Exciting times ahead for several members of the u15 Wheat City Wranglers lacrosse team as they have been selected to represent Team Manitoba u15 at the upcoming Nationals tournament in Regina. The four players (Vaughn McLeod, Cash Zdan, Mason Woychyshyn, Owen Ducharme) will join 18 others from Winnipeg to comprise the 22 person roster for the Manitoba entry. Wranglers head coach Rob Wilson was also selected as an assistant coach with the club. For McLeod, Zdan, and Woychyshyn, it will be their second time representing the province having participated last year as part of the u13 program. Goalie Owen Ducharme will be representing team Manitoba for the first time. Wheat City Wranglers club founder coach Marty Zdan, as well as coach Rob Wilson, have been a driving force to help these players succeed in representing Manitoba. Team Manitoba practiced three times a week and strength training out of Winnipeg in preparation for Nationals.  The team will be heading to Nationals in Regina Aug 14 to 20. First game will be on Aug 14 at 11 am against BC.

The City of Brandon is inviting all members of the public to participate in a conversation on the future of Brandon’s Community Sportsplex. The City of Brandon has commissioned a needs assessment to determine the best future use of the current Sportsplex arena and increase the accessibility and functionality of the facility, to develop conceptual designs and cost estimates to guide decision making and future investments. A come and go open house will take place on Wednesday, August 16, 2023 from 4 to 7 p.m. in the arena space at Brandon’s Community Sportsplex, 30 Knowlton Drive. In addition to the open house, an online survey is open until August 23, 2023. Input from Brandon families in the open house and online survey will be used to help determine needs and priorities for future improvements. The needs assessment will give Brandon a roadmap to ensure enough ice time, court time and leisure space for everyone. It is evaluating options, such as a renewed ice plant and arena or an alternate redevelopment, such as indoor turf and sport courts. The independent analysis is being done through a combination of market and trend analysis, stakeholder and community input, site assessments and costing models. The outcome of this project is to determine a viable option for redevelopment, and to develop the conceptual design for the renewed Sportsplex. The proposed and approved redevelopment will then move into a conceptual design phase, and the related construction project will be put forward in the 2024 capital budget for City Council consideration. More details on this project can be found at brandon.ca/recreation-assessment.

Four players (Jayce Woloski, Knox Zdan, Ari Lang, Riley Mangin) who suited up for the Wheat City Wranglers this season will be part of Team Manitoban at the upcoming U13 Lacrosse National Championships being held in Regina. Zdan, Lang, & Mangin are all residents of Brandon while Woloski hails from Rapid City. Understandably they are excited to represent their province against the top teams in the country. The group attended Team Manitoba tryouts in June and were selected out of around 50 players who tried out. The rest of the team is made up of players from the city of Winnipeg. To date they have practiced 17 times in Winnipeg over the past month and a half in preparation for the tournament. Their favourite part of the experience so far has been getting to know their teammates and coaches. For all 4 players, this is their first time playing at this level. Lang and Zdan are 2012 born players who will have the opportunity to tryout again next year for the U13 provincial team. Woloski and Mangin are 2011 born players who will move up to u15 next season. Team Manitoba opens up the tournament in Regina on Monday August 14 vs Nova Scotia, followed by games vs Saskatchewan, BC and Ontario.

A Wheat Kings forward core with depth, size, and skill, has officially added a little bit more of all three. The team is proud to announce forward Dominik Petr has signed a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement, and will join them for the 2023-24 season. Petr, who stands 6-foot-2 and 165 pounds, split last season between the U18 and U20 leagues in Finland. He posted nine points in eight games for Lukko’s U18 squad and suited up in 18 games at the U20 level, picking up a goal. He also potted four goals in seven playoff games for the U18 team. “We view Dominik as a very solid two-way forward that can help us on both sides of the puck,” said Wheat Kings General Manager Marty Murray. “He’s a 200-foot-player with a good frame that we felt has the tools to produce at the WHL level.” Petr also already has extensive international experience representing his home country of Czechia. He’s played in the past two World Under-18 championships, most recently serving as an assistant captain for the team and posting two goals and two assists in five games. He’s also represented Czechia twice at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, posting seven total points in nine games over his two appearances at the tournament. Previous Import Draft picks from Czechia for the Wheat Kings include Daniel Bukac (2016), Richard Nejezchleb (2012), Jakub Sindel (2004), Jiri Jakes (2000), Jan Fadrny (1998) and Ladislav Kohn (1993). Petr will join returning defenseman Andrei Malyavin as the team’s second import player for 2023-24.

The Brandon AAA U18 Wheat Kings made the announcement yesterday that Micheal Ferland would be joining the coaching staff for the 2023-24 season. Ferland spent two years as a player in the organization before joining the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings. Upon the conclusion of his WHL career, Ferland played in 335 NHL regular season games with three different NHL teams (Calgary, Vancouver, Carolina). He retired from the NHL in 2021  and has spent some time behind the bench (assistant coach) before with the 2021-22 AAA U15 Brandon Wheat Kings and most recently as the Head Coach of the gold medal Team Manitoba at the North Aboriginal Hockey Championship. The organization also announced that Paul Mandziuk would be returning for his third season as an assistant coach with the club.