It was quite the year for athletic achievement here in South Delta in 2023.
There were many significant individual performances in various sports, a number of team championships and other stories that shaped the local sports scene.
Below are just a few of the highlights that former Optimist sports editor Mark Booth and myself covered throughout the year.
April
The Delta Ice Hawks were crowned PJHL champs after a thrilling seven-game league final over the Ridge Meadows Flames sending the team to the Cyclone Taylor Cup for the second straight year. The Ice Hawks would finish fourth at the tournament.
Beach Grove Golf Club junior alumni and SDSS grads Jace Minni captured his first NCAA tournament title at the University of Seattle Redhawk Invitational as a member of the Gonzaga University Bulldogs.
Terry McKaig, the chief architect behind the Thunderbird baseball team at UBC was inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame.
SDSS stand-out athlete Julia Fechter earned a soccer scholarship to Pacific University in Oregon.
Several Delta ringette players helped Team BC win the U16 provincial title.
May
Hard worked paid off to a Ladner hockey player as Oliver Melnychuk earned a spot on Team BC for the Aboriginal Nationals in Winnipeg.
The DSS ultimate team captured the schools first ever South Fraser senior title.
The SDSS senior girls were off to the provincial championships after a 3-0 win over McMath at the South Fraser AAA championships.
Delta Lacrosse Association announced that its box and field lacrosse programs will both feature the Islanders name and colours starting in the fall.
Tsawwassen’s Kaden Meyer was selected in the sixth round (124th overall) by the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL Prospects Draft.
June
The DSS ultimate team finished second at the provincial AA championships.
Myah Cressy will be taking her volleyball career to Thompson Rivers University after an outstanding run with the Sun Devils.
Oliver Melnychuk won a bronze medal with Team BC at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.
SDSS senior and junior boys rugby teams both qualified for the provincials.
The senior boys finished third at the South Fraser’s to punch their ticket while the juniors won the South Fraser banner.
Ladner’s Ron Phillips was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame as he was part of the 1971 Minto Cup champion Richmond Roadrunners. Also inducted was North Delta’s Mitch Berger who was a kicker with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009 and Delta MP Carla Qualtrough for her work in an out of the pool as an athlete and sport champion.
SDSS’s Mackenzie Campbell secures a volleyball scholarship at UBC.
The SDSS senior girls’ soccer team wins bronze at the provincials.
