The City of Brandon has been officially named host community for the 2024 Active Aging in Manitoba 55 Plus Games.  The announcement was made yesterday at the 2023 event in Portage la Prairie. Scheduled to take place June 18 – 20, 2024, more than a thousand athletes from all across Manitoba will gather in Brandon to participate in the largest multi-sport event in the province.  The annual 55 Plus Games will run for the 41st year offering age-friendly competition in over 25 events ranging from Cribbage and Scrabble to Pickleball and Slo-Pitch.  The games are open to anyone 55 years of age or older and will often see participants who are well into their 90’s. Seniors for Seniors Brandon and Brandon First worked collaboratively on a successful bid for the 2024 Games and will continue to partner with local participants in forming the host committee. “[The] announcement that the 55+ Plus Games will be hosted in Brandon in 2024 is extremely exciting.  This will have such a huge impact in Brandon for our aging population, and we are pleased to be working with the hosting committee to help implement [it],” stated Rob Lavin, Executive Director of Brandon Seniors for Seniors Co-op Inc, “Brandon Seniors for Seniors Co-op Inc. continues to maintain and improve the quality of life for older adults in Brandon by providing opportunities that enable and encourage optimal independent living. We would like to congratulate Brandon First for their dedication in ensuring that the 55+ Games return in 2024.” Active Aging in Manitoba coordinates these games as a celebration of healthy living and proof that Manitobans of all ages can lead active, engaged and healthy lives.  The games emphasize recreational activities combined with social and cultural experiences. “Active Aging in Manitoba is very excited to have the MB 55+ Games returning to Brandon in 2024.  We are very grateful to the Brandon host committee for their commitment and look forward to supporting their efforts to ensure another successful Manitoba 55+ Games!” says Linda Brown, Executive Director for the organization. Brandon First, the destination marketing organization for Brandon that works to bring event hosting opportunities to the city is proud to provide guidance and support to the local host committee for the 2024 games.  Executive Director, Jennifer Watson says “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome the Manitoba 55+ Games back to Brandon. It was such a great experience in 2016 and this event brings such a wide cross section of competitors to our community so we’re very excited to show off our hospitality and hosting abilities to this group once again in 2024.” Active Aging in Manitoba has a comprehensive 55 Plus Games Website that will have further information posted as we move closer to the 2024 event for anyone who interested in being involved. https://activeagingmb.ca/55games/

A pair of players, Jaxon Jacobson & Nolan Saunderson, who played minor hockey in Brandon last season were recently announced to the Male U16 Summer Development Camp roster.  The camp, July 19 – 22, 2023, will be the third phase of five in the Hockey Manitoba Male U16 Program of Excellence and will include practices and games, as well as team meetings and team building events. Jacobson spent last season with the Brandon Wheat Kings U-18 AAA team where he amassed 60 points in 44 regular season games. He was selected in the 1st round, 5th overall in the in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft by the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Spokane Chiefs used the 90th overall (5th round) to select blueliner Nolan Saunderson. Saunderson picked up 28 points in 31 games this past season with the Brandon Wheat Kings U15 AAA squad.

The Westman Heat U17 AA softball team headed to Winnipeg, Buhler Field, over the weekend to participate in the U17AA showcase tournament and returned home with a championship title in their possession. They finished the round robin sporting a 2-2 record, as noted below. Lost Eastman 12-7 Lost Central 7-4 Win Bonni Vital 18-6 Win Northwest Reapers 6-1 In semi-final the Heat toppled Central Charge 9-7 before a highly anticipated rematch with Eastman in the championship game. The Heat turned the tables on Eastman in the tournament final with a convincing 9-3 victory.

The MJHL's 2023-24 regular season schedule begins on Friday, September 22nd 2023 with 5 games scheduled for the evening.  The Dauphin Kings regular season kicks off that evening at at home with a matchup against the Swan Valley Stampeders. That same evening, the Neepawa Titans travel to Waywayseecappo to tangle with the Wolverines and the Steinbach Pistons visit Virden to take on the Oil Capitals. The MJHL consists of 13-teams broken up into two divisions. Each team will play a 58-game schedule that concludes on March 17 2024.

The Western Hockey League announced today that the Winnipeg ICE franchise has been sold and relocated to Wenatchee, Washington, and will operate under the new ownership of David White of the California-based Shoot the Puck Foundation. The sale and relocation of the Winnipeg franchise has received the approval of the WHL Board of Governors and is effective immediately. Wenatchee becomes the sixth U.S.-based WHL team and will join the WHL’s U.S. Division and Western Conference for the 2023-24 season. The relocation to Wenatchee will allow the WHL to balance its Western and Eastern Conferences with 11 member Clubs in each Conference starting next season. Unfortunately, multiple attempts by the ICE ownership to construct an arena facility of acceptable WHL standards in Winnipeg, based on the agreed upon timeframes, were unsuccessful, leading to the relocation to Wenatchee. The Western Hockey League would like to thank the Winnipeg ICE fans for their support and the ICE organization for building a highly successful hockey program that we expect will have a great future in Washington State.