The Boyd Stadium project continues to roll along as it nears completion, and they are now ready to start laying sod. Volunteers are required to assist with the project which gets underway Wednesday, August the 16th and runs to Friday, August the 18th. A minimum of 20 people a day are required to assist and organizers are hoping to double that number each day. They will be laying sod daily from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and any assistance your can provide during that time would be greatly appreciated. Completing this project over these three days will ensure the fields don't weed over are ready for use next year. The committee would also like to thank Alternative Landscaping for helping out with the project and to to D&B Sprinklers for providing the field with the water it will require to get the sod laid.

Division 2 Pizza Hotline captured their second straight Division 2 Championship on Thursday night, in Wendys Summer Hockey League action. They defeated the Vionell Holdings Property Barons 5-2 in a game played at the Sportsplex. Braeden Boschman and Kris Benson each scored twice to lead Pizza Hotline. Brandon Switzer, who will playing NCAA Division 1 hockey this season at the University of Alaska Anchorage, scored both goals for Vionell Holdings. It was the first year in the league for the “Property Barons”. Division 4 The leagues other final played on Thursday night was one for the ages. Double Decker at one point held a 4-0 lead before Pik-A-Dilly stormed back scoring 5 goals of their own, in capturing the Division 4 final. Pik-A-Dilly tied the game with only 18 seconds left on the clock to send the game to overtime.  They eventually picked up the win in dramatic fashion in OT and handed Double Decker their only loss of the summer. Jake Thomson picked up 4 pts (2g, 2a) in the win, while Nathan Flett also dented the twine twice for Pik-A-Dilly. Brett McKinnon registered a hat trick in the loss.

Some Wheat King news for you today. Logan Thompson, last seasons starting goalie for the Wheat Kings, will attend the rookie camp of the NHL's Las Vegas Golden Knights. Tyler Coulter will attend the Arizona Coyotes rookie camp. Coulter, who completed his junior eligibility last season with the Wheat Kings, has also signed a deal with the ECHL's Allen Americans for 17/18. Rugged blueliner, Dmitry Osipov has been invited to the camp of the AHL's Chicago Wolves. Like Coulter, Osipov finished his junior career in Brandon last season after being acquired by the the team at the WHL's trade deadline. Travis Young, who played several seasons with the Wheat Kings, has been named the new head coach of the Valley Wildcats of the Maritime Junior Hockey League. Young, from Souris, played 5 seasons in the WHL with both Brandon and Prince Albert. He then played for several seasons with the Acadia U Axemen before his career was cut short by concussion related issues.

Today the UFC released a series of new events for their 4th quarter with Winnipeg being named among one of the 12 cities listed to receive a fight card before the end of December. The Winnipeg show is being listed as a FOX UFC Fight Night inside the MTS Centre on December 16th. At this time no fights have been announced for the event. This will be the UFC's 2nd trip to Winnipeg, the last one being UFC 161 in 2013. Stay tuned to the UFC for ticket on sale information.

On behalf of Matt & Courtney Calvert, and everyone on the shootout committee, we wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you for your support behind this inaugural event, and the Palliative Care Unit of Brandon. Thanks to your generous contributions, the donation to the Brandon Regional Health Foundation is set to be north of $50,000! The cheque presentation will take place at noon on August 1, and is of course in memory of the late Donna Hamm and Melvin Calvert. Year 2 is set for Thursday June 28/2018 at the Wheat City Golf Course. Any suggestions on how to maximize your sponsorships dollars for next year are also greatly welcomed! We want to make sure that on top of contributing to great local charities and programs that we can help your business get maximum exposure for the dollars spent. Again, THANK YOU!!!! Sincerely, Matt Calvert, Courtney Calvert, Scott Hellyer, Shauna Turnbull, Rob Rae, Kyle Hamm & Spencer Day Matt Calvert Charity Shootout Committee