Strength in the face of adversity

Kate Paukovic is a 17-year-old student about to start Grade 12 at Dakota Collegiate.

Kate has a lot of fun playing sports but there’s one she prefers above all.

“I like to play soccer, volleyball, and basketball (but) my favourite sport is soccer. It’s the sport I have played the longest and I honestly can’t imagine my life without it,” she said.

Kate said she appreciates the companionship and competitive nature of team sports.

Deer Ridge is Brandon’s hidden golf gem

This month I stayed in Wawanesa for a few days on a mini-vacation. Why there? There are no less than 14 golf courses around this lovely valley community, all within an hour’s drive.

While there, I had to stop in at the local gas bar for an item or two. As is always the case in Friendly Manitoba, I struck up a conversation with a local and, before I knew it, I was checking out a recommendation. What follows is my happy experience at Brandon’s Deer Ridge Golf Club.

Last season I discussed a par 3 course in Brandon perfectly suited to beginners or someone who needs to get in nine holes in short order. Deer Ridge serves a different audience. To enjoy this little gem, located just north of the Trans-Canada Highway, on Deer Ridge Road (near the Esso), you need game. For example, it starts with a par 5! Very few holes on this course are plain; each link challenges the player. It’s also a popular course with locals, so booking a tee time is quite important. Due to its popularity, one should not expect a quick round, although I lucked out on an unusually slow afternoon.

Deer Ridge sports two courses in one. The traditional course has very well-maintained greens, with a fleet of eclectic electric carts and checkered yellow flags. The other course is for foot golf, played with a soccer ball. Their flags are white, and the cups are large enough to drain a soccer ball. I tried putting into the larger cups for fun, but my putting still didn’t improve. Luckily, there is a practice green for us traditional golfers to work out the kinks of the short stick. Although the fairways play tough, there is some help around the greens. Many have backing berms, so if you are a little long on your chip, the ball might roll back for you.

Local squads amid first round of provincial baseball winners

The first round of Baseball Manitoba’s provincial championships were held July 5 to 8.

The Southwest Trailblazers won the 11U A provincial title, defeating East St. Paul #2 10-6 in the final, after going 3-1 in pool play and defeating the Corydon Rockies 9-1 in the semifinals.

Dakota won the 15U A championship, beating East End Wings 23-6 in the final, after a dominant, undefeated 4-0 performance during pool play, and beating Assiniboia West 15-7 in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, the Bonivital Gold Sox beat the Bonivital Blue Sox 13-3 to win the 18U A tier 1 provincial title, while the Corydon Comets beat the Charleswood Goldeyes 18-10 for the 18U A tier 2 championship.

Haka rugby camps coming to Winnipeg July 25-27

Winnipeg youth will soon have the chance to take part in an upcoming Haka rugby camp.

The three-day camp will be held from Thursday, July 25 to Saturday, July 27 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Maple Grove Rugby Park, which is located at 190 Frobisher Rd. in south St. Vital.

Hosted by Winnipeg’s Assassins Rugby Football Club, the camp is run by Haka Rugby Global, which fuses its passion for rugby with New Zealand’s Māori culture and heritage to help develop the next generation of leaders.

The camp is tailored to girls and boys in the U8 to U16 age range, and participants are supported in a safe and controlled environment, where they will learn skills that apply both on and off the rugby pitch. Players aged 14 to 16 will also receive a more in-depth experience of elite training, organizers say.

Excited about heading into the field again

Jane Edstrom is preparing to pack her bags for her latest Olympic adventure.

The Windsor Park resident will be officiating track and field events at the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11.

No stranger to the international track and field arena, the 69-year-old former phys-ed teacher has officiated at events around the globe, including the Rio 2016 Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was held in 2021 in unprecedented circumstances due to the pandemic.

“I’m feeling good. I’m excited for this one,” Edstrom said, noting that the experience in Japan was, at times, unusual — not least because of the lack of spectators in the stands owing to COVID-19 restrictions and protocols in place at the time.

No limits for local soccer star

Ella Santarsieri has the world at her feet.

With an impressive sporting resumé and a growing list of accolades, the River Park South resident is excited about her soccer future, not least because she’s committed to the University of British Columbia to further her education and play the game she loves when she graduates from St. Mary’s Academy next year.

This year, the 16-year-old midfielder was invited to train with coach Joey Lombardi at the Ontario National Development Centre, where she’s a part-time player. She’ll be attending upcoming trips such as NCAA top university tours, showcases, and tournaments, as well as multiple training events with the team.

In 2022, Ella was a member of the 1v1 Futbol Dreams Academy team that won the national U15 girls’ championship, winning the golden boot as the tournament’s top soccer with seven goals in four games.

Gators find new hockey home

Peter Tomko has done just about everything there is to do in hockey. He’s been a scout, coach, owner, magazine publisher — even a player agent. His love for the game and his desire to keep the dream alive for another generation has brought him to East St. Paul as owner, coach, and general manager of the East St. Paul Gators.

Members of the Hanover-Tache Junior Hockey League (HTJHL), the Gators have moved to East St. Paul after one season in the R.M. of St. Clements. They join the Springfield Xtreme, Steinbach Huskies, Landmark Blues, Red River Mudbugs, Macdonald Swarm, Lorette Comets, Niverville Clippers, as well as expansion teams in Mitchell and Ste. Anne, in the Junior C loop.

Tomko said he started the Gators because recent developments have deterred many players from pursuing their hockey dreams. Participation fees for Junior A and B teams have soared. The focus is on elite players only. What about the late bloomers whose games or approaches need some tweaking? Where do they fit in?

Tomko’s in it for them.

St. John’s keeps rolling — one bowl at a time

As years come and go, this Winnipeg lawn bowling club just keeps rolling along.

In Manitoba, lawn bowling season opens in May and runs until September. This provides apt time for a variety of leagues, championships, and workshops for those who are already involved or looking to get into the sport.

For some time, a leading force in opening up lawn bowling to everyone — not just the older population, with which the sport is most commonly associated — has been St. John’s Lawn Bowling Club, located in St. John’s Park on Main Street across from Mountain Avenue.

The club was organized in 1904 and became a mixed club in 1951. Since then, it’s remained a welcoming and accessible placed for anyone who wants to play.

The girls of summer

The week of July 21-27 is Women in Baseball Week, an annual worldwide event recognizing the value, diversity, and cultural significance of women in baseball.

The best-known female players in our province are the 11 women who played in the All -American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) and were inducted into the provincial baseball hall of fame in 1998 as a group called Manitoban All-American Girls. The AAGPBL operated in the American Midwest from 1943 to 1954, and many top softball players from Manitoba and Saskatchewan went south to show off their skills. The 68 Canadians who played in the league, were inducted as a group into the Canadian Baseball HOF on June 4, 1998.

The league’s rules were adjusted from softball with extended base paths and runners allowed to lead off and steal bases. The ball was reduced in size from 12 inches in circumference to 9.25 inches, with sidearm pitching permitted in 1946, and overhand pitching, as in baseball, in 1948.

Pitchers Olive (Bend) Little from Poplar Point and Doris (Dodie) Barr from Starbuck, along with infielder Dorothy Hunter from Winnipeg played in the AAGPBL’s first season. Little took 1944 off when her daughter Bobbi was born but was back on the rubber for the Rockford Peaches in 1945 and 1946. The left-handed Barr pitched for six different teams until 1950, winning 79 games. Hunter played one season with the champion Racine Belles and then became a team chaperone in Milwaukee and Grand Rapids. She is one of only three women to participate in all 12 league seasons.

J.H. Bruns grad has a passion for sports

Malaya Fernandes is a 17-year-old who just graduated from JH Bruns Collegiate.

“My senior year of high school was great,” Malaya said. “With me graduating, I have been trying to live in the moment and appreciate the little things more. With that, I have been able to make wonderful memories with everyone, as well as savour each experience. With balancing school, work, sports, and university preparation, it has definitely been challenging, but at the same time rewarding. Physics is my favorite class because it ties in with the majority of my other classes. There’s something new every day and it never gets boring. The things we learn and do keep me so interested and make me want to learn more.”

Clearly, Malaya loves sports.

“I enjoy almost every sport. It doesn’t matter if I’m playing for a club, school, or just for fun as I will always jump in and participate. Besides my main sport, soccer, and my current school team, flag football, I adore participating in volleyball, basketball, track, tennis, golf, and any other sport to exist on this planet! My favorite thing to do is to be active so any chance I get, I will take it! Through all my years of playing sports, my favorite would easily be soccer. It has been a part of me since I was four years old, and I honestly couldn’t imagine my life without it. Playing soccer truly makes me feel like the world is stopped and the only thing on my mind is the game. It brings out the passion, competition, joy, and fire in me. It allows me to play while still learning and having fun, at a high intensity. It has become a part of my everyday life and I hope to pursue this sport in the near future.”

N.K. U12B boys soccer club enjoys undefeated season

The North Kildonan U12B boys’ soccer team capped off an undefeated season on June 26 at its final home game at the Donwood School soccer field.

The team earned a 14-0-2 record during the WYSA spring outdoor season. Coached by Brock Groening and Kevin Townsend, the team consisted of eight returning players and eight new additions this season and playfully referred to themselves as the North Kildonan “Turkey Cobras.”

“I couldn’t be more proud of this group of young men,” Townsend said. “Tremendous competitors, who also display great sportsmanship. They have really grown in these few short months together.”

Sports in brief — week of July 3, 2024

Nell among 2024 Manitoba’s Credit Unions Scholar Athlete Award winners

The Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association has announced Vincent Massey Collegiate’s Danika Nell is one of four $2,000-scholarship recipients of the 2024 Manitoba’s Credit Unions Scholar Athlete Awards.

According to a news release, the scholarships are awarded to four graduating high school student-athletes who maintained a minimum 85 per cent average and completed in at least two interscholastic sports. Other criteria included school, community, volunteer, and citizenship activities.

The other three scholarship winners were Griffin Carnelley of Carman Collegiate, Kaiden Dyck of Miami School, and Raylyn Koshowski of Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School. In all, 56 athletes were nominated this year.

Run for the border, then make a left

Winnipeggers for years have thought nothing less than to spend just a weekend’s worth of time in a foreign country.

Why not when that country, the USA, is only a couple of hours away? The majority of folks cross into that foreign land at the Emerson border crossing. Well, the next time you head towards the land of divisive politics — no, not Alberta — hang a left before the port of entry, head for the river, and follow the signs. Soon, you’ll be greeted by the new Emerson Golf Course.

You will know you have found it when you see a replica train station, which is the clubhouse, fashioned after Emerson’s original CN station. The facilities are practically brand new. Flooding of the original golf course required a re-think of location, and this new one, started in 2014, was moved to behind the protective dike. Indeed, the dike lines the course on one side, and the train tracks mark the opposite border. Both indicate ‘out of bounds.’ Trains heading south sometimes require patience, as they can be reportedly two miles in length, and travel slow southward into the States. If you are on the course and have somewhere to go after the ninth, download an e-book! Canadian bound north trains go by promptly and politely, as one would expect.

This course has a water feature dug into the center, and many of the holes share this hazard, making for different difficulties for each link. Some use it as green backers, others green barriers, and many others use it as lateral hazards. There is a separate little water hazard for the second hole, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in exasperating placement when you’re trying to reach the flag.