Doug Zywina
Pirates shine at westerns
The Parkland Pirates youth rugby program is starting to pay dividends when it comes to local players representing the province.
Nine Dauphin athletes and one coach represented Manitoba at the 2022 Western Canada Rugby Championships, July 28 to 31, in Kelowna, B.C.
Aaron Miner coached the U16 boys, which also included Dauphin’s Sully Fox, Will Miner and Lars Gudbjartson.
Dauphin was also represented by Chloe Fletcher, Brooke Miner and Emma Fox on the U18 girls team and by Jospeh Lopez, Oliver Dandeneau and Kyle Lunsted on the U18 boys squad.
Check this week's Dauphin Herald for the full rundown!
Hitting the ice
Former Dauphin King Nakodan Greyeyes demonstrates a drill working on backhand passes at the Elite Skills and Skating camp, Aug. 2, at Credit Union Place in Dauphin.
The week-long camp for the 31 U11 and U13 players who registered featured two on-ice sessions with Greyeyes and former King Grady Hobbs and dryland training with strength and conditioning coach Haley Choma.
Mavericks continue to roll, win third straight contest
The Dauphin Mavericks won their third straight game, Saturday in Brandon, scoring a 26-0 win over the Winnipeg Wasps, to improve their record to 3-4.
Camillus Abatai scored two tries, while Nick Searle and Riley Keith scored one each and Ryan Dreger had three converts. Searle was named Man of the Game for Dauphin.
Dauphin allowed 125 points in their first four games, all losses. In their three wins, the Mavericks have only allowed two tries for 10 points.
When the season started in June, team president Codi Harrigan said the Mavericks were a new team that had never played together.
“We had some new guys and never really knew what we needed to work on or what the other teams would bring to the table,” he said. Once they had a few games under their belts, the Mavericks knew what they had to work on. One of the things that was consistent that we needed to improve on was our defence,” he said. “So we worked on that in practice. Guys showed up to practice consistently. We really improved on our defence and it’s really starting to show. Our scrums, we’re winning those. We’re winning our lineouts. Our defence is really holding teams to a minimum number of points right now. That’s really come to light lately.”
Having players attended practice on a regular basis has really helped the team’s steady improvement on the pitch.
“When guys show up consistently, the more time we get with the ball in our hands, running our systems, it only does good. When we go to a game, it’s like we’re just going to another practice, but with some opposition. It’s definitely helped us,” Harrigan said.
Three players who are new to the sport played their first game on Saturday.
“One guy never played rugby in his life and he picked it up quick,” Harrigan said. “We play a simple system. It’s just straight up rugby and he did great. he enjoyed it.”
Anyone interested in playing rugby with the Mavericks is encouraged to call Harrigan at 204-648-6446.
Dauphin will be home to the Haka Rugby Global Elite Camp, Aug. 18 and 19, at Kin Field at the Vermillion Park Sportsplex.
The camp is open to youth ages seven to 18 and will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., each day.
Harrigan said it is a camp which tours around the world. They have already been to Europe, he said, and are now in the United States before heading north of the border.
“It’s a great chance for youth to develop their skills or come try out the sport,” he said.
One of the instructors, Harrigan added, will be a fulltime New Zealand All Blacks rugby player.
There is only 50 spots available, so Harrigan encourages anyone interested in attending the camp to register as soon as possible.
To register, visit www.hakarugbyglobal.nz/camps. The registration fee is $150 and includes a HRG training t-short and shorts.
Teeing off to victory
Jerron Kyle watches as his eight-year-old son Bennett tees off at the Aspen Insurance Adult-Junior Golf Tournament, Thursday at the Dauphin Lake Golf Club.
The pair combined to shoot a nine-hole total of 49 to win the boys nine-and-under event.
Lucy Lee and Mike Pernarowski won the girls nine-and-under with a 60. Grayson Stykalo and Scott Stykalo won the boys 10-to-12 age group, shooting a 45, while Charleigh Carefoot and Laurie Vandendool won the 10-to-12 girls event with a 61.
Boston Karlson and Tyler Carefoot needed a two-hole playoff to win the boys 13-to-18 age group over Jackson Delaurier and Stan Homeniuk after they finished tied with an 80.
Ava Knutson and Jennifer Knutson won the girls 13-to-18 age group with a 109.
Twenty-five teams participated in the tournament.
The race is on
Close to 100 cyclists hit the trails at the Northgate Trails for the first-ever Northgate Classic, Sunday.
Here, one cyclist grabs some water from Max Robert-Betzold during the race.
Lunch and a talk
Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier, in the background, took the opportunity to celebrate summer with some of his constituents when he hosted a barbecue outside his local constituency office at the Dauphin Market Place Mall, Aug. 3.
The get together gave the MP a chance to connect with area residents to discuss the issues on their minds over a hot dog and cold drink from Neepawa’s Farmery Brewery.
Province, feds commit to upgrades and expansion of lagoon system
The City of Dauphin will see its lagoon system finally get upgraded and expanded.
The federal and provincial governments announced more than $34.4 million in funding for 10 wastewater and waste management projects in Manitoba, including $9.1 million for the Dauphin project.
Work will include constructing and upgrading a lagoon reactor system, building a new sewage treatment facility, and installing new pipes and will result in increased capacity to treat and manage wastewater and to accommodate population growth.
The announcement was made Monday by Manitoba Labour, Consumer Protection and Government Services Minister Reg Helwer.
The City’s Director of Public Works and Operations Mike VanAlstyne, said the upgrades will allow the city to continue their current operations and improve the quality of the effluent released into Vermillion River once it has been treated.
“The improvements will also allow for a sustained population growth and industrial growth,” he added. “It’s going to be good. It’s going to improve our environmental outputs to the world and to the surrounding areas and lakes and wetlands. By reducing nitrogen and phosphorus levels, you’ll have cleaner waterways that meet environmental conditions.”
Design work is expected to begin this winter, with construction expected to begin in 2024 or 2025.
“It’s a large project that takes some detailed work. We’ll work with the province and the federal government, because the water quality regulations fall with them now. So they’ve output limits to what the water quality should be, so we have to work to meet those.”
After many years of trying to get this project off the ground, Dauphin mayor Christian Laughland said the announcement is huge for the community when to comes to expansion.
“And just overall facility operations, too. It’s really good to see,” he said. “It means a lot just from the expansion side, especially with the fact that the highway on the south side is being updated now, as well. I’m really looking forward to the next, really, five to 10 years in Dauphin. I think it’s going to be a really exciting time to be really open for business and have a lot of different companies, private and public, come to the community and, hopefully, operate out of here.”
Dauphin MLA Brad Michaleski said the federal and provincial governments working together with municipal government was a key to the project coming to fruition.
“The timing is good. We need this type of infrastructure investment for the growth and development of the community and it’s just fantastic that we’re getting this commitment,” he said.
Businesses, Michaleski said, are looking for regions and communities that are developing their infrastructure to attract business.
“It’s a very positive signal from Dauphin to the business world, to the investment world that we’re getting out in front of this, that we’re making the structural investments needed,” he said. “It’s great that the province and federal government are both onside with this.”
Carefoot gets help behind the bench
Former Rangers Colton Robak and Chris Belhumeur will join head coach Tyler Carefoot on the Parkland Rangers’ bench this season.
After two seasons with the Rangers, Robak played junior A hockey with the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Steinbach Pistons and OCN Blizzard. He helped out at times last season as a trainer and enjoyed being back in the rink.
“And Tyler Carefoot approached me early this summer about potentially coaching. It wasn’t an easy decision, just because I am quite busy with work. I work at the hospital as a nurse, so it was challenging trying to decide whether I was going to do it,” he said. “After a short discussion, I was able to make it work, so I was able to go in.”
While maintaining his duties as trainer, Robak will also work with the team’s defencemen.
Get the full in depth story in this week's Dauphin Herald!
Around the corner
The ice is in at Credit Union Place, which can only mean hockey season is not that far away.
An elite skills and skating camp takes place at the CUP, Aug. 2 to 5, featuring former Dauphin Kings Grady Hobbs and Nakodan Greyeyes, as well as strength and conditioning coach Hayley Choma.
The Dauphin Kings skill and development camp goes, Aug. 15 to 19.
Fender bender
A two-vehicle accident on River Avenue, Saturday morning delayed the start of the Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival parade.
One vehicle had pulled over to let passengers out to watch the parade and was rear ended by another vehicle.
No one was injured in the accident.