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Vernon’s Kevin Hill takes home gold
VERNON - Vernon is applauding the success of one of its own today with the news of local snowboarder Kevin Hill winning gold at the Winter X games in Aspen, Colorado. Hill earned the medal Friday, Jan. 23 in the snowboarder X competition. The community couldn’t be happier for him. Silver Star Mountain Resort issued...
Kelowna skier in Austria for ski cross world championship
KELOWNA – Having recovered from an injury, Kelowna’s Ian Deans finds himself with a chance to get back on the World Cup ski cross circuit. Deans is representing Canada as an alternate on Canada’s ski cross team at the 2015 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championship getting underway today, Jan. 15, in Kreischberg, Austria,...
A second chance for Thistletown Boxing Club
KELOWNA – One of B.C.’s last remaining boxing clubs is getting a fresh start thanks to some help from a local business owner. Kelowna’s Thistletown Boxing Club first opened in 2007. For seven years it was managed by former National champion Graham McIntosh before financial troubles forced him to close the doors in July. A...
Two Kelowna Rockets selected for Team Canada camp
KELOWNA – A pair of Kelowna Rockets will be fighting for a chance to play on Team Canada at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. Captain Madison Bowey and Rourke Chartier will be traveling to the Team Canada selection camp at the Centre for Hockey Excellence in Toronto. Camp starts on Dec. 11. “Both...
Kamloops native invited to National Junior selection camp
KAMLOOPS – Hockey Canada has released the list of 29 players invited to the National Junior Team selection camp and Kamloops native Joe Hicketts is on that list. Hicketts, 18, plays for the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League and is the first Royal to be selected for the junior camp. He currently leads...
Vernon paralympian Josh Dueck announces retirement
VERNON - Beloved Vernon athlete and three-time Paralympic medallist Josh Dueck is moving on to a new chapter in his life. After winning gold and silver medals at the Sochi Paralympic Winter Games, the sit-skier has decided to retire. “So, the time has come to retire from competition and redirect my energy on family, community...
Centre of Gravity welcome back but only in July
KELOWNA – Centre of Gravity is welcome to return to Kelowna for its eighth year, but only if it’s not during the August long weekend. Council received a report from the Outdoor Events Committee Monday, which looked at how the three-day festival impacted residents, the RCMP and local infrastructure. Wet Ape Productions agreed to move the...
“Heavy Hands” from the West to fight stranger from the East
KAMLOOPS - Ken Huber spends the majority of his days preparing to fight someone he doesn't know. He eats, trains, eats again then trains some more. He practices fighting someone with a right-hand dominance, then a left-hand dominance. Huber doesn't even know the man's name. On the opposite side of the country, a stranger is...
Bid on Blazer jerseys to raise funds for cancer foundation
KAMLOOPS - The Kamloops Blazers, along with the support of Safeway and CIBC's Run for the Cure will put on the Safeway Breast Cancer Night, in an effort to raise donations for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. The Breast Cancer Night game will take place Oct. 24. Each Blazer on the roster will wear a...
Cycling: the Penticton tourism industry’s next target
PENTICTON - Cycling is a popular hobby and sport in the South Okanagan but it could soon be a major tourism driver. City representatives introduced the idea of Penticton as a province-wide cycling destination to provincial ministers at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Whistler last week. But Tourism Penticton, an entity of the city, already...
Young Stars may be back to Okanagan again next year
PENTICTON - The stands were full with fans ready for a good ol' hockey game at the South Okanagan Events Centre this past weekend, when the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Young Stars Classic. Young prospects from the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Winnipeg Jets played a series of games in the tournament, and...
Sharpen your skates for the Young Stars Classic this weekend
PENTICTON - Playing in the NHL is a dream for many young hockey players, and a bunch of young stars will get closer to making that dream a reality at the Young Stars Classic this weekend in Penticton. Prospects of the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets will be playing at the...
Community Centre offers free classes next week
PENTICTON - It’s time for a new season to start, and with that comes a new recreation guide, therefore the Community Centre is offering free classes and programs next week. Try It For Free Week is scheduled for Sept. 8 to 14. People can try different recreation and aqua fitness programs, including Zumba, yoga and...
Teacher strike throws off extra-curricular programs in the North Okanagan
VERNON - The B.C. teacher strike has thrown off many school sports and other non-curricular programs, though some activities remain on course thanks to parents and outside maintenance workers. Superintendent of the Vernon School District Joe Rogers says some fields aren’t being maintained due to picket lines, while others run in conjunction with Greater Vernon...
City hands Challenge reins over to new stewardship
PENTICTON - Challenge Penticton is officially under the new leadership of triathlon experts Kevin Cutjar and Michael Brown. Cutjar and Brown won the city’s bid this spring to take the Challenge reins and steer the competition in the right direction. The team will invest $300,000 over five years—the length of the new contract with the...
There’s a first Challenge for everyone
PENTICTON - Tara Ivanitz sits at the back of the room with a smile on her face as she watches her boyfriend, Nathan Champness sit on a panel at the front of the room filled with professional triathletes who will be participating in Challenge Penticton this weekend. While her beau is a seasoned athlete, finishing...
Your weather forecast for Challenge weekend
PENTICTON - The weather will cool off this weekend — a lucky break for triathletes competing in the second Challenge Penticton race on Sunday. There is a chance of rain Thursday through Saturday, with Sunday being the only day not calling for showers. There is a chance of thunderstorms Thursday, with a high of 25...
Challenge Penticton lines up weekend full of events
PENTICTON - The second Challenge triathlon is this Sunday and there are lots of all-ages events lined up in the days before the race. Events start Thursday, Aug. 21 and run for four days. There will be fun runs, a junior triathlon race, party in the park, free yoga and a charity swim. The whole...
Paddle your heart out this weekend at the Rattlesnake Island SUP Classic
PEACHLAND - If there's nothing like having the sun on your face and wind in your hair while pulling a paddle through the water along the lake on a Sunday morning, there's a new event happening that may be just the thing to do this weekend. The first ever Rattlesnake Island SUP Classic takes place...
Penticton Hospitality Association endorses Challenge Penticton
PENTICTON - The Penticton Hospitality Association has officially endorsed Challenge Penticton for a second year in a row. The association donated $15,000 to the Triathlon Society — funding from the Hotel Room Tax dollars that were recently given back to the association by the city. “To have the support again this year from the PHA...
Challenge home-stay program a rewarding experience
PENTICTON - Chris Hawkins is no stranger to triathlon races — being a four-time Ironman participant he knows the importance of pre-race preparation, such as rest, good diet and peace and quiet. That’s why last year, Hawkins, his wife (also a triathlete) and their two young daughters hosted professional athlete Chris Bagg and his wife...
New weekend and more competition means COG not yet sold out
KELOWNA – One of Canada’s hottest beach festivals is back again this year, but Center of Gravity founder Scott Emslie says ticket sales are down compared with last year. “We sold out by May last year,” he says. “We’re 90 per cent sold out right now so tickets will be available at the gate.” The...
Over 2,500 cycle in Penticton Granfondo
PENTICTON – There were some pretty famous people riding in the fourth annual Prospera Granfondo Axel Merckx Okanagan in Penticton on Sunday. Olympic medalist Clara Hughes was there as one of the event’s special guests, as was Vancouver Canucks president Trevor Linden and rocker Barney Bentall. The Granfondo featured a 160 kilometre cycling route along...
Vernon’s Pospisil in Wimbledon doubles final
LONDON – Vernon’s Vasek Pospisil has made it into the men’s doubles final at Wimbledon with his American partner Jack Sock. The pair beat Leander Paes of India and Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a semifinal on Friday. The 24-year-old lost in the men’s singles early in the tournament so has...