Mayor Tom Mrakas, Councillor and Sport Aurora President Ron Weese, and Central York Girls Hockey Association President Mark Dubeau graced the red carpet and opened the 25th<\/sup> Annual Silver Stick Hockey Tournament at the ACC. Dubeau welcomed the guests assembled, including two teams from California that took part in the on-ice festivities. Mayor Mrakas refereed the ceremonial puck drop and the 60-team international tournament was opened officially. A lively colourful spray of orange and black, royal blue and yellow, navy blue and red, and white and red jerseys lit up the venerable hockey rink which, with SARC and Magna, played host to the multilevel tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Central York Panthers donate $1000 to 360o<\/sup>kids to assist teen survivors of human trafficking<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prior to their OWHL game versus the Barrie Sharks, the captains of the Central York Panthers U22 team\u2014comprised of Captain Hannah Clarke, Assistant Captain Hailey McGuire, Assistant Captain Cheyenne Degeer, and Assistant Captain Ella Newman-Mixon– and C.Y.G.H.A. President Mark Dubeau presented a $1,000 cheque to Lesley Sims, Director of Development with 360o<\/sup>kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n March<\/p>\n\n\n\n Williams Wildcats Win YRAA Tier 1 Senior Boys Basketball Title; Ranked #4 in Ontario<\/p>\n\n\n\n The GW Williams Wildcats captured the YRAA Tier 1 Senior Boys Basketball championship in a convincing 92-66 victory over the Sir William Mulock Ravens at Bill Crothers SS at the end of February. Based on their 12-0 record in York Region and stellar tournament play across Ontario, the Wildcats were ranked #4 in the province heading into the OFSAA championship this week in Hamilton. To prepare the Wildcats for OFSAA and celebrate their York Region title, a video-rich pep rally took place at Williams which included Raptors broadcaster Paul Jones. Hundreds of students packed the cafeteria and Wildcats\u2019 Co-Head Coach Kent Ravelle described his squad: \u201cThis is our unicorn team. We had the best starting player at each position in the Region and we\u2019re very athletic. We match up well with any team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n April<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aurora Swimmer Madison Russell Commits to Nova Southeastern University Sharks in Florida<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aurora resident and Newmarket Stingray Madison Russell has signed her letter of intent to attend Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Matt Morris, Athletic Director at Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, announced that seven of the prep school\u2019s student-athletes, including Russell, \u201ccommitted to their post-secondary destinations and signed their letters of intent at an in-school ceremony on April 17.\u201d Bolles School Sharks Assistant Swim Coach Claire Mills praised Russell\u2019s performances in the pool this season: \u201cMaddie qualified for the USA Swimming Futures Championships in the 100 breaststroke at Sectionals in February. This past weekend at a Sprint meet in town, she swam her 2nd<\/sup> best times ever in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n May<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aurora resident and TSN legendary broadcaster Darren Dutchyshen dies at 57<\/p>\n\n\n\n Multiple generations of sports fans mourned the passing of one of Canada\u2019s most engaging television sports broadcasters. Aurora resident and TSN legend Darren Dutchyshen, 57, died on Wednesday \u201csurrounded by his closest loved ones.\u201d TSN reported that Dutchyshen died following \u201ca long battle with prostate cancer.\u201d TSN\u2019s poignant tribute to Dutchyshen was hosted by Aurora\u2019s own James Duthie who was joined by Dutch\u2019s long-time co-hosts Jennifer Hedger and Rod Smith in a moving memorial segment to their Saskatchewan-born colleague. All three TSN mainstays praised the iconic SportsCentre anchor\u2019s \u201cendless enthusiasm for narrating highlights\u201d and his \u201cinfectious love of the sports he covered.\u201d Smith and Hedger praised his \u201cpositive energy on the set\u201d and championed Dutch\u2019s \u201cribald humor\u201d that never abandoned him as noted in a statement by his family: \u201cHis sharp wit remained until his final moments, classically delivering plenty of jokes\u2014most of them pretty good and all of them inappropriate.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n June<\/p>\n\n\n\n St. Maximilian Kolbe Mustangs capture their first YRAA Varsity Girls\u2019 Rugby 15\u2019s Title<\/p>\n\n\n\n The St. Maximilian Kolbe Mustangs capped their best Varsity Girls Rugby season in school history by winning the York Region 15\u2019s championship. The Mustangs defeated the St. Theresa of Lisieux Lions in two straight games in a best-of-three final to secure the long-sought after YRAA title and, subsequently, punched their ticket to the provincial championships. The series sweep versus the Lions represented a Triple Crown of championships in 2023-24 for the Mustangs. In the Fall, the Aurora high school captured both the Junior 10\u2019s and Senior 10\u2019s titles to set up the trifecta this Spring. The Mustangs galloped into Peterborough to compete at OFSAA from June 3-5 against powerhouses like the #1-ranked defending champs Mayfield SS (Caledon) as well as #2-ranked John F. Ross CVI (Guelph) and #5-ranked Ajax and #7-ranked Uxbridge from Durham Region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SAC\u2019s Dean Letourneau taken 25th<\/sup> by Boston and Jack Pridham chosen 92nd<\/sup> by Chicago at the 2024 NHL Draft<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a big month for the St. Andrew\u2019s College hockey program as two of its graduates were chosen by NHL Original Six teams in the 2024 Draft. Forwards Dean Letourneau and Jack Pridham\u2014who have committed to NCAA scholarships\u2014were chosen in the first and third rounds, respectively. The professional hockey potential of SAC centre Dean Letourneau was magnified on Friday night. The Boston Bruins stepped to the microphone in Las Vegas and selected the Braeside, ON, native in the first round with the 25th<\/sup> pick. It\u2019s a match made in Heaven for Letourneau who is committed to play for D1 Boston College in September. Letourneau\u2019s Head Coach David Manning was present for his star player\u2019s selection by the Bruins. SAC\u2019s veteran bench boss was pleased to witness Letourneau being chosen in the first-round in Las Vegas: \u201cIt was an amazing experience for Dean and his family. Our SAC Community is so proud of him and being able to share the moment with him is something we\u2019ll never forget.\u201d Coach Manning also expressed much satisfaction at seeing 2023 SAC grad Jack Pridham selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round\u201492nd<\/sup> overall: \u201cJack has worked so hard to get to this spot and to be taken by an Original Six team with such a rich history is really exciting for him and us as we follow his career.\u201d Pridham, a 6\u20192\u201d, 170-pound forward from Stouffville, played hockey in 2023-24 in the British Columbia Hockey League for the West Kelowna Warriors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our 2024 Sports Roundup will continue in our January 2, 2025 edition.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n By Jim Stewart<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n January SAC shuts out Bishop Kearney Selects 4-0 to capture 40th annual MacPherson Hockey Tournament The St. Andrew\u2019s College Saints captured the 40th annual MacPherson Hockey Tournament with an emphatic 4-0 win over the Bishop Kearney Selects at La Briar Family Arena. Jared McNeil, Jack Good, Connor Arsenault, and Kieren Dervin scored for the Saints […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9gv","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 11:55:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35620,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35619\/revisions\/35620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Facebook\"](\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" "\\"Share")
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