Episode 37: March 10, 2021
Varsity Letters Podcast
Welcome back to Varsity Letters-The Podcast! This week, as the Langley Events Centre re-plays classic B.C. boys basketball championship finals, we have a guest who has coached in one of the most finishes ever. Before he assumed the head role with SFU men's basketball in 2016-17, Steve Hanson was the co-coach of the Terry Fox Ravens, and in 2012 the Fraser Valley No. 4 seeds staged an epic run through the bracket at the LEC, setting up a classic clash for the title with Langley's Walnut Grove Gators. Hanson re-lives that championship season and that title game, one which will be streamed at 8...
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Episode 36: March 3, 2021
Varsity Letters Podcast
Welcome to the Varsity Letters podcast. This week, in honour of the B.C. senior girls basketball championships, we catch up with former Centennial head coach Steve Pettifer, who in the last 1980s, led the Centaurs to five straight provincial Final Fours, including a pair of titles. Pettifer, brought to Centennial by the legendary Rich Chambers, later coached the school’s boys team into the provincial final. Varsity Letters, Canada’s only podcast dedicated solely to provincial university and high school sports coverage, is produced by Gabriel Lynn, and available at Apple Music, Spotify, or...
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Episode 35: February 24, 2021
Varsity Letters Podcast
Welcome to the latest edition of the Varsity Letters podcast. Today we chat with longtime basketball referee Karn Dhillon. Varsity Letters, Canada’s only podcast dedicated solely to provincial university and high school sports coverage, is produced by Gabriel Lynn, and available at Apple Music, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Our theme music, Generation Next, is written and performed exclusively for Varsity Letters by Chad Joiner and the MEI Screaming Eagles marching band.
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Episode 34: February 17, 2021
Varsity Letters Podcast
Varsity Letters is back this week with one of B.C.'s most enduring basketball coaches and personalities: Larry Street. The former Burnaby South grad, who played collegiately at Simon Fraser and has, for the past generation, coached the senior boys varsity at Courtenay's G.P. Vanier Secondary, Street joins host Howard Tsumura to chat about his lifelong love affair with the sport. Varsity Letters, Canada’s only podcast dedicated solely to provincial university and high school sports coverage, is produced by Gabriel Lynn, and available at Apple Music, Spotify, or wherever you listen to...
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Episode 33: January 27, 2021
Varsity Letters Podcast
The UBC football nation, just like all of the other tight-knit, tradition-laden programs across Canada, mourned the loss of 2020 university football season. Thunderbirds’ head coach Blake Nill, however, is excited and hopeful for the prospects of a 2021 campaign… that much is obvious as the three-time Vanier Cup national championship-winning coach joins host Howard Tsumura on this week’s Varsity Letters’ podcast. Varsity Letters, Canada’s only podcast dedicated solely to provincial university and high school sports coverage, is produced by Gabriel Lynn, and available at Apple Music,...
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Episode 32: January 20, 2021
Varsity Letters Podcast
From a college football career at Brigham Young University to an NFL coaching internship under Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy with the Kansas City Chiefs, Mike Rigell has travelled a varied and valued road on his journey to becoming the head coach of Simon Fraser University football. Today, Coach Rigell joins the Varsity Letters podcast ready to speak to all facets of his football life, from putting on the pads as a young grade schooler, to helping guide Simon Fraser football through the past 10 months of the coronavirus pandemic. Varsity Letters, Canada’s only podcast dedicated solely to...
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Episode 31: January 13, 2021
Varsity Letters Podcast
Happy New Year. Our first podcast of 2021 features Chris Kennedy, Superintendent of Schools for West Vancouver, and a lifelong B.C. high school basketball coach. Kennedy's popular blog Culture of Yes is now in its 11th year, and today the Richmond native stops by to engage our provincial audience with everything that the word Optimism means in his eyes as an administrator, educator and coach. Share with us not only his hope for the post-pandemic world and for the role our youth will play in it, but the example our young people are setting in real time for older generations with their spirit of...
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Episode 30: December 17, 2020
Varsity Letters Podcast
He was the leading man on a high school basketball dynasty which ushered in a new era of mainstream popularity for B.C. boys high school basketball. Former Richmond Colts star Ron Putzi stops by to join host Howard Tsumura on this week’s Varsity Letters’ podcast. Tsumura covered Putzi’s high school exploits just as his own career as a journalist was beginning and the two have kept in touch over the years. In this week’s episode, the pair have a delightful time dissecting Putzi’s rather unique multi-sport background, and also discuss the five seasons he spent stateside with the NCAA...
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Episode 29: December 10, 2020
Varsity Letters Podcast
The Varsity Letters time machine spins the knobs and dials and heads back to the year 1971 to celebrate (a wee bit early) a very special 50th anniversary BC high school moment! Our guest? Basketball B.C. president Stu Graham has worn so many hats, and he brings the entire wrack to the for as he chats hoops and life with host (and fellow North Delta Huskies grad) Howard Tsumura. Over the course of 50 minutes, we talk about Stan Stewardson, the Silver Moon Store, hairstyle of the 70s and so much more. Varsity Letters, Canada’s only podcast dedicated solely to provincial university and high...
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Episode 28: December 3, 2020
Varsity Letters Podcast
TSN’s Farhan Lalji, a 31-year high school football coach in the province of B.C., stops by to chat with host Howard Tsumura about a whole host of topics. This coming Saturday at B.C. Place Stadium would have been the 2020 Subway Bowl provincial championship finals, so we chat about everything in and around the high school and university football scene, and how COVID-19 has cut a swath straight through its heart. In an episode taped just as Wednesday’s Pittsburgh-Baltimore game was set to kick off, Lalji and Tsumura also talk about the silver lining in a tough season: The mergence of...
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