
Goose Lake High School
Green Valley School
Green Valley School
Hapnot Collegiate Institute
Immanuel Christian School
Killarney School
MacGregor Collegiate Institute
Major Pratt School
Margaret Barbour Collegaite Institute
Prairie Mountain High School
Morris School/ École régionale St Jean Baptiste (Co-Op)
Rosenort School
Rosenort School
St Paul’s Collegiate Institute (Elie)
Warren Collegiate Institute
Warren Collegiate Institute
William Morton Collegiate Institute
AAA
Balmoral Hall School
Calvin Christian Collegiate
Calvin Christian Collegiate Institute
Collège Louis-Riel
Centre scolaire Léo-Rémillard
Dauphin Regionals Comprehensive Secondary School
Churchill High School
École secondaire Neelin High School
Collège Lorette Collegiate
Garden Valley Collegiate Institute
Collège Stonewall Collegiate
John Taylor Collegiate
École secondaire Neelin High School
Linden Christian School
John Taylor Collegiate
Niverville High School
Linden Christian School
R D Park Collegiate Institute
Virden Collegiate Institute
Springfield Collegiate Institute
W C Miller Collegiate Institute
Steinbach Christian School
Westgate Mennonite Collegiate Institute
Westgate Mennonite Collegiate Institute
AAAA
Collège Jeanne-Sauvé
Collège Miles Macdonell Collegiate
Collège Miles Macdonell Collegiate
Collège Collegial Gabrielle-Roy
Dakota Collegiate Institute
Dakota Collegiate Institute
École secondaire Kelvin High School
Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute
Fort Richmond Collegiate Institute
Greenlawn Collegiate Institute
Institut Collegial Vincent Massey Collegiate (Winnipeg)
Institut collégial Vincent Massey Collegiate (Winnipeg)
J H Burns Collegiate
Lord Selkirk Comprehensive Secondary School
Lord Selkirk Comprehensive Secondary School
Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute
Steinbach Regional Secondary School
River East Collegiate Institute
Sturgeon Heights Collegiate
St Paul’s High School (Winnipeg)
Vincent Massey High School (Brandon)
Steinbach Regional Secondary School
Westwood Collegiate
Vincent Massey High School (Brandon)
The Rosenort Redhawks and Elm Creek Cobras are Provincial High School varsity volleyball champions. The Redhawks defeated the host Morris/St. Jean Mavericks 25-16, 22-25, 15-4 in the AA boys final. Redhawks setter Tristan Manning was named the tournament MVP. The Cobras swept the Hamiota Huskies 29-27, 25-17 in the A boys final in Glenboro. Elm Creek middle Taylor Neufeld was selected the tournament MVP. The Miami Marlins defeated the host Panthers 25-20, 23-25, 15-5 in the third-place game. Garden Valley boys and Rosenort girls earned finalists banners. The Neelin Spartans beat the Zodiacs 22-25, 25-19, 15-11 in the AAA final in Winnipeg. The Elton Sabres swept the host Redhawks 26-24, 26-24 in the AA final. Westgate beat Stonewall 25-17, 25-20 in the AAA girls final in Winnipeg. The Miller Aces defeated Neelin 25-15, 17-25, 15-11 in the third-place game. Gilbert Plains beat Reston 23-25, 25-11, 15-10 in the A girls championship game in Baldur. (https://www.pembinavalleyonline.com/articles/sports-update—sunday-december-1st)
Neelin boys defend AAA gold medal
» The Brandon Sun
Posted:
Junior Martine is a two-time provincial championship MVP in 2024.
The Grade 12 setter was named most valuable player after leading the Neelin Spartans to a second-straight AAA varsity boys’ volleyball crown in Winnipeg on Saturday.
The Spartans edged the Garden Valley Zodiacs 2-1 (22-25, 25-19, 15-11) in the gold-medal match.
Owen Falk and Kal-El Wilson were named to the all-star team, along with Dauphin’s Gabe Beaudin.
Meanwhile, the Neelin girls dropped their semifinal in straight sets to the No. 1-seed and eventual champion Westgate Wings.
The Spartans lost 2-1 to the W.C. Miller Aces in the bronze-medal match. Jada McMillan of Neelin cracked the all-star team.
See Tuesday’s Sun for a full story on the Neelin boys.
In AA girls provincials, Forrest’s Elton Sabres captured the gold medal, beating the Rosenort Redhawks 2-0 (26-24, 26-24) in the final.
Taylor Campbell was named MVP, while Payton Ainsworth and Emersyn Geekie made the all-star team.
The Gilbert Plains Trojans girls won the A gold medal, topping the Reston Tigers 2-1 (23-25, 25-11, 15-10) in the final.
Trojans Montana Jubenville took home MVP honours, while Neveah Payne and Brooke Hanke made the all-star team along with Caroline McConnel and Halle Duncan of Reston, Payton McNish of Rivers and Brynn Wildeboer of Ste. Rose.
In A boys’ action, Hamiota fell 2-0 (29-27, 25-17) to the Carberry product Rick Scott-led Elm Creek Cobras in the gold-medal match.
Hamiota’s Jaxon Dziver and Chael Rosdeba were named all-stars, along with Glenboro’s Evan Griffin.
The AAAA finals take place at the University of Manitoba’s Investors Group Athletic Centre today. The No. 1-ranked Vincent Massey Vikings play the Jeanne-Sauve Olympiens for the girls’ title at 6 p.m., followed by the boys’ final featuring the top-seed River East Kodiaks and No. 2 St. Paul’s Crusaders.
Spartans defend AAA provincial title
By: Thomas Friesen
Posted:
It was AAA championship or bust for the Neelin Spartans this year.
They were a set away from the unthinkable before turning it around and proving why they were ranked No. 1 all year. The Spartans came back to beat the Garden Valley Zodiacs 2-1 (22-25, 25-19, 15-11) to defend the provincial title in Winnipeg on Saturday.
“It feels great because we worked so hard throughout the season,” said Junior Martine, who was named tournament MVP.
The Neelin Spartans won the AAA varsity boys’ provincial volleyball title in Winnipeg on Saturday, beating Winkler’s Garden Valley Zodiacs 2-1 in the final. (Submitted)
“We didn’t expect them to come out that hard but they did and we had to work our way back into the game, so it’s a great feeling.”
Neelin absolutely breezed through pool play, never letting a team past 20 points in a set. That trend continued with a quick quarterfinal win over John Taylor and a routine sweep of all-star Gabe Beaudin and the Dauphin Clippers, who upset the Springfield Sabres in the quarterfinals and finished fourth.
But suddenly the Spartans lost their first set of the weekend, leaving no more room for error.
“We just talked about all the work we’ve put in from Day 1 and that we have trained our butts off to get to the point we’re at and can’t go down easy,” said senior outside hitter Kal-El Wilson.
“We just trusted our ability throughout provincials, and how we’ve been training for this all year since the start of August.”
The Spartans typically overpowered every opponent outside of the top AAAA teams they faced all year. Even most of those couldn’t handle Martine’s dynamic offence with provincial all-stars Wilson and Owen Falk at left and right side, respectively.
But Garden Valley’s defence stymied them early.
“It was really good, their blocking was good too. They got a lot of blocks on us, which kind of shut us down for a bit but we managed to keep going and get around it,” Martine said.
“Our defence picked things up. In the first set, we didn’t do as well of a job of getting things up but in the second set we got a lot of digs and just didn’t let the ball hit the floor and I thought that was the difference.”
The X-factor that kept Neelin going when Wilson was in the back row was sophomore Lucas Gamache, who came up with a pile of timely kills to keep the first set close and put the Spartans ahead in the second.
He barely made any mistakes and finished with a fantastic save when Martine handled a bad pass with a quick bump set past the antenna. Gamache dragged it back into play with his left hand, surprising the Zodiacs as it fell just over the net into open court on championship point.
“He’s been stepping up all year, but as a Grade 10 in a provincial final, to do what he did is crazy. He played a really good game and a really good tournament,” Martine said.
“Lucas stepped up real big. It’s crazy being a Grade 10 and being able to play the way he did,” Wilson added.
“We thought of him as family, brought him in and really tried to build him up as a volleyball player but also as a human, to take him under our wing and build him into what he is now but also what he can be in the future.”
For a bunch of the Spartans, it was their second provincial gold of the calendar year, too. They won 17-and-under club provincials with the Brandon Volleyball Club. Martine was the MVP then, and again on Saturday.
“It feels pretty cool getting recognized for my hard work,” Martine said. “But there was a lot of team effort there that kept us going.”
Vikings’ conquest complete
Vincent Massey collects first provincial girls’ volleyball crown; Kodiaks win boys’ title to top perfect season
The Vincent Massey Vikings played the long game Monday night.
When they were finished, the Brandonites were the proud owners of the first provincial AAAA varsity girls volleyball title in school history.
Sparked by a superb 22-kill performance from left side Jersey Hansen-Young, Massey roared back from an opening set loss to beat the Collège Jeanne-Sauvé Olympiens 3-1 (20-25, 28-26, 25-22, 25-21) in the championship final at Investors Group Athletic Centre.
“Every single person who stepped out on the court, and even the people that were on the bench, made a gigantic impact,” said Hansen-Young, who added five digs and three service aces en route to being named tournament MVP. “We wouldn’t have been in this position and we wouldn’t have had this outcome without every single person on our team.”
In the varsity boys final, the top-ranked River East Kodiaks got eight kills each from Connor Freeman and Eli Ulrich and cruised to a 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-22) triumph over the second-seeded St. Paul’s Crusaders.
Monday’s slow start for the No. 1-ranked Vikings was similar to last week’s early struggles in the semifinals, when Massey went down 2-1 to the Steinbach Sabres before winning two consecutive sets to advance.
“At the beginning of that first set we realized we were going to have to step up our game or it’s not going to go our way,” said Hansen-Young, recently named the province’s No. 1 player in the Free Press coaches’ poll. “I think something just clicked in everybody’s head because we’ve had this drive for the entire season. This is what we’ve been aiming for. That set really got everybody moving.”
Massey head coach Kelly DeRoo was very comfortable with her team’s ability to push back.
“I think after our semifinal I didn’t have a doubt that we could come back from that loss in the first set,” said DeRoo. “We know we can fight hard. We proved that on Wednesday and we proved that tonight. I’m really proud of the girls for believing they could win the game even after we dropped the first set.”
Massey’s Hannah McGregor, who had five kills and four aces, and Zoe Price, who chipped in with seven kills and one ace, were named to the tournament all-star team.
“We knew we had to capitalize more on their free balls,” said DeRoo, whose squad finished the season with a 50-2 record.
“They gave us a lot of free balls and we put them in the system a lot, which was helpful, but sometimes when we got a free ball we weren’t scoring. We needed to believe in ourselves and swing a little harder.”
The No. 3 Olympiens, who were seeking the third provincial crown in program history, got 13 kills and five digs from tournament all-star Anna Filippin-Buller and 19 digs from libero Taylor Labossiere.
CJS setter Celeste Pelletier, Steinbach’s Kiersten Reimer and Danika Jakabek of the Lord Selkirk Royals also received all-star nods.
“I thought in the third set we ran out of gas,” said Olympiens head coach Donata Huebert. “We looked tired and I don’t know if the stress got to us a little bit. I feel we ran too much and we couldn’t calm ourselves down. And that made it really tough.”
Kodiaks 3 Crusaders 0
River East unleashed its balanced offensive attack with tournament MVP, setter Matthew Brown, at the controls.
“I knew if we played our game I didn’t think anyone could hang with us,” said Brown, whose team was a perfect 45-0 this season. “We kind of knew that coming in and we went and executed at a high level.”
It was the Kodiaks first provincial AAAA varsity boys championship since 1982.
“It’s a huge day,” said River East head coach Zack Diboll. “To finally cap off that perfect season — that’s lucky man. I know (Vincent) Massey just did it last year but how the heck did we do it again this year? Crazy.”
Twins Gavin Ulrich, a libero, and Eli Ulrich, a left side, were named to the tournament all-star team. Nathan Adam of the Vincent Massey Trojans and Logan Barnabe of the Gabrielle-Roy Les Roys also received all-star honours.
Middle Tanner Nachtigall had four kills, three aces and one dig for the winners.
“To win three straight (sets), I don’t want to say luck, but at this stage of the season it’s very rare to find someone’s able to go three straight,” said Diboll. “I think the turning point was that second set, coming back and winning that one. That was a huge emotional set win.”
Crusaders Keon Elkie, with eight kills, and Liam Mancer, with three kills and one dig, also joined the tournament all-star squad.
“They’re more experienced — they’ve got a lot of Grade 12s on their side whereas we’re primarily Grade 11s in those key positions — like setter and libero,” said St. Paul’s head coach Dustin Spiring of the Kodiaks. “They have a lot of experience and they just took over.”
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