Local Sports

“It’s not very often you get to play in a World Juniors in your hometown, so it’s a dream come true,” the local player told Hockey Canada ahead of his August WJC debut.

The World University Games — commonly referred to outside of North America as the “Universiade” — is the largest multi-sport winter event in the world aside from the Olympics. The 2023 edition of the biennial competition will bring together over 1,000 student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25.

And while Halle Walters is now on a trajectory to represent her country on the international stage, she’s still a relative newcomer to the game, having bumped elbows in her first scrum just a few short years ago.

With a few months of play under their belts, the St. Albert Raiders high-performance hockey teams have a lot to show for their efforts — and a lot to look forward to in the new year.

“I’m ridiculously proud of our boys,” said Krystal Gray. “They have put so much time into their sports and love what they do. Being able to represent their culture and play on Team Alberta is an amazing feat and we couldn’t be prouder of this accomplishment and the people they are becoming.”

“Our curling club has been around for decades, so there’s a lot of tradition” said Paul Kane coach Michael Ng, who has led the school’s program since taking over the helm at the outset of the COVID pandemic.

Kendo, which means “the way of the sword,” is a Japanese martial art that was originally developed as a safe form of sword training for samurai. It was the sport’s connection to Japanese culture that drew Nadia Leenders to the sport when she was 16 years old, she said. 

Tayven Tremblay was one of four lucky contestants from around the world to win a trip to Tashkent, Uzbekistan to take in the 2022 World Judo Championships.

The Sturgeon Spirits and their juggernaut defence will play a high-flying SACHS Skyhawks offence in what should be an ultra-competitive division championship game on Nov. 5 with bragging rights, a banner, and a trip to provincials on the line.

Three local jiu-jitsu athletes from the Hayabusa Training Centre in St. Albert had their hard work pay off for them in the form of international competition medals.