The Big Kahunas of 2013 – a showcase event of the best 24 Grade 12 volleyball athletes per gender in the metro Edmonton league – display their skills today at the MacEwan University City Centre Campus.
Match times are 4 p.m. for the women and 6 p.m. for the men. Donations to the Edmonton Food Bank will be accepted at the door.
Players were nominated and selected by high school coaches.
St. Albert and area females include Nicole Clayton and Emily Groenenboom of the St. Albert Skyhawks (3A provincial silver medalists), Amanda Bennett of the Bellerose Bulldogs (undefeated metro division two champions) and Emma Cunningham and Jae-Lyn Visscher of the Paul Kane Blues.
Local males are Zane Hermantz and Sean Poulin of Bellerose (metro division two finalists) and Kagen Kieftenbeld and Seth Perrott of the Sturgeon Spirits.
The annual Rise Up basketball tournament wraps up Saturday at Sturgeon Composite High School.
The finals are 5 p.m. for the women and 7 p.m. for the men.
The Paul Kane Blues are competing in the eight-team men’s bracket and the Bellerose Bulldogs are entered in the eight-team women’s draw.
The Blues are 1-1 in metro Edmonton division one – 71-56 loss to the Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds and 72-57 win over the Strathcona Lords – after going 1-2 as the fourth-place finishers at the 21st annual Totem Hoop Classic at Shep last weekend.
The lady Bulldogs don’t start league play until Wednesday at home against the St. Peter The Apostle Spartans at 5 p.m.
Visit www.sturgeoncomp.ca for tournament results.
Calgary Dinos slotback Chris Dobko hopes to catch on with the Montreal Alouettes after signing a two-year deal with the Canadian Football League team.
The Alouettes offered the undrafted Dobko a tryout at the team’s rookie camp this year, but the high school football product of the St. Albert High Skyhawks elected to prepare for his fifth and final Canadian Interuniversity Sport season with the Dinos.
Dobko, 23, finished as the Dinos’ all-time reception leader in the regular season with 155.
Dobko’s 2,107 career receiving yards ranks fourth all-time on the Dinos and his 15 receiving touchdowns are the fifth highest in team history.
Don Blair is No. 1 all-time on the Dinos with 2,611 yards and 26 TDs.
The six-foot, 205-pound Dobko broke Blair’s all-time career record of 138 catches with nine receptions for 203 yards Sept. 20 in the 48-24 win against the Manitoba Bisons at McMahon Stadium.
The Paul Kane High School alumnus was the Dinos’ top receiver this year with 33 catches for 526 yards in six games and scored two touchdowns.
The 2012 CIS second-team All Canadian was voted to the Canada West all-star team for the third year in a row.
Dobko is the only player in Canada West history to be part of five conference Hardy Cup championships.
In Dobko’s final CIS game he reeled in six passes for 35 yards, including a six-yard TD reception, in the 25-14 loss to the undefeated Laval Rouge et Or at the 49th annual Vanier Cup at Laval Stadium. His grab in the corner of the endzone with 1:17 left in the third quarter made it 14-12 Dinos.
It was Dobko’s third Vanier Cup and his first since 2010.
