Amateur – Winnipeg Free Press

ICE WAVE MEDIA PHOTO
Stonewall’s Amy Martin suited up for her first NHL assignment last weekend in Montreal, reffing two Winnipeg Jets games at the prospects tournament.

Stonewall native adds NHL to her long list of officiating milestones

Mike McIntyre 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:12 PM CDT

Talk about a “Welcome to the Big Leagues” moment.

Amy Martin, a 30-year-old referee from Manitoba, got one last weekend in Montreal. Invited to help officiate the NHL prospect challenge tournament featuring young stars from four teams, her very first assignment came under the bright lights of the Bell Centre in a clash between the hometown Canadiens versus the Winnipeg Jets.

It didn’t take long before roughly 20,000 fans were chanting “ref you suck” in her direction after what they perceived as a missed infraction.

Offended? Not at all. For Martin, it was a badge of honour.

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Homecoming for Fust

Joshua Frey-Sam 5 minute read Preview

Homecoming for Fust

Joshua Frey-Sam 5 minute read Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

It was Christmas break of 2024 when Kyu Fust found herself in a familiar setting, wrestling with an unfamiliar feeling.

Fust, who was Manitoba’s top-ranked high school women’s basketball recruit in 2023, had returned home to play in the annual Wesmen Classic at the University of Winnipeg’s Duckworth Centre. While sitting in the stands, it fully sank in that she no longer loved the game.

The feeling had been percolating for a while during her second year at the University of Regina, as she grew unhappy with her fit within the Cougars program, and her enjoyment on the court began to fade.

Fust tried working with mental performance coach Jon Giesbrecht in the second semester, but that didn’t move the needle. After the season, she distanced herself from coaches and several teammates and hardly touched a basketball or stepped on the court.

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Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Kyu Fust has joined the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s basketball team after transferring from the University of Regina Cougars program.

Colliton bringing consistency behind the bench

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Preview

Colliton bringing consistency behind the bench

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2025

Jordan Colliton has a history of elevating women’s hockey programs to new heights.

She did it with the Mount Royal University Cougars from 2015-22, first as an assistant head coach and then as associate head coach, guiding a team that was new to U Sports competition to perennial national championship contention.

The Blackie, Alta., product did it more recently across the pond, where she helped Leksands IF of the Swedish Women’s Hockey League to its best regular season finish in five years and first playoff win in eight years.

Now Colliton will try again with the University of Manitoba Bisons, a group that is starving for stability and looking to build on last season, which included its first playoff series win in six years.

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Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
The University of Manitoba Bisons new women’s hockey head coach Jordan Colliton at team practice at the Wayne Fleming Arena on Wednesday.

Bisons back in business

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Preview

Bisons back in business

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

Stan Pierre found the right buttons to push at the half.

With the Manitoba Bisons trailing 17-0 at home against the Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday, the first-year head coach delivered a message that got his troops to wake up.

“Coach P really lit a fire under us. He mentioned he hadn’t seen any Bisons team get that out-physicaled in years,” said fourth-year receiver Nathan Udoh.

“Credit to Sask for that, but we’re a competitive group. There was no way we were gonna stand for that.”

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

ZACH PETERS PHOTO / U OF M BISONS ATHLETICS
University of Manitoba Bisons receiver Nathan Udoh (10) racked up 158 receiving yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s win over the Saskatchewan Huskies.

Banfield brothers bring double-barrel noise to Rifles

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Preview

Banfield brothers bring double-barrel noise to Rifles

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

Kaiden and Kyler Banfield have been trying to outdo one another for 22 years.

In sports, and in more recent years the weight room, it’s only natural for the Portage la Prairie-born twins to push each other every day. That healthy competition has bred two football players who are both currently at the top of their respective games.

The twin stars of the Winnipeg Rifles have taken the Canadian Junior Football League by storm this season.

Kaiden, a running back, is the focal point of the Rifles’ offence, while Kyler, a linebacker, is the heartbeat of the defence.

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Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS FILES
Winnipeg Rifles running back Kaiden Banfield carries the football during the team’s practice at Maple Grove Rugby Park in Winnipeg.

Kemp and Elizarov intend to keep the party going

Laurie Nealin 5 minute read Preview

Kemp and Elizarov intend to keep the party going

Laurie Nealin 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

On a 10-point scale, just how excited are ascending pairs skaters Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov as they contemplate what lies ahead this Olympic season?

“Ten,” Elizarov said without hesitation. “I’m very excited. I think it’s going to be a good season.”

Kemp concurred.

“Yeah, I would say 10. Last season showed us when we sat and watched others compete, we were eager to compete and wanted to, but couldn’t,” she said, referring to her back injury that sidelined the pair for several months last fall before they rebounded to claim their second Canadian junior title.

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Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

Danielle Earl / Skate Canada
It’s the third time in four seasons that Winnipeg duo Ava Kemp (right) and Yohnatan Elizarov have qualified for the final as one of the six top-ranked junior pairs in the world.

Making his Mark

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Preview

Making his Mark

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Thursday, Sep. 11, 2025

Three years ago, long before he was anointed head coach of the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s soccer team, Mark Colvin was in Sweden, hastily figuring out how to pronounce the most basic words of the native tongue to communicate with preteens at a local academy.

The Toronto-born coach had touched down a day earlier with an agreement to be an assistant coach for U13 IF Brommapojkarna for a season while he adjusted to the European country.

When he arrived for the first day of practice, however, Colvin — jet-lagged and all — was informed that the head coach was sick and that he would need to take over as interim.

“I literally, quickly on a piece of paper, scribbled the Swedish words of pass, shoot, left, right, yellow and red, and then went on to the field to coach these young players, who, a lot of them, their English was not good,” Colvin, who holds onto that scrap piece of paper for sentimental reasons, told the Free Press recently.

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Thursday, Sep. 11, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Mark Colvin was named head coach of the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s soccer team in June, replacing longtime bench boss Vanessa Martinez Lagunas, who had been at the helm for 12 seasons.

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Royals host historic rumble against Pirates

Joshua Frey-Sam 5 minute read Preview

Royals host historic rumble against Pirates

Joshua Frey-Sam 5 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 10, 2025

In the days and hours leading up to kickoff, head coach Brett Delisle-Boughen harped on one message to his players: what they were doing was unprecedented at Windsor Park Collegiate.

The Royals’ black and purple outfits were already synonymous with several sports across Winnipeg’s high school landscape, but had never been seen on a football field until Tuesday. Indeed, it was a momentous moment when Windsor Park’s junior varsity nines (nine-a-side) team took the gridiron for the first time in school history.

While the Royals were not competitive in their contest against the Grant Park Pirates, many players, coaches and parents celebrated a day that was victorious beyond the standings.

“It was an incredible night,” said Delisle-Boughen. “We just have such a very supportive community here. There’s a great football community in this neighbourhood. The school staff is incredibly involved. So, it was a great kickoff to it.

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Wednesday, Sep. 10, 2025

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Windsor Park Collegiate Royals’ Elliot Aguilar (7) runs the ball against the Grant Park Pirates Tuesday in the Royals inaugural game. Head coach Brett Delisle-Boughen already has a succession plan to create a 12-on-12 varsity program next season.

Kemp and Elizarov strike gold in Turkey

Laurie Nealin 4 minute read Preview

Kemp and Elizarov strike gold in Turkey

Laurie Nealin 4 minute read Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

It’s not easy for any Canadian athlete to compete twice in the span of two weeks in two different European countries in jet-lagging time zones that require them to practise and deliver top-notch performances when their body clocks tell them it’s 3 a.m. or 8 a.m. back home.

Yet, Winnipeg figure skaters Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov overcame those challenges to pocket their second pairs gold medal on Friday in Turkey, one week after winning their first on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit in Latvia.

With two decisive wins, they qualified for the exclusive Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan in December which is limited to the top six couples in the world.

In addition to the hardware, Kemp, 17, and Elizarov, 21, return to their training site in Toronto with US$6,000 in prize money. The cash will come in handy considering annual costs for elite-level figure skaters run into the tens of thousands of dollars.

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Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

SKATE CANADA INSTAGRAM
Winnipeg’s Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov captured gold in Ankara, Turkey, at the ISU Junior Grand Prix. From left: pairs skating coach Kevin Dawe, pairs skaters Ava Kemp, Yohnatan Elizarov.

Howes set to return from ankle injury while Kemp, Elizarov battle for Oly roster spot

Howes set to return from ankle injury while Kemp, Elizarov battle for Oly roster spot 5 minute read Preview

Howes set to return from ankle injury while Kemp, Elizarov battle for Oly roster spot

Howes set to return from ankle injury while Kemp, Elizarov battle for Oly roster spot 5 minute read Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025

Winnipeg figure skater David Howes is building back from an ankle injury that foiled his summer training plan and delayed his senior competition debut, but that hasn’t diminished his excitement about the season ahead.

“Spring of this year, everything was going really well. Then I had a significant ankle injury that took me out for a month, two months,” explained the 2025 national junior men’s bronze medallist.

“I was off (the ice) for all of May and part of June. Since then, we’ve just been working on rebuilding and regaining strength in my ankle.”

Howes, 18, competed earlier this month in the B.C. Summer Skate, finishing third at the junior level with a total score some 20 points shy of his personal best recorded at the nationals qualifier in Winnipeg last December.

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Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025

DANIELLE EARL / SKATE CANADA FILES
Winnipeg pair Ava Kemp (right) and Yohnatan Elizarov are set to join teammate David Howes at the senior level and could be in the conversation to represent Team Canada at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Games.

Lacap golden at pickleball nationals as Winnipegger looks to go pro

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Preview

Lacap golden at pickleball nationals as Winnipegger looks to go pro

Joshua Frey-Sam 6 minute read Monday, Aug. 25, 2025

Cole Lacap never got a chance to prove he belonged with the best who swing a racket — so he’s trying again, this time with a paddle.

The 27-year-old Winnipegger is pursuing a career in professional pickleball seven years after his dream as a pro tennis player fizzled. Despite his evident talent as a teen, Lacap was squeezed out of tennis as the financial demands of the sport became too much for him and his parents to bear.

Now he’s already making strides in one of North America’s fastest-growing sports.

Lacap struck gold in the men’s singles 4.5 (19-plus) division at the National Pickleball Championships, held at Taylor Tennis Centre over the weekend.

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Monday, Aug. 25, 2025

Earl Masangkay Photo
Cole Lacap won gold in the men’s singles 4.5, 19-plus group at the 2025 Pickleball National Championships at Taylor Tennis Centre on Saturday.

Hockey Manitoba ices longtime executive director

Mike McIntyre 2 minute read Preview

Hockey Manitoba ices longtime executive director

Mike McIntyre 2 minute read Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025

Hockey Manitoba has iced its highest-ranking member after more than two decades at the helm — but isn’t publicly disclosing the reason for the sudden move.

In a brief email to media Thursday, the organization announced only that “the employment of our executive director has been terminated effective August 15, 2025.”

The statement did not name Peter Woods, who has led the provincial governing body since 2001.

“We wish him the best in his future endeavours. Hockey Manitoba remains committed to serving our members and ensuring continuity during this transition. The Board of Directors will provide our membership with an update on the path forward in the coming weeks,” the release concluded.

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Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Peter Woods

Multi-sport Sawatsky sisters return to Canada Games for different cross-country contest

Zoe Pierce 4 minute read Preview

Multi-sport Sawatsky sisters return to Canada Games for different cross-country contest

Zoe Pierce 4 minute read Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025

From snowy cross-country skiing trails to rocky mountain bike courses, sisters Kate and Mia Sawatsky have tackled it all together.

Although skiing is still the sport they consider their main focus, the multi-talented athletes have carried a childhood passion for mountain biking to their second Canada Games, competing this week in St. John’s.

From Altona, Kate, 17, and Mia, 20, grew up with biking all around them. Their parents were passionate cyclists, and with cousins involved in the sport too, the sisters naturally followed the same path.

“Biking was probably one of the first sports we did because we could do it with our family,” said Mia. “We didn’t need like a team or to sign up for anything, really, we could just go and do it.”

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Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025

Canada Games Photo
Team Manitoba’s Kate Sawatsky is following in her sister’s path, participating in a bevy of high school sports on top of their shared cross-country skiing and mountain bike endeavours.

World Archery Youth Championships finally underway in Winnipeg

Zoe Pierce 6 minute read Preview

World Archery Youth Championships finally underway in Winnipeg

Zoe Pierce 6 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025

After days of delays caused by the Air Canada strike, hundreds of young archers from across the globe finally stepped onto the line Wednesday morning at Winnipeg’s Grant Park Fields — kicking off the first official competition day of the 2025 World Archery Youth Championships.

With winds gusting up to 38 km/h, athletes battled through a compressed schedule that, for many individual events, packed qualifying and elimination rounds into the same day.

Originally scheduled to open Aug. 17 with 64 countries, travel disruptions forced organizers to condense the eight individual recurve and compound qualification and elimination events from what would have spanned four days into two.

“I’m just so happy that we’re shooting right now,” said Kelly Taylor, event chair. “It’s been a very trying process. Last Thursday, it looked like there might be two teams here, and I joked that, well, I guess Sri Lanka is winning all the medals.”

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Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS
Winnipegger Bailey Mathers made sure to make newcomers feel welcome to team Canada.

Female baseball gaining popularity as it makes Canada Summer Games debut

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Preview

Female baseball gaining popularity as it makes Canada Summer Games debut

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Monday, Aug. 18, 2025

Softball is no longer the only option for females stepping into the batter’s box at the Canada Summer Games.

This year’s edition of the national event — which kicked off its second and final week Monday in St. John’s, N.L., — will feature female baseball for the very first time.

Team Manitoba is in Pool B with Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The top two teams in the group will advance to the playoff round. Manitoba takes the field today at 9:30 a.m. CT against Saskatchewan and again at 4:30 CT vs. Nova Scotia.

“To be honest, when I found out I was given the opportunity to go, I was speechless and very humbled and honoured to be a part of this community,” said shortstop Kirsten Giesbrecht, a 17-year-old from Altona.

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Monday, Aug. 18, 2025

Supplied
Kirsten Giesbrecht (left) and Mya Richard of Team Manitoba’s female baseball team. It’s ‘awesome’ to play on a female baseball team says Richard, who hails from Elie.

Wildfires force venue changes, postponements at the Canada Games

Joshua Frey-Sam 2 minute read Preview

Wildfires force venue changes, postponements at the Canada Games

Joshua Frey-Sam 2 minute read Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025

Team Manitoba athletes at the Canada Summer Games have not been immune to the effects of the ongoing wildfires in Newfoundland and Labrador, although most of their events have gone without a hitch.

The affected sports this week included sailing, beach volleyball, lacrosse and baseball.

Sailing was postponed on Wednesday and resumed on Thursday.

Beach volleyball matches were postponed on Wednesday during the day and resumed in the evening with restrictions — only athletes, team staff and volunteers were permitted at the venue. Competition was also postponed on Tuesday after an evacuation alert was issued for Paradise, N.L., about 15 minutes south of St. John’s.

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Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025

September 20, 2025

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