Congratulations to the football Leadership in School Sport recipient, Craig Poole (middle) from Holy Names Catholic High School. He’s joined by James Clarke (left), OFSAA Football Festival Convenor & Derek Quigley (Football Committee Member).
The M13 Division 1 School Hockey Challenge relay is on!
Thetford Mines Multi-purpose Club, in partnership with RSEQ, will host the event from 14-17 November 2024 bringing together 320 student-athletes and 18 teams from across the province. Get ready for a thrilling challenge, where talent and team spirit will take the spotlight!
Le Défi de hockey scolaire M13 division 1 relève est lancé !
La Polyvalente de Thetford Mines, en partenariat avec le RSEQ, accueillera cet événement du 14 au 17 novembre 2024, réunissant 320 étudiants-athlètes et 18 équipes provenant des quatre coins de la province. Préparez-vous pour un défi palpitant, où le talent et l’esprit d’équipe seront à l’honneur !
The Peace River Pioneers High School football team are the first-ever 9-a-side Provincial Champions, after a 19-18 Overtime win over the Ponoka Broncs on Friday night in Grande Prairie.
In the middle of a Snowfall Warning, the Broncs took a 15-0 lead into halftime, but needed a field goal in the dying seconds to even force overtime.
The Pioneers win their first-ever Provincial Championship, after three previous trips to the final in 12-a-side.
Even when Peace River High School and Glenmary School had separate teams, Peace River has won the Peace Bowl 7 times and the Athabasca Bowl 3 times…
Now they can add a Provincial Championship Banner to their collection…
Maddox Andres – Goose Lake Raiders; Zachary Rolland – Goose Lake Raiders; Elijah Abraham – Major Pratt Trojans; Jorey Reichmuth – Major Pratt Trojans; Owen McLean – Glenboro Panthers; Ethan Macatangay – Margaret Barbour Sparthans
Tournament MVP:Tosh Johnson – Goose Lake Raiders
Tournament All-Stars:
Ava Hall – Leo Remillard; Ella Kremski – Linden Christian; Liv McCammon – Linden Christian; AbigailMurray – Virden; Michelle Waters – Virden; Kassidy Hoemsen – Virden
Tournament MVP: Jael Reimer
Tournament Boys All Star Team:
James Belanger – Leo Remillard Renards; Owen Kornelsen – Westgate Wings; Felix Beaudry – Louis – Riel – Voyageurs; Samuel Clark – Louis – Riel Voyageurs; Clark Goran – Neelin Spartans; Case Ashcroft – Neelin Spartans
Senior Girls – St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School over F H Collins Secondary School
Senior Boys – F H Collins Secondary School over St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School
F.H. Collins Warriors win Spook and Spike tournament in Whitehorse
The F.H. Collins Warriors clinched top spots in all four divisions, Jr. Girls, Jr. Boys, Sr. Girls, and Sr. Boys, at the Spook and Spike volleyball tournament in Whitehorse.
Jake Howarth
The F.H. Collins Warriors triumphed at the Spook and Spike volleyball tournament in Whitehorse, securing victories across multiple age divisions and challenging the traditional dominance of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School (SFA) teams.
A snowstorm disrupted the original plans for the Dawson Invitational Volleyball Tournament, leading to the Spook and Spike event instead, according to F.H. Collins’ coach Nathan Bingham. Bingham added that Pierre Laurin, Operations Manager with Yukon Standard Bus, prioritized safety first when considering the journey.
Sean McCarron, volleyball coach at SFA, organized the Spook and Spike tournament to run from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1. The tournament was hosted by F.H. Collins, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School and CSSC Mercier.
The F.H. Collins senior boys’ team faced SFA in the finals for a best-of-three match. Despite notable performances from SFA’s Gabe Raccine and Nicco Connel, Chris McCarron’s reflexes and Cy McDowell’s offensive play secured the victory for the F.H. Collins Warriors.
The SFA boys’ team had competed in Supervolley the night before, and Bingham noted that fatigue possibly contributed to their loss.
The F.H. Collins junior girls’ team played SFA at their home court in the Riverdale subdivision. Bingham highlighted coach Natasha Biladeau’s strategic planning, which kept the SFA Crusaders at bay. He added that Cassia Kelly’s consistent serves and Kara McClean’s net play contributed to the F.H. Collins Warriors’ victory
The F.H. Collins junior boys’ team showcased outstanding development and competitive play, according to Bingham. In the final, FHC defeated Mercier.
Key performances by Ezra Quaile, Noah Zaiden and Shamus Inglis secured FHC’s victory, with Inglis demonstrating seamless athleticism from soccer to volleyball, Bingham said. Their combined efforts overwhelmed Mercier, marking a memorable win for FHC.
The F.H. Collins senior girls’ team were narrowly defeated by Rue’s Crew in the final. Despite being down 18–22, Rue’s Crew clawed back to win 26–24, thanks to Emiko Teremura’s defense and Natasha Biladeau setting the ball up for offensive attacks.
Coach and player Chelsea Matzick’s attacks were crucial for Rue’s Crew, Bingham noted. FHC’s second-place finish in the senior girls division, just behind Rue’s Crew, placed them ahead of other high school teams, he added.
The Warriors’ strong midseason performances have the team excited about upcoming events, Bingham said. The Supervolley finals and Yukon Championships are approaching, and Bingham notes that the FHC Warriors are poised for a successful season.
Adrena McDonald, left, and Hayden Murray captained their respective Sir John Franklin teams to victory in the 40th Wade Hamer Challenge Cup at the Multiplex on Wednesday. James McCarthy/NNSL photo
The Wade Hamer Challenge Cup was one for the record books as it celebrated its 40th anniversary, in case you drove past the Multiplex and wondered why the parking lot at the Multiplex was so full during a work day.
For Sir John Franklin High School, it would be an anniversary to remember.
The Falcons were far and away the better of the two teams at the Multiplex on Wednesday afternoon as the girls emerged 7-1 winners over the St. Pat’s Irish, while the boys game also ended in the same deficit amount, only the Falcons were on the right end of a 9-3 decision. The wins mean the Falcons retain both cups for the next 12 months. It’s back-to-back wins for the Falcon girls, while the Falcon boys extended their winning streak to four.
In the girls game, the Falcons struck early with Adrena McDonald scoring the opening goal on a coast-to-coast rush. From there, Sir John was all over the Irish in their own end, but were held back by some good defence on the part of St. Pat’s.
Sir John coach Mark Kilbride said there was no worry at all about the puck not going in the net courtesy of that sustained pressure. “We were always in control during that first part of the game,” he said. “They came out pretty hard to start the second period and we expected they would, but we played well in our own end.”
Getting out to a big lead early meant Kilbride was able to roll all five of his lines to ensure all of his players saw a decent amount of ice time, “We try to get everyone involved, so (running out of) gas wasn’t too much of a concern,” he said. “We rolled all five and that was good to see.”
The boys game, meanwhile, started out a lot closer than the girls game as both teams traded goals in the fist two minutes. But after that, it seemed Sir John got almost every bounce go their way as they exerted their authority by the midway point of the first period.
“We got the first goal pretty quickly and they got one back, but we played our positioning pretty solid and just got it going from there after that,” said Sir John captain Hayden Murray.
Murray is in Grade 12 and it was his final time suiting up in the game.
He said it was a nice run for him and the one thing he’ll miss most is the atmosphere.
“Lots of hype, lots of support from the school,” he said. “It’s great.”
The day began with Ter and Julaine Hamer, Wade Hamer’s parents, performing the ceremonial opening face-off before the start of the girls game. The Hamers came back to town to help celebrate the anniversary of the game and attended the pep rallies at each school to lend support and talk about their late son, who died in 1987.
Hamer was the impetus behind getting the game going in 1985 with the original title being the Colonel’s Challenge Cup thanks to sponsorship from the Jason family, who owned the original KFC franchise. Following Hamer’s death, it was renamed in his honour.
École St. Patrick High School were so blessed to have Ter and Julaine Hamer come and talk at our Wade Hamer Challenge Cup pep rally today.
Simply put, the story of Wade is one that inspires anyone that hears it.
What an amazing Wade Hamer alumni challenge game we had tonight at the Ed Jeske Arena!
We have four teams from St. Pats and four teams from Sir John battle it out in 2.5 hours of crazy three-on-three action. We had alumni all the way from the very first game in 1985 right up to last year‘s game in 2023.
In the end, congrats goes out to St. Pats White team that won the Championship over St. Pats Gold in the final (but really it was just great to see all the alumni from both schools back on the ice together).
St Pat’s White consisted of:
Heather Lafoy (Grad 97)
Derrick Sangris (Grad 99)
Nicholas Landry (Grad 05)
Curtis German (Grad 15)
Reece Head (Grad 18)
Two Yellowknife Schools Continuing Annual Hockey Tradition
Two of Yellowknife’s schools are about to engage in a friendly competition that goes back decades.
On Wednesday, November 20th, the École St. Patrick High School and the École Sir John Franklin High School will be competing against each other in an afternoon of good-natured hockey known as the Wade Hammer Challenge Cup.
The day for both schools will begin as normal, with classes being held until the lunch break at noon. Then from, 1:00pm to 4:00pm, the rest of the day will be filled with a number of hockey games.
The girls will be playing first at 1:00, with the boys playing at 3:00. Each game will have two 20 minute breaks, and the ice will be cleaned after each period. If the games end in a tie, then it will go into a 10 minute overtime. If the game remains tied, it will be decided by a five player shootout.
This beloved hockey tradition was first started in 1985. It started as the Colonel’s Challenge Cup, as one of the main sponsors of the event, the Jason family, owned the local KFC. From its very beginning, it was designed to be just a friendly competition between the two schools. This idea came from a St Pat’s student named Wade Hammer, who was troubled by the harsh language exchanged between the student and teacher players of a particularly rough game in the Rec League.
After expressing his disappointment with both teams, Hammer put much work into creating a new match between schools that would be in better spirits. He looked for sponsors, got a team together, and discussed the idea with the student council members of both schools. The next year, the Colonel’s Cup was officially launched!
For the first 11 years of the Challenge, teachers and girls would play one period each, while the boys would play two. Eventually, the teachers decided to back out to give the girls more time to play, and that format has remained to this day.
Sadly, Wade Hammer died in 1987 after an industrial accident. To honour his memory, the event was renamed to the Wade Hammer Challenge Cup.
This event has since grown into one of the largest single-day sporting events in the NWT, and continues to foster friendship and good sportsmanship between the two schools.
Alumni game being added to Wade Hamer Challenge Cup festivities
Former players from Sir John Franklin and St. Pat’s High Schools to play 3-on-3 games in pond hockey-style format on eve of big day
The Wade Hamer Challenge Cup hockey games between Sir John Franklin and St. Pat’s High Schools don’t need much in terms of hype. You already know both schools will be gearing up for what is arguably the biggest school sports event in Yellowknife each year.
This year, though, marks the 40th anniversary of the meeting between the city’s two high schools and to help celebrate that, there’s a bit of a blast from the past being offered up.
A 3-on-3 alumni game will take centre stage at the Multiplex on the evening of Nov. 19, the day before the big day. It’s a chance for those who have played in games past to hit the ice once more and try yet again to win pride for their respective alma maters.
Rob Hart, who played in the Challenge Cup himself when he was a student at St. Pat’s and who’s now one of the coaches, is heading things up for the game and he said it was one of the ideas that came up during discussions between both schools on how to help celebrate the 40th edition.
“The game has always been a great way to bring both schools together and we thought it would be cool to have some of the past players get back on the ice and do it again, all in fun, of course,” he said.
Everything will happen under pond hockey rules with teams of three being drawn up and the ice surface at the Ed Jeske Olympic Rink being divided in half for two games to happen at one time. Instead of full-size nets being used, there will be little wooden nets that have been built by the Kimberlite Technical and Career Centre at St. Pat’s. There will be a round-robin, followed by a playoff round to determine the winner.
“All people need to do is bring skates, a stick, a helmet and we’ll draw for teams,” said Hart. “The games will be about 10 to 15 minutes long and we’ll be getting out all the old jerseys.”
Peter Curran, who’s looking after most of the game’s details at Sir John Franklin, said having an alumni game brings back a flood of memories.
“I remember we did a display here at the school for the 35th anniversary game and we had such a positive response to that,” he said. “I had people stopping in the halls to look and telling me that their father or son or daughter played in it, so having something like (the alumni game) just brings more of a positive vibe to it all.”
The no-goalie rule irked Curran a bit as he was once a constable of the corded cottage for Sir John Franklin in the early days of the game.
“I’m a firm member of the goalies’ union and I sort of feigned my disappointment at not having goalies,” he said.
Both Hart and Curran have had their own children play in the game over the years and Hart said watching them play, and remembering his own experiences, makes him realize just how invested he is in the event.
“I’ve watched all three of my kids and when you sit back and watch them and see them get into it, you realize how big it is,” he said. “I know I’ll be hoarse by the time it’s all done and happy with the great plays and down with each bounce that goes against us.”
Curran said he’s just happy that the game has been around this long and hopes it will continue to be around.
“There aren’t many things in this town that have been around for 40 years,” he said. “It’ll be a good tune-up for the big day and I know a lot of people will love to come out and play.”
