The 52nd annual Hockey Brandon Tournament of Champions got underway today in the Wheat City. Week one sees teams from Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Regina, Kenora and more in action in the following 4 divisions. Female U13AA Male U13 A Male U13 AA Male U15 AA Next weekend sees teams from Yorkton, The Pas, Estevan, Dauphin and more competing in 3 different divisions. Female U11 A1 Male U11 A1 Male U15 A Bdnmb.ca was onhand for day 1 to capture the following images.

A new event (Brandon Bouts, Submission Only Grappling) is being presented by Wamma Brandon and organized and run by top students and the administration team. The event will be held at the Westman Centennial Auditorium April 1st, 2023. Tickets will be available online for purchase shortly through the WMCA. While this is the first time a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Submission Only Event has been held in Brandon, it is not the first time an event has been hosted by the Wamma team. In 2007 and 2008, the Wamma team, hosted the Brigham Fighting Championships. These were very exciting amateur MMA, Muay Thai, and Jiu Jitsu combination events held at the Wheat City Golf Course on the old curing ice area. The upcoming event plans on featuring 12-20 BJJ No-Gi, submission only super fights and the event will feature both male and female top practitioners from Manitoba and Western Canada, as many different clubs as possible will be represented in a full variety of belt levels and weight classes. Organizers are also planning on holding a Quintet Team Competition, this is a five man team event, with a maximum weight limit total for team. Each team sends in one member for a five minute match, if one competitor gets submitted he is eliminated, winner stays in and loosing team sends in next competitor. If there is no submission after 5 minutes both athletes are eliminated and 2 new contestants enter. This format is followed till one man standing. Judo and wrestling demonstrations and or matches as grapplers apply for inclusion. Wamma Brandon (formally BAMMA) club founder, Head Instructor and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt Chris Kading is hoping to compete at the event. Chris Kading recently competed in a similar event in Winnipeg called Submission Serious, January 7 2023. This was a 10 minute match submission only bout that went the distance and resulted in Matt McDonald, 3 Stripe Black Belt and Head Instructor from Balance Jiu Jitsu Winnipeg winning the referee’s decision. Chris hopes to find a suitable black belt in weight and age to compete against in Brandon. Match announcements will follow as athletes get paired.

The 12th Annual Easter Seals Bonspiel will be taking place at the Riverview Curling Club on February 18, 2022. Funds from this one day, for fun only curling bonspiel, go towards Easter Seals.  Organizers (Century 21Wetman Realty Inc) are currently looking for teams, 4 players per team, $200/team, and that includes dinner. Any experience or talent is more of a detriment than a help. They have already lined up some very cool raffle prizes; Westjet, Michael Kors purse, Black Wheat bar fridge full of beer, Golf Westman prize package, and more. Over the past 11 events organizers have raised over $120,000 and that money stays in Westman. For more info contact Cam Toews or an agent you know at Century 21 Westman. To register you can go to; C21charity.com or the Facebook event page.

To say the Vincent Massey High School Vikings Football Team went into the 2022 season with high expectations would be an understatement. After an undefeated season and a West Division Championship in 2021, the Vikings set their sights higher on a Division 2 Championship. After starting 3-0 the team faced a major challenge from the John Taylor Pipers at the Viking Football Hall of Fame game. After falling behind the 28-0 to the Pipers and a 28-6 halftime score, the Vikings had a major hill to climb to keep their historic undefeated run intact. After a final minute go ahead touchdown, they secured the programs greatest come from behind victory. The Vikings continued to roll through the final 3 regular season games, securing a home playoff game, by beating Myles Mac, Springfield, and crosstown rivals Crocus Plains. The Vikings hosted the quarterfinals game against the Portage Trojans, controlling the line of scrimmage and used their running backs (Temi Toogun and Braden Smith) effectively, with over 300 yards of rushing. Their defense was stingy and relentless on every play, holding the Trojans scoreless, and easily moving onto the semi finals at IG Stadium in Winnipeg vs the Springfield Sabre (a rematch from earlier in the season). The well-prepared team learned from their mistakes made in their earlier match up and entered the contest relaxed and confident. The defense had a relentless effort in a near perfect performance and the offense lit up the scoreboard and finished the 1st half up 48-0. Outstanding performances by Josh Atchison and Connor Van Santen on the defensive side of the ball and Brayden Smith, Justin Sharp and Mathew Escoto-Andino on the offensive side, kept the Vikings season perfect, and sealed a birth into the Division 2 Championship game. The Vikings have been in the Division 2 Championship game before, losing to the Oak Park Pirates in 2017. The 2017 team was the 1st ever Brandon team to compete for the D2 championship. So, the 2022 Vikings were on the cusp of history if they could stay perfect and win this Championship. The Division 2 Championships was an absolute nail-biting, double overtime game at IG Field. The Vikings stayed perfect winning 20-14 over the Sturgeon Height Huskies. The Vikings won on the last play of the game when Kevin G. knocked down a potential game tying touchdown to seal their championship. The Vikings capped off a perfect 10-0 season for the second year in a row. Congratulations to Justin Sharp and Carter Moore who won offensive and defensive players of the game. 2022-2023 Western High School Football League Awards: Vincent Massey Vikings Coaching Staff: Coaching Staff of the Year (5‘h time since 2010) Carter Moore: D2 Lineman of the Year Justin Sharp: The Blue Bombers Alumni’s Most Outstanding Award Brayden Smith: Runner Up for Rookie of the Year Brady Dane: Nominated for Assistant Coach of the Year Mike Steeves: Runner Up for Head Coach of the Year (Vincent Massey Media Advisory)

Brandon Wheat King kept himself very busy Tuesday pulling the trigger on three seperate deals. The first deal of the day saw The Wheat Kings acquire forward Dawson Pasternak (’03) and a Conditional 4th Round Pick from the Portland Winterhawks in exchange for US Import forward Colin Frank (’06), a 2025 6th Round Pick, and a 2026 2nd Round Pick in the WHL Prospects Draft. Pasternak hails from Winnipeg. Less than an hour later, The Wheat Kings acquired forward Nolan Flamand (’04) from the Kelowna Rockets in exchange for forward Trae Johnson (’05), a 2023 3rd Round Pick and a 2024 Fifth Round Pick in the WHL Prospects Draft. The clubs final deal featured The Wheat Kings dealing forward Jake Chiasson (’03) to the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for a 2023 1st Round Pick, a 2025 2nd Round Pick, and a Conditional 2026 2nd Round Pick in the WHL Prospects Draft.