Canada's Grondin claims 2nd career World Cup snowboard cross Crystal Globe with silver-medal victory
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
11 minutes ago
- Global News
‘More than a game': New cricket facility opens in Winnipeg
A high-performance cricket facility at La Barrière Park is officially open, the City of Winnipeg announced Saturday. The La Barrière Park Cricket Fields, on city land leased by the Manitoba Cricket Association (MCA), include three pitches, four practice nets, a batting cage, new signage and three shade structures, as well as more than 100 trees. The city said more than $1.1 million in funding for the project has come from a combination of land dedication reserve funds and money from individual councillors and their wards — including Couns. Janice Lukes (Waverley West), Markus Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River), Brian Mayes (St. Vital), Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan), and Matt Allard (St. Boniface). The project began in 2018, and past councillors in the St. James and Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood wards also contributed. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Additional funding also came via the province. Lukes, whose ward contributed the bulk of the funding — more than $950,000, according a statement from the city — said she's seen the number of cricket players in Winnipeg continue to increase since the project was first announced. Story continues below advertisement 'As Winnipeg grows through immigration, the game of cricket is growing just as rapidly,' Lukes said. 'But cricket is more than just a game, in Winnipeg it's a powerful bridge that brings diverse communities together through share passion and a friendly rivalry.' MCA president Paramjit Shahi said the facilities will continue to have an impact on the quality of local cricketers. 'With these improved facilities we've seen a notable increase in player engagement and development,' Shahi said. 'We are especially proud to have had two players represent Cricket Canada, including one who is part of the World Cup team, and four players selected to the Prairie Zonal Team, with two Under-17 players representing Manitoba in national competitions in Toronto this year.'
Edmonton Journal
4 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
'Incredible to play in that atmosphere': Edmonton's Fancy Bermudez to represent Canada at Women's World Cup of Rugby
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. "To be able to go to my first Olympics at 22, and to go to my first World Cup at 23... it's way beyond my greatest wish. I don't even know if it's really hit me yet" Edmonton's Fancy Bermudez helped Canada win an historic silver medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and will now represent Canada in the 2025 Women's World Cup of Rugby for the first time. Photo by DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO Growing up in Edmonton, Fancy Bermudez started playing rugby when she was in junior high. They'd play in front of scattered crowds, mainly friends and family. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters. Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account. Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters. Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account. Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Now, the 23-year-old is a member of the Canadian women's national team. She helped Canada win a historic silver medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and later this month she will take part in her first Women's World Cup in England. She's come a long way since she started playing rugby for the Nor'Westers Athletic Association. Essential Oilers news, insight, opinion and analysis. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again 'It's really special. It was my biggest dream since I was kid to go to the Olympics. To achieve that, it was so surreal for me. To now have this summer, my very first World Cup opportunity, it seems like an intense two summers, but it's been all I could ever ask for,' said Bermudez in a phone interview with Postmedia earlier this week. 'To be able to go to my first Olympics at 22, and to go to my first World Cup at 23… it's way beyond my greatest wish. I don't even know if it's really hit me yet.' Bermudez grew up watching the fellow Team Canada captain and Edmontonian Jen Kish and the likes of Bianca Farella and Ghislaine Landry, who won bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympics in Brazil. At 16, she moved away from Edmonton and to Victoria to train with the women's national team. She went from idolizing her rugby heroes to training with them every day. 'That was a dream come true, and it only pushed me to want to reach new heights,' said Bermudez. When Bermudez joined the Nor'Westers club team, she had never played rugby before, but it wasn't long before those in the club could see she had the talent to be a standout player. She quickly excelled and became an integral part of the program. 'You could tell right away she was a very talented athlete, who picked up the game very quickly, and she's excelled beyond what we could've ever imagined, said Kelly Pawlik, president of the Nor'Westers Athletic Association. 'Fancy's commitment to improving was undeniable. She wanted to learn, she wanted to be better. She's a very gifted athlete, and that contributed to her growth, but she got some great coaching, which has gone a long way towards her development. 'It's so awesome to see where she's taking her sport. She's only 23, she's got a lot of headway, and we're really excited to see where she goes from here. Hopefully, another Olympics.' This advertisement has not loaded yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Bermudez and Team Canada played the United States in a tune-up in Ottawa on Friday night before they leave for Europe to get ready for the Women's World Cup, Aug. 22- 27. Canada goes into the tournament ranked No. 2 in the world and will look to win a medal for the first time since winning silver in 2014. The sport of rugby has women's professional leagues in countries like England, Australia and New Zealand, and they're growing much like the WNBA and PWHL are in North America. Bermudez has represented Canada all over the world and played professionally in Europe this past year, but when she steps onto the pitch for Canada's first match on Aug. 23 against Fiji, she knows her and her teammates have a chance at making more history like they did at the Olympics. 'Organizers are looking to break and smash attendance records at this year's Women's World Cup… It's going to be incredible to play in that atmosphere,' said Bermudez. 'When I was growing up, women's rugby really wasn't the thing. For that to not be the case anymore, I'm excited for it. It'll be like 'wow, we've really made it'' Pawlik said prior to the pandemic, women's rugby was considered the fastest-growing sport in Canada, and they're working hard to grow their numbers back to where they were. He said having the 2021 Women's World Cup televised on TSN gave the sport a stronger platform and gave more girls the opportunity to watch the sport. 'We're seeing some of the best growth in our junior programs that we've ever seen, and a big chunk of it is girls joining the program and being able to experience rugby in a proper setting and learn the game,' said Pavlik. 'Right around the time when Fancy started, there was a real commitment to building rugby from the grassroots across the country with our junior programs. We now have athletes that are starting to play our sport at five years old. Fifteen years ago, that was unheard of. The earliest most people started was in high school.' Pavlik said the Nor'Westers currently have over 300 athletes in their junior programs, and it wasn't that long ago that number was roughly 30. 'These kids at our club, they're able to say 'hey, she's from my same club', and that's big for these kids. The kids talk a lot about her at practices. These girls look up to her and they talk about her and say, they want to be like Fancy,' said Pavlik. Bermudez doesn't get home often with her busy national team duties, but when she does, she always makes time to give back to the next generation of kids coming up through the junior programs, because she knows what the sport of rugby has given her. 'I think rugby is a sport where if you have goals and dreams to play at a high level, you can achieve it. It's within reach,' said Bermudez. 'If there's a goal to do it, take a risk. If that means moving across the country, or across the world, do it, because it will be so worth it. Playing with (Team Canada) has been the most proud I've ever been. The feeling you have when you put on the red Canadian jersey is unmatched. It's worth the risk. It's worth the training, it's worth all the effort.' Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun
CBC
4 hours ago
- CBC
Canadian women beat U.S. 42-10 in final home game before Rugby World Cup
Canada scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to dispatch the United States 42-10 Friday in its final home game before heading to Europe for the Rugby World Cup later this month. The second-ranked Canadian women extended their winning streak against the 10th-ranked U.S. to 11 straight games, but it took time to subdue a determined American side in a physical, frenetic contest before an announced crowd of 11,453 at TD Place Stadium. Rugby Canada called the attendance a record for a North American standalone women's rugby match. Canada has one more World Cup tune-up on Aug. 9 against No. 5 Ireland in Dublin. The team is scheduled to fly from Toronto on Saturday. Canada, which finished fourth at the last World Cup in November 2022, opens World Cup play in England against No. 14 Fiji on Aug. 23 in York, then face No. 9 Wales on Aug. 30 in Manchester and No. 7 Scotland on Sept. 6 in Exeter. The U.S. will play in Group A at the World Cup, drawn with No. 1 England, No. 8 Australia and No. 15 Samoa. WATCH l Shift in mindset in Canadian women's rugby 15s: One month out from Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 11 days ago McKinley Hunt, Gabby Senft, Olivia DeMerchant, Florence Symonds and Mikiela Nelson scored tries for Canada, which was also awarded a penalty try. Sophie de Goede, in her first start since having knee surgery, kicked four conversions. Julia Schell added a conversion. Freda Tafuna scored the lone try for the U.S. McKenzie Hawkins booted a conversion and a penalty. "Obviously a bit of a slow start for us ... but we came on strong in the second half and finished the job pretty well, I would say," said Canada captain Alex Tessier. The Canadian women have won four straight, improving to 5-0-1 this year. They hold a 29-19 edge over the Americans in the all-time series, having won 11 in a row since a 20-18 loss in July 2019 in Chula Vista, Calif. Canada, missing some of its top players, won 26-14 the last time they met, May 2 in Pacific Four Series play in Kansas City. Canada led 14-10 after a fast-paced first half Friday that saw a yellow card shown to each team. The Canadian attack was blunted by handling errors, penalties and some resolute American defence. De Goede returned to the starting lineup, after making a 20-minute cameo off the bench July 12 in a 33-5 win over the 12th-ranked Springbok women in South Africa. That marked the first action for the 26-year-old from Victoria since tearing her anterior cruciate ligament on June 21, 2024, in a non-contact scrimmage against the U.S. on the final day of a Canada sevens camp. Normally a back-rower, de Goede partnered veteran Tyson Beukeboom in the second row with Laetitia Royer nursing an injury. The Americans went ahead in the second minute, retrieving the ball of their own kickoff and launching a multi-phase attack that ended with Tafuna bulling her way over from close range in the second minute for a converted try. De Goede was sent to the sin bin in the 12th minute for an illegal cleanout of American centre Alev Kelter at the breakdown, forcing Canada to play a woman short for 10 minutes. Already trailing 7-0, Canada avoided giving up points while down a player, however. Canada pulled even at 7-7 in the 27th minute on a penalty try awarded by Australia referee Ella Goldsmith after repeated U.S. infractions during a Canadian attack at the goal-line. American lock Hallie Taufoou was sent to the sin bin on the play. Down a player, the U.S. went ahead 10-7 in the 32nd minute on a Hawkins penalty with Canada called for a high tackle. Helped by a U.S. penalty, Canada went ahead on the stroke of halftime as Hunt touched down for a try that was confirmed by the television match official. Canada conceded 11 penalties to the Americans' five in the first half. But the tables turned in the second half with 15 calls against the U.S. and just five against the Canadians. American wing Cheta Emba was sin-binned in the 42nd minute for a deliberate knock-down of a pass that snuffed out a promising Canadian attack. Canada kicked to touch on the ensuing penalty and Senft scored from the back of the maul from the lineout with the conversion upping the Canadian lead to 21-10. A de Goede try in the 59th minute was negated by an obstruction call against veteran flanker Karen Paquin. Canada got tries from DeMerchant in the 63rd minute, Symonds in the 65th and Nelson in the 75th as Canada's bench turned up the heat. The Americans were coming off a 31-24 win over Fiji on July 19 in Washington, D.C., snapping a seven-game losing streak. Canada is 15-5-1 since finishing fourth at the last World Cup. Four of the losses were to England, with the other to No. 3 New Zealand. Canada and New Zealand played to a 27-27 tie in May in Pacific Four Series play.
