Division 1 Basketball Provincial Schedule 2013 Confirmed

Division 2 Provincial Schedule 2013 Revised for Media Feb 26-Confirmed

Division 3 Basketball Provincial Schedule 2013 Confirmed

Division 4 Basketball Provincial Schedule 2013 Confirmed

Each province and territory in Canada is permitted to send one boys’ and one girls’ track and field team to this event. Teams will have the opportunity to take part in a weekend of activities in Toronto that involve tourist attractions, educational panels, social activities, and a one-day track and field meet to showcase the student-athletes of Canada. It is a one-of-a-kind experience commemorating school sport in Canada.

The aim of the Nike High School Grand Prix is to:

• Inspire excellence in high school athletes
• Unite student-athletes from across the nation
• Celebrate the sport of track and field in Canada

Congratulations to the schools that have been selected to attend the 2013 Nike High School Grand Prix!

British Columbia
Girls – Still accepting applications. Please contact the HSGP team at info@highschoolgrandprix.ca
Boys – Penticton – Penticton Secondary School

Alberta
Girls – Cochrane – Cochrane High School

Boys – Airdrie – Airdrie Koinonia Christian School

Saskatchewan
Girls – Prince Albert – St. Mary High School

Boys – Moose Jaw – A.E. Peacock Collegiate

Manitoba
Girls – Winnipeg – Kelvin High School

Boys – Neepawa – Neepawa Area Collegiate

Ontario
Girls – Brampton – Fletcher’s Meadow Secondary School

Boys – Toronto – Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School

Quebec
Girls – St. Hubert – Heritage Regional High School

Boys – Chicoutimi – École Secondaire Odyssee Dominique-Racine

Nova Scotia
Girls – Cole Harbour – Cole Harbour District High School

Boys – New Glasgow – North Nova Education Centre

New Brunswick
Girls – Rexton – Bonar Law Memorial School
Boys – Rexton – Bonar Law Memorial School

Newfoundland
Girls – Gander – Gander Collegiate Concordes

Boys – St. John’s – Gonzaga High School Vikings

Prince Edward Island
Girls – Kensington – Kensington Intermediate-Senior High School

Boys – Charlottetown – Colonel Gray Senior High School

Northwest Territories
Girls – Yellowknife – NWT Storm
Boys – Yellowknife – NWT Storm

Yukon
Girls – Whitehorse – Yukon Girls
Boys – Whitehorse – Yukon Boys

Events offered:

• 100m
• 200m
• 400m
• 800m
• 1500m
• 110m hurdles
• Long jump
• High jump
• Shotput
• 4 x 100m (combined with other provinces to form a team)

The Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association and the Manitoba Volleyball Association

would like to invite you to a

Media Reception to announce

The 2012-13 Recipients of the

Dr. Dale Iwanoczko Memorial Volleyball Scholarships

To be held on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2013- noon

At the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame

145 Pacific Ave

Five outstanding high school Volleyball players will be presented with scholarships.

Lunch will be served.

SCHOOL SPORTS NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR HOLDING PROVINCIAL TABLE TENNIS AND CROSS COUNTRY SKIING TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEKEND

Provincial Cross Country Skiing is being hosted by Stephenville High. Schools represented are: the host, Stephenville High, Menihek High (Labrador City), Viking Trail Academy (Plum Point), Gros Morne Academy (Rocky Harbour) and Canon Richards Memorial Academy (Flowers Cove).

Champions will be declared in Senior Girls, Senior Boys, Junior Girls and Junior Boys. The classic style will be use for individual races and freestyle for relay races. Gold and Silver medals will be awarded at the team events and Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded at the Individual events. Distances for the individual events include: Sr. Girls – 5 km; Sr. Boys – 7.5; km; Jr. Girls – 2.5 km and Jr. Boys – 5 km. Distances for the relay events include: Sr. Girls – 1 km; Sr. Boys – 1 km; Jr. Girls – .5 km and Jr. Boys – 1 km. Races will be held starting Saturday morning.

Six schools will be represented at the Provincial Table Tennis tournament where Dorset Collegiate in Pilley’s Island is the host school for this event. Schools registered are: Ascension Collegiate (Bay Roberts), Eric G. Lambert School (Churchill Falls), Heritage Collegiate (Lethbridge), Viking Trail Academy (Plum Point), Jane Collins Academy (Hare Bay) and the host Dorset Collegiate. A team champion will be declared, as well as individual event champions will be declared in Boys Singles, Girls Singles, Girls Doubles, Boys Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Team encounters begin at 9:45 a.m. Friday. Individual event round robin begins at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday.

In addition to the gold and silver SSNL medals, a championship banner will be awarded to the winning team. Individual gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded at the individual events. SSNL believes strongly in the values and principles of Sportsmanship. In recognition of this, an individual sportsmanship medal will be presented to one deserving person from each team. All teams and officials vote to recognize a team who has displayed great sportsmanship, as well. This team is awarded the Team Sportsmanship Banner in the Table Tennis tournament.

School Sports Newfoundland and Labrador tournaments are made possible, in part, because of the generous support of corporate sponsors. Subway and Dairy Farmers Assoc. /School Milk Foundation are sponsors of SSNL.

For complete schedule and game scores, visit our website at www.schoolsportnl.ca

Convenors:

Cross Country Skiing – Rosemary Ryan 648-2260(t) 648-9512(f) rosieryan230@hotmail.com

Table Tennis – Mark Warren 652-3190(t) 652-3172(f) markwarren@ncsd.ca

Media Contact:
Karen Richard, Executive Director
karen@sportnl.ca
709-729-2795

History of Hockey

Variations of hockey have been played around the world starting back in 4000 BC in Egypt. However, through the years, the sport has developed, and hockey as we know it today has been around since the 19^th century. It is believed that the sport has evolved from outdoor stick-and-ball games adapted to the icy conditions of Canada by the British soldiers and immigrants to Canada. “Shinny” – an early form of the sport with no standard rules – was played in Nova Scotia, Montreal, Quebec City, Kingston and Ottawa.

The first official game of the sport took place in Montreal in 1875. There were nine players on the ice, no boards, 6-foot wide net, a puck, and 60 minutes of game time. The sport became increasingly popular from that moment on. Leagues started to pop up around the nation and the first world championship took place in Montreal’s Winter Carnival in 1883. From then on, the sport gained immense popularity and made it’s way over to Europe thanks to the efforts of Lord Stanley’s five sons.

Hockey in Canada Today

For many male and female high school students, the high school they choose to go to depends entirely on the caliber of the schools hockey program. There exists a number of great hockey development programs within high schools across the nation. Lets take a look at some of the best programs in Canada that are available to our future hockey stars today.

Okanagan Hockey Academy

The Okanagan Hockey Academy offers a hockey program that is comprised of education at Pendicton High School, hockey, off-ice strength and conditioning, mental training, and personal and team development. The program runs for 10 months out of the year by a staff of professionals that are dedicated to the growth and development of each student athlete.  The combination of the on-ice program, off-ice conditioning program and the mental training program provides an opportunity for maximum player development.

For more information on the Okanagan Hockey Academy, please visit www.hockeyacademy.ca

The Banff Hockey Academy

The Banff Hockey Academy (BHA) offers a ten-month program for college-bound male and female athletes. They hire only the most dedicated and hard-working staff to work with the student athletes. There are a limited number of students accepted into the program so that the coaches and educators are able to really focus on the students. There is a strong academic program where students are expected to focus on their education just as much as their hockey development. The BHA offers on-ice development, off-ice development and mental training for all student athletes. The BHA focuses on developing mind skills as they find them to be the most important factor in athlete development. These mind skills are confidence, persistence, teamwork and organization.

For more information on the BHA, please visit www.banffhockey.ab.ca

Other Preparatory Schools offering great hockey programs

• Blyth Academy – Burlington, Ontario
• Brentwood College School – Mill Bay, British Columbia
• Everest Academy – Thornhill, Ontario
• The Hill Academy – Vaughan, Ontario

Kara Pilek is the ultimate team player. With her positive attitude, she has the ability to lift up her team and lead them to victory.

In her senior year at St. Boniface in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Kara has led her team to the Warren tournament championship. She was named the tournament all-star for her outstanding performance. She has also led her team to a second place finish at the Elmwood tournament.

The 5’5″ guard racks up the points on the scoreboard with an average of 12 points per game all while leading her team in assists and minutes played. She plays a big part in the success of the St. Boniface Centurions Girls Basketball’s team.  She recently received the award for Athlete of the Week from the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association.

Not only does Kara love basketball, but she also competes regularly in badminton, volleyball and track & field. Her competitive edge carries over into her academic life as well. She is currently maintaining an 83% average in her senior year.

History

William Morgan – the director of the YMCA in Hollyoke, Massachusetts – created volleyball in 1895 by taking the framework of the German game Faustball and reworking the rules to make a more competitive sport. Some years later, after many rule tweaks and local competitions, the sport grew in popularity globally. In 1964, Volleyball was sanctioned as an official Olympic Sport and made its debut at the Tokyo Olympic Games.  It is currently estimated that over 500 million athletes worldwide participate in the sport.

In 1900, Canada saw its first Volleyball match when it was included in the schedule at a YMCA in Ottawa. After the first induction match, regular inter-city competitions took place in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto.  Like in many other countries across the world, volleyball did not become popular until the end World War II. Canada’s first international Volleyball competition was nine years after the end of WWII at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago.

Recent Tournaments

Lambrick Park Lions – British Columbia

The Lambrick Park Lions (AA), who are ranked number 9 in all of British Columbia and the top women’s high school volleyball team from Victoria,competed in the Camosun College High School Tournament over Thanksgiving weekend.  For the third year in a row, they made it to the finals. Playing against a tough number 2 ranked AAAA team, they lost against South Delta. The competition was fierce and it was a great opportunity for the girls to improve their skills against such a talented squad. The girls were excited to be playing at such a high level, and their second place finish by no means dampened their spirit.

St. Mary Marauders – Saskatchewan

The 25^th annual Mustang Volleyball tournament at Mount Royal Collegiate in Saskatoon took place over the weekend of Oct. 20^th.  The St. Mary Marauders triumphed at the tournament losing only one game and claiming the senior boy’s volleyball title. During the preliminary round robin against St. Joseph’s, Centennial, and Birch Hills, they managed to keep a perfect record of 6-0. In the championship round robin against Regina Campbell, Meadow Lake, Carlton Comprehensive High School, St. Joseph’s and Holy Cross, they were 9-1.  Their stellar winning record paved their way to the final four where they had 2 straight set wins against Holy Cross and Meadow Lake to claim the championship title. The Marauders are three-time defending Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association 5A senior boy’s champions.

In the girls division, the Marauders also started off strong with 5-1 in the preliminary round robin against Virden and Saskatoon’s Mount Royal and Marion Graham. In the championship round robin, they finished 6-4 against Regina Campbell, Greenall, Marion Graham, Holy Cross and Evan Hardy. Although they had a great performance, it was not enough to beat Holy Cross who took the championship title.

A few of the Marauder players received individual recognition awards at the tournament.  Riley Houle was the tournament MVP and Aaron Halyk and Brianne Murray were selected to be a part of the all–star team.

Clarenville Cougars – The Dalhousie High School Volleyball Invitational

The Dalhousie High School Volleyball Invitational was held the weekend of October 6 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Clarenville Cougar boys’ team ended up going home with the gold medal. They won their first two matches against St. Joseph’s and Halifax West by winning 2 straight sets. They won their last qualifying match against a team from South Colchester, NS, which resulted in a first place finish in Pool 1 and a guaranteed spot in the Tier 1 playoff round.

The team won the quarterfinals against a team from Park View, NS. They faced Queen Elizabeth from Foxtrap, NL in the Semi-finals and took the game two sets to one. The fight for the Championship title was between Clarenville and Hortons. In the previous years tournament, Clarenville lost to Hortons in the finals. Adrenaline was high and redemption was in on the mind of the Cougars going into the final game. It is with much dedication that Clarenville came out on top claiming gold in two sets scored at 25-21 and 25-21. As well as the gold medal, three Clarenville players went back home with special recognition awards. Jordan Smith and Christopher Williams were named tournament all stars, and Nathan Barker received the title of tournament MVP.

Volleyball Canada Centre of Excellence

Volleyball Canada implemented Volleyball Canada Centre of Excellence (VCCE) programs in British Columbia last year. The Centre has now expanded into Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. With this expansion, there are now 116 Centres across the country.

The purpose of this program is to help prepare high performance athletes in the development of their volleyball career.  The training is based around skill development and low intensity repetitions with small groups. The staff consists of professional coaches are aware of what is necessary to develop the athletes skill to the next level.  The Centre is geared towards student athletes between grades 10-12, but there are some Centres that offer programs for student athletes in grade 8 and 9.

Other than intense training and skill development, the program also provides student athletes the opportunity for physical assessments, testing, weight training, and exclusive access to online resources.

This is an excellent program if you are interested in further developing your volleyball skills.  To find a centre near you, please click on the link provided – http://www.vcce.ca/centres/

Taylor Gillespie

Taylor Gillespie from College Jeanne-Sauvé in Winnipeg was the 2012/2013 High School recipient of the $500 Milt Stegall Scholarship and of the $500 high school scholarship from the Manitoba Foundation for Sports.

Taylor is a well-rounded student athlete with skills that transfer across many sports.  He is the captain of his high school rugby team and plays rugby at the National level on the Manitoba Provincial team. His dedication and excellence in the sport earned him an invite to the U18 national team tryout camp.

Taylor is also an accomplished boxer, and was the captain for the Manitoba team at the 2011 Canada Winter Games.  He was a provincial finalist in cross-country and also competes in volleyball, football, and track and field.

There is more to Tyler than just athletic talent – he excels academically as well. He graduated from high school with an average of 93%. He loves giving back and being involved with his community. He coached a grade 8 volleyball team to a divisional and provincial title, assisted coaches at his boxing club and tutored math students in his spare time.  Tyler is also fluent in Spanish and French, and plays drums in a band.

His role model is his father, who qualified for the 1976 Olympics in Archery, who is very supportive and encouraging of everything Tyler does.

Tyler graduated from high school in June 2012 and is currently attending the University of Manitoba with hopes of pursuing a career in Medicine.

With the public school board opposing Bill 115 and withdrawing extra curricular activities, many high school athletes find themselves without the opportunity to play in a regular season on a sport team representing their high school colours.

Many school teams have turned to out-of-town tournaments and exhibition games to maintain some normalcy. The girls’ senior volleyball team from Assumption College School in Brantford, Ontario competed in a tournament in Hamilton. Due to lack of routine and lack of competitive matches, the girls did not perform as well as expected.

This seems to be a common occurrence. The St. John’s girls’ volleyball team participated in a tournament in Kitchener with similar results. Their coach, Jeff De Prosperis, stated that his girls did not play to their full potential due to the fact that they didn’t know what was going on with their impeding season and that was at the forefront of their thoughts.

Both teams have organized exhibition games against each other to get the girls competing and to establish some normalcy. ASC took the win by beating St. John’s in three-out-of-five sets after coming back from a two-sets-to-one deficit.

Both schools have tournaments to look forward to coming up in the near future, but each team would love it if they had the opportunity to play in CWOSSA or OFSAA. They will continue to practice and remain optimistic for a short, yet highly anticipated volleyball season.

St. Michael Warriors Experience a Tournament Like No Other

The St. Michael Warriors girls’ hockey team had played in a hockey tournament unlike any they have played in before. The girls, along with their coach Mark Flanagan, flew across the pond to take part in a tournament in different parts of Europe. They played in and got to take in the sights of cities in the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, and Italy between December 26, 2012 and January 6, 2013.

The girls had the opportunity to play against a variety of teams during the tournament. Some of which were easy to beat, and others that were tough to keep up with. It was a great learning experience for the girls as they got to play against teams with unique styles that they were not used to playing against.

To help pay for the trip, the girls organized a series of fundraisers to cover the $3,500 price tag per player. They hosted a development camp for youth hockey players to improve on their skating skills and organized their own spaghetti dinner to bring down costs. Some contributions were made on behalf of the Greg Cook Memorial 4-on-4 tournament to help the girls as well.

The tournament allowed the girls to grow as athletes and as people as well. The exposure to different cultures and their history has allowed the girls to establish a profound understanding of what life entails.

Warriors on a Roll

The White Rock Christian Academy Warriors takes yet another tournament Championship within the first three weeks of 2013. After securing a top-of-the-podium medal at the Terry Fox Legal Beagle Invitational and the Surrey RCMP Classic, the Warriors pull off another championship performance at the Vancouver College Emerald Tournament. Within each tournament, they have managed to defeat top ranked programs from across the province.

The final in the Emerald tournament was against the third ranked Walnut Grove Gators. It was not the first time these two teams have met. The two teams played against each other in the finals of the Terry Fox Legal Beagle Invitational just two weeks prior. Both teams played their hearts out, but the Warriors came out on top with a 75-70 victory after being down ten points at the half.

The Warriors have a well-rounded squad with six seniors playing the majority of the minutes. Whether on the offense or on defense, each one of players is aware of their role and that is reflected in their recent success.

Despite their remarkable performances, they are currently ranked second in the Fraser Valley South West Division. Regardless of their ranking, the caliber of basketball the Warriors have been playing has been inspiring, entertaining and exciting.

Juvenile Tornades Take First at the Annual Édouard-Montpetit Tournament

The girls juvenile basketball team, Tornades of Longueil, played together as one unit over the weekend and managed to capture the Championship title at the Annual Édouard-Montpetit Tournament. The girls entered the tournament at the last minute, and were not sure what to expect.

One thing was for certain, the girls did not expect to outplay and beat teams with girls roughly three years older in age than them. Their coach, Nico Loureiro, told the girls before the tournament that the goal was not just to win, but rather to improve on specific areas to help them better their performance in league games. The girls used every ounce of energy and determination they had for the five games that led them to their fairy-tale victory.

In the final game of the tournament, five of the players scored in the double digits. Each girl brought their own play to the floor, and with all the different skill sets, they created their own formula for success.

Loureiro is confident that the girls will end their year on a high note if they continue to play together and stick to the game plan. The young squad has proven themselves to be a tough opponent.