January
•Coast mountain biker Magnus Manson was set for success for the 2015 competitive mountain bike season. He was named to the Norco Factory Racing team.
•A record turnout of 99 registrants and a mild sunny, Dec. 14 morning made the 2014 edition the best Holiday Hustle yet.
•Junior hockey leagues from around the province continue to benefit from products of the Sunshine Coast Minor Hockey Association (SCMHA). Kyle Horseman is in his second season as captain of the Cowichan Valley Capitals. The Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League is loaded with Coast talent. Braedon Cross is with the Kerry Park Islanders, Blake Pearson is the starting goalie for the Comox Glacier Kings, Ben Meyerink is a winger with the Peninsula Panthers. Defenceman Tyler Graham is with the Dawson Creek Junior Canucks of the Northwest Junior Hockey League as is entre Therin Hemstalk. Kyle Bergh is with the Princeton Posse of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
•Oliver Telfer, who has been studying at the University of Victoria for the past five years and captain of the highly successful UVictim Ultimate team, was one of six students and one alumna from UVic selected to represent Canada at the 2015 World U23 Ultimate Championships in London, England from July 12 to 18.
•The Sunshine Coast Minor Hockey Association hosted a successful Winter Classic hockey tournament with the Atom C1 Blues winning a silver medal and the Peewee Blues winning a bronze medal.
•The Chatelech ski and snowboard team was off to a great start with more than half of the team placing in the top 10 at its second race of the season on Jan. 10 in Whistler.
•Stuart Richey was honoured by the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack as a five-year senior with the men’s volleyball team.
•The Jared Wannamaker team won the A-event at a successful men’s curling bonspiel at the Gibsons Curling Club.
•Michelle Jakszuk helped lead the UBCO Heat women’s volleyball team to the number one ranking in Canada.
February
•Sunshine Coast biathlete Sasha Qureshi skied fast and shot straight at the Nester's Biathlon BC Cup in Whistler, which resulted in two personal bests.
•The PGA of British Columbia unveiled its top 100 PGA professionals of 2014 and Sunshine Coast Golf and Country Club pro Jim Pringle was one of the pros named.
•Julia Budd was getting prepared for her debut with Bellator MMA at a major card in Fresno, Calif. Budd, training full-time in Port Moody, and signed a three-fight card with Bellator after several successful years with Invicta FC.
•The Sunshine Coast Atom C2 Blues represented the Sunshine Coast Minor Hockey Association the Jan. 31 weekend in a gritty 12-team “atoMc Tournament” in Chilliwack.
•Julia Budd dominated from start to finish defeating Gabrielle Holloway at Bellator 133 in Fresno on Friday night, Feb. 13.
•At 12 years old, Gibsons Garrett Horsman has more trophies and awards then a lot of athletes will receive in a lifetime. And he’s certainly not finished winning more. For the past three years, Garrett has been a force to reckon with on the motocross circuit on 65 and 85cc. He has been riding for several associations, Vancouver Island Motocross, Canadian Motosport Racing Corp., Future West Arenacross, Westshore MX in Victoria and Western Washington Arenacross.
•Gibsons Michelle Jakszuk and the UBC Okanagan Heat women’s volleyball team were off to the Canada West Final Four after upseting defending national champion Manitoba Bisons 2-0 in the best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal playoff series.
•The Chatelech Secondary School boys snowboard team won the North Shore championship banner after racing in the experienced ski and snowboard North Shore Athletic Association finals in Whistler clinching a spot at the provincials in Revelstoke.
•Elphinstone Secondary School claimed the schools third North Shore basketball title after the Grade 9 boys team edged Collingwood 54-52. The Cougars went 14-5 on the season including a 5-2 record in North Shore League play.
•The Sunshine Coast Atom Rep Blues picked up a bronze medal at the California State Winter Games in Carlsbad. Overall, the Blues posted a record of 2-0-2 and had the lowest team goals against average in the eight-team tournament.
•The Sunshine Coast Skating Club entered seven StarSkaters to compete at Winterskate/Regional Championships. The skaters brought back six gold medals and one silver medal. Congratulations to Alice Clements, Sarra Barinbaum, Helena Vourtsis, Hanna Matsumoto, John Mailey, Cooper Jones, and Isabella Jones.
March
•The Sunshine Coast Midget A Blues finished the season on a high note, winning the playoff banner and were set to head to Dawson Creek for the provincial championships.
•The U15 Thunderbirds did just about everything to win its game against top ranked KLM United in the League Cup final in Burnaby, but after an epic 18-shooter shootout, United was able to pull out the win.
•Elphinstone Grade 10 wrestler Scout Stipec was off to the national championships in New Brunswick on the strength of a solid finish at the provincial championships.
•The newly formed Sunshine Coast Storm ringette team split a pair of exhibition games in Coquitlam. The team was formed following a learn-to-play program set up through the Sunshine Coast Regional District. Storm hopes to continue to build its program and play a full league schedule next year.
•Andrew Baron closed out his Douglas College basketball career winning bronze at the provincial PacWest championships.
•Kendra Pomfret closed out her collegiate running career with the University of Victoria Vikes winning a pair of silver medals at the CIS national track and field championships in Windsor, Ont.
•After a tough first two games, the Midget Rep Blues finished on a positive note, beating host Dawson Creek 2-1 to close out the Tier 3 provincial championships.
•The Sunshine Coast Atom A Blues finished their season on a high bringing home both the league and playoff banners.
•George Vourtsis, representing the Sunshine Coast Boxing Club, lost a five-round split-decision to defending 147-pound champion Oliver Vadja who fights out of Carlson Gracie Martial Arts in Maple Ridge.
•The Bantam Blues wrapped up its hockey season by winning the President’s Series banner.
•The Bruins beat the Oilers 6-3 to win the Sunshine Coast Adult Hockey League playoff championship.
April
•The Ya Yas captured the women’s soccer playoff championship following a 2-1 win over Source after a rain-soaked playoff weekend at Ted Dixon Field in Sechelt. The Ya Yas also captured the regular season title finishing first in the league.
•The Coasters men’s soccer team finished a great season playing in the division 2 Burnaby Men’s League by winning the Bradford Cup final, 4-1 against Real Burnaby.
•Hours of hard work and training paid off 21 when students from the Shotokan Karate Club placed in almost every division at the International Shotokan Karate Federation provincial tournament.
•The Hitmen men’s hockey team hosted successful men’s seven-a-side tournament, which brought together more than 100 players from the Sunshine Coast and Lower Mainland.
•The Wolves capped off an undefeated season by winning the men’s soccer league tournament title following a 3-0 win over Pender Harbour.
•Shaun Stephens-Whale won the 38th annual BMO April Fool’s Run in exciting fashion with a photo finish. Stephens-Whale was also crowned the top local male finisher (he’s from Roberts Creek). Top female was Langley’s Lisa Brocking with the top local female Tammy Dean.
•The finals of the elementary basketball season were held at Elphinstone, Gibsons and Pender Harbour. There were some exciting games and a great conclusion to this year’s season.
May
•The Sunshine Coast Boxing Club hosted a very successful War on the Shore 3 night of fights at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre.
•The inaugural Mountain Grind obstacle course, a 9 km run through the forest on the Suncoaster Trail in Pender Harbour, was a resounding success for organizers and competitors.
•The SCRD and the Sunshine Coast Skating Club paid a lovely tribute to long-time club member Caitlin Jarvis with a framed memorial containing highlights from her skating career including a few of her medals and achievements, and one of her competitive skating dresses.
•Sunshine Coast Spirit of Excellence brought guest coaches, including former Creeker Stuart Richey of the Thompson Rivers Wolf Pack men’s team, to work with boys volleyball programs on the Coast.
•Former professional beach volleyball player Bryce Barry, who grew up in Sechelt, provided an inside perspective on the world of professional sports in her new book, More Than Medals.
•More than 300 riders competed in the Sunshine Coaster Mountain Bike Race, held in Roberts Creek.
•Team Dynamite, made up of Sunshine Coast residents Harris Marshall, Ben Stiver and Jack Marshall, swam, cycled and ran to a third place finish at the Squamish Youth Triathlon.
•Sunshine Coast fencers Dylan Styles and Fynn Mansbridge-Fafard brought home a bronze and a silver medal from the Canada Cup tournament held in Richmond.
•The 14th annual Attack of Danger Bay downhill longboarding competition was held in Pender Harbour, attracting competitors from around the globe. Kevin ‘K-Rimes’ Reimer (current world longboarding champion) came in first, followed by Dylan Stevens, Matthew ‘Grizz’ Kroetsch, and Mack Wacey.
•Swangard Stadium was the setting for the North Shore/Howe Sound High School Track and Field Championships. More than 20 secondary schools from North and West Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler and the Sunshine Coast competed, and several Coast athletes qualified to advance to the provincial championships.
•Fans came to the Sechelt Arena for the 2015 roller derby season’s opening game. It was a last minute win by the Sunshine Coast’s Red Tide Warning versus Vancouver’s Dooms-day Bunnies.
•The Chinook Swim Club attended the invitational swim meet in Whistler and put on a stellar performance.
•Sunshine Coast Drag Racing Association hosted the Jim Oshvalda Memorial Drag Race to honour club member Oshvalda, who passed away in late 2014.
June
•Tessa May of Roberts Creek was chosen as one of the tournament all stars after her U18 BCO Elites team won gold at the Canadian National Women’s Volleyball Championships in Calgary.
•The second annual Connor Richey Memorial Tournament was held at the Sunshine Coast Golf and Country Club to honour the memory of Connor, a well-known and well-loved golfer on the Coast who died tragically too young in 2013. Revenue from the tournament goes to the Connor Richey Legacy Fund.
•A total of 120 players and 87 teams participated in the second annual Arena Bowl Pickleball Challenge at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre.
•The Sunshine Coast Novice Rapids won the gold medal in their division at the John Witt Memorial Bellie Bowl Novice Lacrosse Tournament in New Westminster. The nine- and 10-year-old Rapids went undefeated in five games: four wins and a tie.
•Local Team Canada volleyball player Kyla Richey was preparing for the Pan American Games in Toronto, the second biggest multi-sport event after the Olympics.
•Jason Haines, the superintendent at Pender Harbour Golf Club, was set to attend the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay Golf Course in Tacoma, Wash. as a volunteer greenskeeper for the golf championship.
•The Chatelech Eagles boys 7s rugby team won their home mini-tournament against Collingwood and Pender to wrap up a record season of nine wins and one loss at the junior level.
•Athletes from both Elphinstone and Chatelech shone at the 2015 B.C. High School Track and Field Championships held in Langley.
•Members of the Sunshine Coast Fencing Club claimed 10 medals at the B.C. Provincial Championships at the Olympic Oval in Richmond.
•Roberts Creek’s Kyla Richey was top scorer when Team Canada defeated the Colombians at the Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup in Callao. Team Canada finished fifth overall.
•Sunshine Coast Novice Rapids lacrosse team won the gold medal in their division at a lacrosse tournament for the second time this season.
•Thirty-five cars participated in the Sunshine Coast Drag Racing Association’s Father’s Day Test and Tune at Sechelt Airport.
July
•The Sunshine Coast Slo-Pitch League closed out the season with the playoff finals. Fujis took the title over The Big Deals 7-1.
•The Dempster Foundation Canada’s sixth annual golf tournament had its best turnout ever with more than 170 golfers and over 30 volunteers gathered at the Sunshine Coast Golf & Country Club. Retired pro-baseball player Ryan Dempster was as comfortable swinging a golf club as he was a baseball bat.
•Four gymnasts from the Sunshine Coast competed in the inaugural Whistler Summer Classic Gymnastics Tournament.
•Sunshine Coast swim coach Marie Telder was gearing up for the Special Olympics in Los Angeles, July 25 to Aug. 2.
•The Garden Bay Sailing Club had a perfect day for the 26th annual Malaspina Regatta, with 22 boats registered for the race.
•Gibsons resident Allan Harding represented Canada at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto in the men’s 10-metre air pistol competition.
•Retired pro-golfer Alvie Thompson was inducted into the BC Golf Hall of Fame. Thompson began his career in the early 1950s and had a long and successful career as a professional golfer at courses across Canada. He finished his career at the Sunshine Coast Golf and Country Club in Roberts Creek.
•Seventeen-year-old downhill mountain biker Magnus Manson from Gibsons won the title of Junior Expert National Champion in Kamloops.
•Six riders, their horses and coaches from the Sunshine Coast Equestrian Club travelled to Maple Ridge to compete in the BC Heritage Circuit Finals, bringing home prize money against tough competition.
August
•The Sunshine Coast Youth Soccer Association held its annual summer soccer camp at Cliff Gilker Park. Forty-six kids spent a week learning various technical and tactical aspects of the game.
•Canadian Junior downhill mountain bike champion Magnus Manson from Sechelt went to Vallnord, Andora for the Mountain Bike World Championship. He was selected for the Canadian team based on his success at the National Championships in July.
•Gibsons woman Kari Krystalovich won the International Natural Bodybuilding Federation in the figure division. This guarantees her a spot in the World Natural Bodybuilding Federation (WNBF) next year.
•Rising golf star Keenan Flemming from Davis Bay helped Team BC bring home a gold medal from the 2015 Western Canada Games in Fort McMurray, Alta. Team BC won gold and Keenan placed ninth individually.
September
•Under hot and sunny conditions, women runners won all three Run The Rock events on Texada Island on Sunday, Aug. 23.
•Sadohana Dojo in Gibsons had two guests in town for a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) seminar. Black belt Giacomo Zanini and brown belt Ricardo Rosa instructed local BJJ students in competition and self-defence techniques. “Jiu-Jitsu is a lifetime journey where the main goal is to improve yourself every day, little by little,” Zanini said. “Try to improve yourself in all parts of your life – that’s one of the key elements that I always try to have the students understand.”
•Gibsons marksman Allan Harding won bronze in the Canadian National Pistol Championship in Camrose, Alta., for Team. BC won gold in both the 10m and 50m events, which Harding competed in. “The big thing was the team wins,” Harding said. “That was huge for us.”
•BC SENIOR GAMES: This year’s BC 55+ Senior Games in North Vancouver marked the largest turnout of pickleballers from all parts of the province. Over three days, 177 players competed for medals in several categories, playing a total of 580 games. In all, nine Sunshine Coasters brought home 14 medals in pickleball.
•The U16 Thunderbirds boys surpassed expectations by winning silver in the Coastal Cup and then earning a hard fought 0-0 tie at Kinn to open the season – and all with almost half the team underage and with only two subs.
•Barrie McWha, general manager of Blue Ocean Golf and Country Club in Sechelt, was inducted into the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame on Sept. 28. He wasn’t expecting it.
October
•Girls U13 rep team Sunshine Coast Storm started off the season with half veteran players and half new energy, making for awesome potential out of the gate.
•The Howe Sound Hounds won the Lower Mainland Baseball Association Over-30 Title at Robert Burnaby Park.
•Women’s volleyball Team Canada – featuring Roberts Creek’s Kyla Richey – beat Mexico 3-2 for the last spot in the Norceca Olympic qualification tournament to be held in January. The game was played in front of more than 3,000 spectators at Bicentenario Auditorium in Morelia, Mexico. The game score was 22-25, 25-15, 25-17, 21-25, 15-8.
•The Canadian Fencing Federation sent seven young women and six young men to Klagenfurt, Austria for the European Cadet (U17) Circuit Tournament at the end of October – among the athletes is a Sunshine Coast épéeist, Fynn Mansbridge-Fafard.
•Juvenile Boys champion Keenan Flemming, 16, of Sechelt, was thrilled to finally claim victory on the Maple Leaf Junior Tournament (MJT). Keenan had fine scores of 73, 74 (147), giving him a one stroke margin over his friendly nemesis Khan Lee, 15, of Surrey (73, 75 = 148).
•Roberts Creek runner Shaun Stephens-Whale finished his season this year with two obstacle courses and a marathon. Stephens-Whale said that he is considering running in obstacle courses professionally next season. His first obstacle was the Spartan Race in Sun Peaks, B.C. where he came in first place out of 500.
•The world of soccer on the Sunshine Coast lost a valuable player. Coach Ian Dixon suddenly and unexpectedly died on Oct. 14, leaving behind his wife Cassy Starrs, their three sons, Anthony, Nick, and Aaron, daughter-in-law Lisa and two grandchildren.
•If you saw the opening ceremony for the 2010 Olympic Games, you probably saw Johnny Lyall, the snowboarder who jumped through the Olympic rings to start the opening ceremony and welcome the world to Vancouver. Lyall spoke at the Gibsons Rotary Club dinner about what went on behind the scenes to make such an impressive stunt possible.
•The Sunshine Coast Equestrian Club hosted the 16th annual opening meet of the Fraser Valley Hunt (FVH) drag fox hunt with more than 30 participants and five “couples” of hounds on Oct. 31. A drag hunt involves no live foxes and is purely for sport. Hunt hosts Kenan and Lynne MacKenzie rode ahead of the hunt and laid the scent of foxes on the trail for the English foxhounds to chase.
November
•Sunshine Coast Minor Hockey Association was named host for the 2015-16 Tier 3 Midget A Provincials. The Sunshine Coast will be the meeting ground for 200 or more hockey players – and their families – competing for the B.C. Hockey Provincials Championship banner in the New Year.
•The Elphinstone Grade 8 girls volleyball team beat St. Thomas Aquinas three sets to one in a very intense and close match, putting them in first place in the North Shore Secondary School Sports Association volleyball league. This is the first time that a Grade 8 team from Elphinstone has ever won first place in the NSSSA volleyball league.
•Gibsons brothers Brandon, Ryan and Jack Sheriff from the Pacific Coast Mini Road-racing Club helped set a Guinness world record at the PNE in Vancouver by riding motorbikes over daredevil Burnaby Q. Orbax 70 times while he lay on a bed of nails. This stunt more than doubled the existing record of 31, set by Simone Calati in 2013.
•Sechelt’s John Allen was up against some tough competition at the rugby Over 30 World Classics in Bermuda this year – but, he said, it was still really good rugby. After Team Canada lost to the British Lions, Allen – who plays inside center – said that a couple of bad plays cost them the semi-finals against France.
•The Sunshine Coast Storm U13 girls showed everyone why they are feared, why they are the ones to beat, and why anyone with a moment to spare should, if they know what’s good for them, go see this phenomenon in action.
•The popular Greek travel show World Party was at Coast Gravity Park filming an episode for their upcoming season. Sakis Tanimanidis, producer, director and host of World Party, said they wanted to visit the Sechelt bike park because it is considered one of the world’s top destinations for mountain bikers.
•Elphintone’s Grade 8 girls volleyball team had a phenomenal season, landing their first ever number one spot in the North Shore Secondary School Sports Association, followed by a first place win at the Vancouver and District tournament.
•Dalhousie University grad Eric Pinfold was back at his alma mater in Halifax for a team induction into the Nova Scotia Provincial Sports Hall of Fame. Pinfold played midfield on the 1995 Dalhousie Tigers Men’s Soccer Team, which is the first and only Nova Scotia men’s university soccer team to win the Canadian Inter-university Sport championship.
December
•Bob Mackie and Louise Parker participated as athletes at the Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah in October, winning another silver medal for Canada in the square dance event held in the Sun River ballroom.
•Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Julia Budd from Roberts Creek is coming off six wins in a row and looking to take the first-ever women’s featherweight title in the New Year. Budd’s next fight will be against Marloes Coenen from Holland. Budd said that she is hoping the fight will determine the first women’s featherweight (65 kg division) champion for MMA.
•Gibsons-born Kimberley Doerksen helped the Canadian team take silver in the International Association of Ultra-runners (IAU) 50k World Championship in Doha, Qatar on Dec. 4. Doerksen placed seventh individually in the race with a 3:36:27 time.
•Jordan Wilson won the fourth annual 5K Holiday Hustle on Dec. 13. Over 50 people registered to run, dance or walk in the 5k run, 2k walk and 2k dance-walk. Wilson took first place this year and Kimberley Doerksen came in second and Elliot Wadge placed third.
•Vincent Hadjioannou – a 12-year-old from Langdale – brought home the bronze medal from the Jiu-Jitsu Vancouver International Open on Dec. 5. Vincent was bumped into the 14 to 16 year old division at the tournament and still managed to hold his own against three bigger, stronger and older opponents.
•Head instructor Scott Ewen and instructor Cosme Hlatky of Coast Martial Arts Jiu-Jitsu studio in Gibsons took their skills to the next level recently by attaining their Gracie Jiu-Jitsu purple belts.
