Latest news with #U18IndigenousCup
Winnipeg Free Press
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Running back Roberts MVP at Indigenous Cup
With his first year on the team, first time playing running back, and helping Team Manitoba win its first gold medal at the U-18 Indigenous Cup, Colton Roberts had himself a weekend as he earned MVP honours in Manitoba's debut hosting of the three-year-old event. Team Manitoba was up against top Indigenous football talent from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Northwestern Ontario, with the tournament hosted at St. Vital Mustangs Field in Winnipeg. With a 34-26 victory on Sunday, Manitoba capped off an undefeated tournament, and you wouldn't know Roberts was one of the more inexperienced players from his performance. He carried the ball 30 times for 296 yards, had two catches for 19 yards, and scored two touchdowns — all in just two games. WILL SPREITZER PHOTO Team Manitoba running back Colton Roberts (left) was named the U18 Indigenous Cup tournament MVP on Sunday. The Grace 11 student who plays for the Vincent Massey Trojans carried the ball 30 times for 296 yards, had two catches for 19 yards, and scored two touchdowns in the tourney. 'I've been putting in the work, trying to get better and stuff like that,' said Roberts, who also acknowledged the strong offensive line as a big part of his success. 'It all just ended up working out.' Roberts, who is Métis, just finished his Grade 11 year at Vincent Massey, and started playing football on his high school team only last year. He heard about the U18 Indigenous team through his head coach, and along with around 50 other players from various clubs, schools and programs across the province, he tried out and became one of the 27 selected to represent the province. U18 Team Manitoba head coach Russell Wallace says the team wouldn't be where they were without Roberts. 'Right from day one, we watched him, and we said, 'Oh this is going to be a very special player for us, and he's going to really help us,'' said Wallace. 'And throughout the tournament, throughout the practices, he was very consistent and you could see him getting better each day.' Surrounding Roberts was a team with a bond that was very special according to Wallace, something that helped them get over the hump and take gold in only the second year Team Manitoba has participated in the Indigenous Cup, which originally started as a tournament between Alberta and Saskatchewan. 'When we bring these high-performance teams or these football Manitoba teams together, you always have one passion, which is football, right?' said Wallace. 'But I think, for us, there's the fact that we're all Indigenous and we're all part of that culture. It just gives us kind of that other connection to each other.' Along with two weeks of grinding practices and building team chemistry, Wallace says the group took time to have conversations about their Indigenous culture, talking about their perspectives, backgrounds and reconciliation. 'I think it's important to have those conversations as part of the Indigenous team,' said Roberts. 'We had a ceremony before one of the games, our first game, where we ran out holding flags and they did their drumming and stuff like that. And yeah, I think we all learned a lot from that.' With half the team being new this year, Wallace says the leadership of the veteran players and even some of the newcomers stood out, along with the motivation of playing in front of a home crowd. 'That was kind of our key,' said Wallace. 'Leadership of the new players, but as well as our returning players to help kind of get us over that second place hump, to get us into that gold medal.' Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. 'In Manitoba, we have a (large) population and we have a very proud Indigenous community, so to be able to host it here in Manitoba was very special to our players and it gave us a little bit more motivation,' he said. For Roberts, he plans to try out again next year as Manitoba will look to go back-to-back. 'It was very special to see the bond that's created between these players that normally wouldn't have that opportunity to play against each other,' said Wallace. 'So to see that come together, it was very special for me as someone who's Indigenous as well as someone who's a football coach.' The U16 Western Championships also took place simultaneously over the weekend in Winnipeg, where Saskatchewan came away with the win. Manitoba defeated British Columbia in the bronze medal game, capturing their first medal in seven years.
CTV News
07-07-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Manitoba takes home gold at U-18 Indigenous Cup
Manitoba plays against Alberta at the U-18 Indigenous Cup on July 6, 2025. (Daniel Timmerman/CTV News) Manitoba took home the gold at this year's Under-18 Indigenous Cup. Football Manitoba held the tournament from Thursday to Sunday at the St. Vital Mustangs field as tackle football players from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northwestern Ontario competed. The event culminated with a gold medal match between Manitoba and Alberta on Sunday, with Team Manitoba coming out victorious on home soil. 'What a fantastic ending to the tournament,' said Bill Johnson, executive director of Football Manitoba. 'The fact that it came down to last-second plays and laterals and big comebacks and all these things going on. It was so much fun, and I think everyone really enjoyed it.' Manitoba's U-18 Indigenous Cup roster included 27 players from all across the province. This year's jersey's featured updated language to represent the communities, bands and tribes that make up the team. 'It's a unique experience for these kids in the sense that it's a high-level sport…but also there's a cultural component built into it and there's pride in the fact that we're not just football players, but we're Indigenous football players,' Johnson said. 'I think that's a really neat thing that we're able to offer that opportunity to these kids.' - With files from CTV's Harrison Shin and Daniel Timmerman.
Winnipeg Free Press
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘A chance to play football at a high level'
One of Football Canada's longest-standing amateur events is returning to Winnipeg for the first time in nearly two decades. The U16 Western Challenge will draw 160 of the best up-and-comers in tackle football from Western Canada, July 2-6. The tournament will run concurrently with the U18 Indigenous Cup, a separate event being hosted in Manitoba for the first time. Along with the 40-man roster from the host province, the U16 Western Challenge includes teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. CAMERON BARTLETT PHOTO Fergus Kolida is the pivot for Team Manitoba in the U18 Indigenous Cup. Manitoba is hosting the largest iteration of the event for the first time. 'This is the absolute cream of the crop, in terms of U16 players, across the country,' said Bill Johnson, executive director of Football Manitoba. 'If you want to see the best amateur players, U16 level, this is where you get them.' It's the youngest level for interprovincial tackle football, meaning for many kids, it will be their first time representing their province. 'It's huge because we want to give local kids something to look forward to, something to look up to,' said Johnson. 'Our high-performance teams, provincial teams, it's not really on the radar. Kids who are playing tackle football are thinking they want to play university, they want to go on and play Rifles or (Canadian Junior Football League), they want to go on and play CFL, NFL… they never really think about provincial teams.' Manitoba last won the event in 2005. Saskatchewan has dominated in recent years and enters the tournament as four-time reigning champions. Games will go on July 2 (3:30 p.m., 7 p.m.) and July 5 (10 a.m., 1:30 p.m.) at Maple Grove Rugby Park. Meanwhile, the largest iteration of the U18 Indigenous Cup will run for the first time in the province when squads from Saskatchewan, Alberta and Thunder Bay, Ont., (representing Northwestern Ontario) convene. The tournament started as a two-team event between Alberta and Saskatchewan, which both run six-a-side leagues for Indigenous players. Last year, Manitoba jumped into the action, and because the interest has grown, this year will be played at nine-a-side. Manitoba's team, in particular, includes 24 players. 'First and foremost, we want to give these kids a chance to play football at a high level,' said Johnson. 'And for some of these kids, especially if they're coming from a smaller program, a rural program, they maybe haven't had the experiences, the coaching they need to play on our U18 provincial team.' Football Manitoba is running the event in conjunction with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The club's president and CEO, Wade Miller, footed the bill for every player on Team Manitoba last year, and he is doing the same this time around, along with players from Team Northwestern Ontario. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. 'It's really big for them to do that, and it makes it a lot easier, removes some barriers for some of these kids who otherwise just wouldn't be able to do it,' Johnson said. The Indigenous Cup contests take place July 3 (3:30 p.m., 7 p.m.) and July 6 (10 a.m., 1:30 p.m.) at Maple Grove. The action on the field will bookend a cultural event on July 4 (7 p.m.) at Princess Auto Stadium, where teams will celebrate their heritage with performances and traditional games. '(The Manitoba Aboriginal Sport and Recreation Council is) coming out, and they're going to set up some Indigenous-style games for the kids to try. And, for some of them, it's probably the first exposure they've had to some pieces of their culture,' said Johnson. 'It's kind of a cool thing.' Joshua Frey-SamReporter Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh. Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
