Doug Zywina
Clippers make history winning rugby championships
It was their’s to lose and has been all season.
From the first game to the last, the Dauphin Clippers rugby teams dominated the Westman High School Rugby and it culminated with both the girls and boys celebrating the first championship in team history.
After hammering Souris, 67-0 in their semifinal match, last Wednesday, the Clippers girls secured their first league title with a 36-3 win over Rivers.
Tanya Devos and Emma Fox each scored three tries to lead Dauphin past Souris, while Chloe Fletcher had a pair. Megan Thompson, Jana Manzano and Paityn Bourgouin each had a single try and Brooke Miner kicked six converts.
In the championship game, Fox again scored three tries with singles coming from Devos, Thompson and Bree Walker. Thompson added two converts and Ruth Evans had one.
For Clippers coach Shawn Sarkonak it was his first championship, as well, after coaching in the league since 2010. He said it felt amazing.
“The girls put in a great effort. There was a lot of building blocks that were put in place for the success of this program and it all starts back with the grassroots,” he said, adding the Clippers benefited from the efforts of the Parkland Pirates youth program coaches Gerald Lopez, Becky McGregor, Codi Harrigan, Mark Symchych and many others that have been involved.
“This year really is the harvest year of the first years of that youth program. And it goes to show what it means for the high school program,” Sarkonak said. “Now they’re graduating out of it and, hopefully, the Dauphin Mavericks men’s team and the Lady Mavericks, with them trying to get back and going again, that they’ll reap the fruits of the labour from that youth program.”
Dauphin led 17-3 at halftime, but the Clippers were their own worst enemy at times, getting called for a number of penalties. They were able to clean up their game in the second half and pulled away from their opponents.
“I told them, they earned the right to play in this game with the work that they put into this season. And, although it was a final, it’s still just another game. And you’ve got to go out there and play your game. Don’t take anybody for granted and just play together as a team. Not individuals. Don’t shoulder anything and work together. And if you do, good things will happen. And it did,” Sarkonak said.
Although he is unsure of what they may face next weekend in Winnipeg, Sarkonak likes his team’s chances at provincials.
“I’m very confident going into provincials with the squad that we have here,” he said.
The girls will open the provincial tournament, Friday at 4:15 p.m., against Winnipeg’s Vincent Massey in one semifinal, while the other will see Rivers battle St. Mary’s Collegiate.
The trip to Ireland earlier this year was a factor in the Clippers successful season. Although not all of the girls made the trip to the Emerald Isle, the ones that went got a leg up on the competition, Sarkonak said.
“They hit the ground running once they came back and they never looked back at all,” he said.
On the boy’s side, Guzman Garcia and Joseph Lopez each had two tries to lead Dauphin to a 38-0 win over Vincent Massey in their semifinal victory.
Rhett Tkachyk and Louis Prevot added singles and Prevot kicked four converts.
Matthew Zurba led the way in the championship game against Crocus Plains, scoring three tries, while Lopez had one in a 26-0 victory.
Prevot had three converts.
Minutes after the trophy presentation, Clippers coach Aaron Miner said it felt a bit surreal.
“It’s been 10 years in the making,” he said.
The Clippers boys were called for a number of penalties throughout the game, but they were unable to overcome them.
“When they took those penalties, they knew that they were legit penalties. They managed to maintain their composure and not talk back to the refs this time. And they kept it in line and made those tackles when they needed to,” Miner said.
Crocus Plains made it interesting several times, coming close to the goalline on a few occasions. But Dauphin’s defence came up strong and kept their opponents from scoring.
Miner credits that to the player’s commitment and dedication.
“I credit it to their going to the gym every day. Their training. Just the physical shape that they came into the season with this year has just been tremendous,” he said. “Each and every one of these guys goes to the gym or runs after practice or does whatever it takes to become a better player. And it was proven today. We’re champions for a reason.”
Like Sarkonak, Miner said the trip to Ireland was a huge factor in the team’s success.
“Over half of them went to Ireland and they were training quite heavily before we went to Ireland, during the Ireland trip and then the training just didn’t stop when we got back. We had another month before our first game once we returned from Ireland and the training intensified,” he said. “It just got even stronger, even harder. The boys knew what we had. They knew that this was our so-called harvest year, we like to call it in rugby, where you harvest, because we had a big group of Grade 12s. It’s just amazing to watch today.”
Although they will face some challenges at provincials, Miner likes his team’s chances.
“It’ll be a great tournament. We’re looking forward to it, this Friday and Saturday in Winnipeg,” he said.
The boys will open, Friday at 3 p.m., against Dakota Collegiate, while Crocus Plains will face St. Paul’s in the other semifinal.
All games will be livestreamed on the Veo Live app. Download the app and follow the link - veolive.page.link/APRZ or look for the Crusaders club logo.
Talent on display
Seven-year-old Oscar Philippe performs AC/DC’s TNT during an evening of amateur talent, hosted by Keith Irwin Productions and Connie Hawkins at Parkway Lanes, Sunday.
Nine local musicians ranging in age from seven to 14 showed off their talent to an appreciative audience.
Irwin is looking for 15 entries for the next talent show he hopes to host in late July.
Anyone interested in performing can contact him at 204-720-0300 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Dinner and a show
Whitmore School Grade 5 student Cali Genaille serves some appetizers, Thursday evening, as the school hosted its first-ever dinner theatre.
After dining on the appetizers, the sold out crowd of 120 people were entertained by the school’s production of Pinocchio, with the main course served during the intermission.
A walk through history
The annual Cemetery Stroll, hosted by local family history group Family Ties, was well attended, Sunday afternoon.
Between 30 and 40 participants were able to walk through Riverside Cemetery and visit the resting places of some of Dauphin’s founding fathers.
The self-guided tour also included the resting place of 15 airmen who died while training in Dauphin during World War 2.
Murray, Karlson look to defend belts
The Battle for the Belts is set to return to the Gilbert Plains Country Club (GPCC), July 23.
Dale Murray and Boston Karlson will be back to defend the titles they won last year and, with registration now open, new challengers are signing up with the idea of dethroning the defending champs.
The tournament is a two-person scramble, with a 10 a.m. shotgun start and it is open to anyone, men, women and children alike.
The registration fee is $130 per team and it includes a meal and prizes.
Registrations must be prepaid by calling Chris Todoruk at 204-648-7989 or Danny Scott at 204-572-7552. The registration deadline is July 17.
There will be a $10,000 hole-in-one, sponsored by Love and Persson Group, as well as a $1,000 hole-in-one.
All proceeds will go towards upgrades at the GPCC.
Clippers look to extend winning streak at zones
The Dauphin Clippers baseball team finally hit the win column in dramatic fashion, last week.
The Clippers and visiting Hamiota Huskies needed extra innings to decide a winner, last Wednesday.
After Hamiota took a 6-5 lead in their half of the eighth inning, the Clippers started the bottom of the inning with a runner on second.
A wild pitch moved the runner to third base and a walk put runners on the corners for Declan Wagner, who proceeded to hit a home run an estimated 370 feet to straight away center field, giving Dauphin a walkoff 8-6 victory, its first win of the season.
The Clippers made it two straight wins, with a 15-8 triumph over the Ste. Rose Celtics, Friday in Ste. Rose.
Clippers coach Don Sheldon said it was a nice way to end the season, even though they gave up more runs than they would have liked against Ste. Rose.
“It was a good way to approach zones here, with a couple of wins under our belts and hopefully, we can keep that momentum going,” he said.
The Clippers showed they are capable of playing good defence, Sheldon said of the game against Hamiota.
“We held a real good baseball team in Hamiota to six runs, which is pretty good considering they were averaging 15 runs a game prior to that,” he said.
The third-ranked Clippers will host the zone playoffs, Wednesday.
They will face the second-ranked Goose Lake Raiders at 10 a.m., while the top-ranked Swan Valley Tigers host either Ste. Rose or Ebb and Flow at 1 p.m.
The winners will meet in the final at 4 p.m., with the winner of that game advancing to provincials.
“They have a good ball club, but I think we improved a lot over the season and they’re going to see a different baseball team than they saw in the first game of the season,” Sheldon said of the Raiders, adding he likes the Clippers chances at zones. “I think we’re going to compete and I expect there won’t be any easy games at zones. My hope is that we will earn a provincial berth,” he said.
Rangers coaching staff returning behind the bench
The Parkland Rangers will have some familiar faces behind the bench as the entire coaching staff will be returning next season.
Head coach Tyler Carefoot and assistants Chris Belhumeur, Colton Robak and Alex Lytwyn will look to bring some stability to the program.
Carefoot said it was something that has been in the works since the end of the season.
“It was just a matter of getting together with the board and meeting with manager (Jason) Gibbs and just sorting out a few details. There’s a few things behind the scenes that I needed to sort out that, in the end, the board was very accommodating. So I’m happy to be back,” he said.
One of the things Carefoot had to take care of was ensuring the rest of the coaching staff would return, as well.
“And then even manager Gibbs. Behind the scenes, he’s a very important piece of the pie, so to speak, with all the little things that he does and doesn’t get enough credit for,” he added.
Although they played well at times, last season, the Rangers struggled to put together a winning streak until the end of the season, when they won five of the last seven games, including four straight wins.
Carefoot and company hope to build off that late-season success.
“We were a younger group last year. We lacked some experience at the start of the season, but I think our second half proved that we can compete in this league and, hopefully, we’re going to be able to get a few more wins next season,” he said.
Carefoot plans to reach out to all of the players eligible to return next season, as well as meeting with some new recruits.
Carefoot pointed out there will be no team in Central Plains this year, so players from that region are basically free agents, able to play where they want.
“You think that it’s the offseason, but even at our level of play, there’s always something going on, so we’ve just got to keep stoking the fire and trying to make our team as competitive as we can,” Carefoot said.
The Rangers have 15 players eligible to return next season, but some of those players may end up within the junior ranks, whether it be the Manitoba Junior Hockey League or Western Hockey League.
“If everybody comes back, optimistically, there’s a lot to be excited for,” Carefoot said, pointing out the Rangers missed the playoffs by 11 points and had 15 one-goal losses during the season. “Even if you only get half of those back, you’ve got a playoff spot,” he said.
In the last three years, Carefoot said, 15 players came through the Rangers program and are now playing major junior or junior A.
“I would challenge any rural program as far as developing players. That can all be done right here. You don’t have to move away or spend the big bucks to get the development. I think its right here,” he said.
With a solid nucleus to build around, Carefoot is optimistic the Rangers will have a good season next year.
“I like what I see on paper and how that shakes out in the fall, that will be determined. But I really like the guys coming in and the guys that are coming back are, most importantly, they’re all good guys and guys that I want to cheer for and help make them, not only good hockey players, but good people. I think that’s what it’s all about,” he said.
Clippers ready to set sail into the semifinals, Wednesday
The Dauphin Clippers rugby teams will host the Westman High School Rugby semifinals, Wednesday, after both teams finished the regular season undefeated.
The Clippers girls will host the Souris Sabres, at 5:30 p.m., while the Clippers boys will host the Vincent Massey Vikings at 6:30 p.m.
The finals will be played on Saturday.
Both Dauphin teams ended the regular season with wins over Souris, with the girls scoring a 45-7 win and the boys triumphing, 52-10.
Megan Thompson led the girls with two tries, with Tanya Devos, Brooke Miner, Emma Fox, Chloe Fletcher and Felicity Sahulka adding singles. Miner had five converts.
Because the Clippers were able to jump out to an early lead, Clippers coach Shawn Sarkonak said, they were able to do some load management with some of the team’s veterans, who were banged up a bit in a win over Rivers, May 11.
“With that being the last game of the regular season and us not having our playoff semifinal game until Wednesday, that extra time for them to heal all those bumps and bruises will do well for us,” he said.
The Clippers are a confident group, Sarkonak said, but they will not take any other team lightly.
“Every game starts at 0-0 and it’s a half at a time and we make adjustments accordingly,” he said.
The other semifinal will see Rivers host Crocus Plains on Tuesday.
William Miner paced the boys with three tries, while Joseph Lopez had two. Damon Nepinak, Oliver Dandeneau and Guzman Garcia added singles and Garcia converted six of the tries.
Clippers coach Aaron Miner felt the Clippers played down to their opponent’s level.
“It was definitely not our best outing of the season. I know the score doesn’t reflect that, but in a game that could have been a learning experience turned out to be players missing their assignments, not running onto the ball,” he said.
“Just the little things that we’ve worked on for so long weren’t being executed, because we were able to get away with things against Souris. But we won’t be able to get away with them against teams like Crocus or St. Paul’s.”
Given that the Clippers beat Vincent Massey, 42-5, in the regular season, Miner likes his team’s chances in the semifinals.
“We need to execute those finer details and use this game to build on. Not saying that Massey is going to be a walkover, but they are a weaker team. They are the fourth ranked team and we are the first. So my goal is to use that game to lead into the finals on Saturday,” he said.
Souris will face Crocus Plains in the other semifinal.
Provincials will be held, June 2 and 3 in Winnipeg, hosted by the St. Paul’s Crusaders.
Dauphin and District Handivan Association holds its AGM
The Dauphin and District Handivan Association (DDHA) hosted its annual general meeting, May 16.
President Sharon Zeiler said it was a productive meeting, during which the audited financial statement was presented by Jason Zamrykut.
The board also welcomed two new members, Debra Robertson and Shannon Prokopowich, who will join remaining board members, Zeiler, vice-president Marge Beyette, Lavonne Tyschinski, Rodney Juba and Sharon Paziuk, as well as RM representative Ken Shewchuk and city representative Steven Sobering.
“We worked through our subcommittees that we set up for 2023-24. We also have a work place health and safety committee that we work with every month,” Zeiler said.
The DDHA received a $7,500 grant from the Dauphin and District Community Foundation that will be used to assist with the conversion costs of a van to accommodate a ramp allowing larger wheelchairs.
“And then we were also fortunate to get a large grant from the Building Sustainable Communities Fund, which was more than $71,000. That will go towards a new van. That was a wonderful thing to receive, because it certainly helped out the handivan,” Zeiler added.
When it comes to finances, there are some grants DDHA is eligible for and some they are not. But they also do some fund-raising, such as assisting with the Lion’s Club Bingo, June 3.
“We will be offering free rides for anybody that wants to go to the bingo with the handivan between 3:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. I believe that’s when it will be wrapped up,” Zeiler said. “We just want to do positive things for the community and give back to the community. We’ll take volunteers, not a problem. Because we’re a small board, we do have spouses helping out with our fund-raisers or we have friends of the board members that come and help out. So anybody that is wanting to help out the handivan with volunteering, we will greatly appreciate their help.”
DDHA still has trip cards for sale for $30, which allows the card holder six trips, working out to $5 per trip. Zeiler said they are on sale until Sept. 30, adding they do not have an expiry date.
There is also a like and share contest on their Facebook page for a card, with the draw for a winner at the end of the month.
Handivan drivers include Floyd, Darrell, Mike, Glen, Ken and Grant and Lori is the office administrator.
Filling it in
City staff Bradyn Smeski, Ron Paziuk and Barry Bloomfield work on filling some of the potholes on First Street Northeast, May 16.
The City has been busy getting things spruced up ahead of the busy tourist season expected this summer.