CFCs top Canadian high school newspaper reporters

CFC is thankful for the many men and women who cover high school football. This article features a few of the top high school reporters / newspapers from across Canada.

NOTE: We have only covered english speaking newspapers / reporters. Quebec has many great french speaking newspaper / reporters that cover high school football in their province

British Columbia

Newspaper: The Province

Reporter: Howard Tsumura

“Howie’s high school hamper” is a British Columbia high school sports followers dream. With years of experience and expertize, Howard writes in depth game and preview articles weekly. The Province also ranks the top 5 team in each high school football conference in British Columbia.
You can subscribe to Howard’s RSS feed by going to the following LINK (SEE TOP JUST BELOW BANNER)

Saskatchewan

Newspapers:
Regina – Leader-Post
Saskatoon – The Star Phoenix

Reporters:

Rob Vanstone – Leader-Post
Taylor Lambert – Star Phoenix

Playing high school football in Regina or Saskatoon means that your sport will be diligently covered by the local newspapers. Rob Vanstone & Taylor Lambert (other reporters contribute from time to time) are the two papers main high school football reporters. Rob & Taylor are both passionate sports reporters and also passionate football fans. They both love covering high school football and it shows in their reporting of the games.

New Brunswick

Newspapers:
Moncton – Times & Transcript
Saint John – Telegraph-Journal
Fredericton – Daily Gleaner

Reporters:
Dwayne Tingley – Times & Transcript
Kevin Barrett – Telegraph-Journal
Bruce Hallihan – Daily Gleaner

The three main city centers in New Brunswick enjoy great high school football coverage. Dwayne Tingley, Kevin Barrett, & Bruce Hallihan are the three main high school football reporters for their respective newspapers. The Daily Gleaner also gets reports by Chris Fox & Robert Touchie. New Brunswick newspapers are the class of the maritimes when it comes to high school football reporting.

Ontario

Newspaper:
Windsor : Windsor Star
Reporter : Mary Caton

Mary Caton has been covering high school football for 31 years. When asked what she loves about covering high school football this was her response:
“Windsor has a long history of fielding competive, well-coached teams. I have had the pleasure of watching players develop into solid NCAA division I talent, CFL starters and now even an NFL starter in O.J. Atogwe. CIS stars such as Gary Ross, Nathan Riva and Kyle Quinlan are also products of our local league. Since its inception, OFSAA’s West Bowl has featured several different Windsor area teams and one of them (Herman) has made three appearances in the championship. It’s a testament to the quality of the product.”
CFC also asked who have been the people have helped her do such a great job over the years:
“There is a long list of teacher/coaches who have helped me through the years including Herman’s Harry Lumley, Essex Ravens’ coach Glen Mills, AKO’s Mike Lachance and U of W’s Mike Morencie.”

Newspaper: St. Catharines Standard
Reporter: Bernie Puchalski

The Niagara region has some great high school football reporting and one person who stands out is Bernie Puchalski. Bernie has been covering high school football for 15 years, first with the Niagara Falls review and now with the St. Catharines Standard (since 1998). When asked what he loves about covering high school football this was his response:
“I love the passion of the coaches and players and being outside on nice fall days instead of being cooped up in the office. The only time I don’t like it is when I’m standing outside in a torrential downpour or when it’s so cold that I can’t feel my fingers and it is difficult to take notes.”
Bernie attributes ‘story-sharing’ arrangement between the regions sister papers (Welland Tribune & Niagara Falls Review) as a reason why things have been better in the area to report on the games.
One thing that Bernie is proud of is ” I feel I have raised the level of professionalism surrounding the coverage of high school football. I’ve done this by doing a much more thorough tracking of game statistics.” Great Job Bernie.

Newspaper: Barrie Examiner
Reporters: Many, including Ian Shantz, Sports Coordinator

The Barrie Examiner has been covering high school football as long as it has been running in Simcoe County. The Examiner loves covering the sport because:
“The sport, by its very nature, is extremely family oriented, and we like to see our coverage as an extension of that: a way of including ourselves in that family by giving back to it through our extensive coverage. From the weeks leading up to the season to the weeks following the season, The Barrie Examiner is on the football field. We also started Thursday Night Lights, a highly successful high school series that allows parents who work to get out to games. Thousands of parents, grandparents, peers, friends and sports enthusiasts gather under the lights each season, making it an incredibly successful community event. Again, it’s all in the name of the athletes, which is something we strive to recognize throughout all of our high school sports coverage.”
Some of the people who have helped them along the way:
“We’ve had a lot of great leadership/guidance over the years, but several local coaches stand above the rest: convenors Martin Carl and Nick Nicoletta have been an integral part of our coverage — by sending in results, arranging coverage and forwarding schedules.”

Newspaper: London Free Press
Reporter: Steve Green

Steve Green has been covering London area football for the last 20 years. What he likes most about covering high school football: “is the genuine passion these young men have for their sport and their team. And I see that not only in the successful programs, but also the in ones who are struggling. I also enjoy seeing coaches match wits against each other, especially come playoff time as teams make in-game adjustments. And I’ve also enjoyed the fact London high school football is some of the best in Ontario, if not all of canada, with Catholic Central forcing other programs to improve to the point where there are legitimately five or six championship contenders each season.”
Steve has had lots of help over the years “especially from coaches like Bob Gooder (Laurier and Montcalm), Mike Circelli (CCH), John Allan (recently completed his 25th and final season at Banting) and John Vouvalidis (Central). These men are — or were — truly in it for the love of the game and their love of teaching, not only of sport but of life, which football does so well.”

Newspaper: Toronto Star

Reporter: David Grossman

Controversial or refreshing? We will go with the latter. David Grossman has been covering high school football since the Nick Volpe and Russ Jackson were at T.L. Kennedy (Mississauga)…ok maybe not. Rumour is that David Grossman is retiring and that would be a shame for all the high school football players because David does a tremendous job of recognizing them through his all-star features, top 10, and players of the week

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Martin Cleary, ‘Scouring the sidelines” with the Ottawa Citizen
Mark Bryson, The Record
Jacob Robinson, Delhi News-Record
Kingston newspaper The Whig