University of Manitoba, Bisons football coach Stan Pierre was shocked when he heard the news, but he doesn’t believe the rules will be adopted outside the CFL. “Really shocked and kind of bewilderment, I am wondering what his rationale is and where are they going with this thing?” said Pierre.

For the full story, please head to CityNews Winnipeg.

To listen to the full interview, please head to CBC.

“Other than the people in the top brass, it sounds like a lot of people were caught off-guard,” said Dobie, who spent 29 seasons as head coach of the University of Manitoba Bisons. “I mean, high school officials, university officials — nobody saw this coming.”

Dobie retired in 2024 after 50 seasons pacing the sidelines. He says in his decades involved in the game, he’s never seen the landscape change as much in one day as it did this week. 

To read the full article, please visit the CBC website

This refreshed Bisons brand will align with the university’s brand while continuing to reflect the strength, pride, and legacy that generations of student-athletes, coaches, and alumni have helped build. 

“This next phase is about building excitement,” says Gene Muller, Director of Athletics and Recreation. “We’re developing a rollout that honours legacy while embracing the future of the Bisons.” 

Over the past year, the project team engaged with stakeholders across the UM community—including student-athletes, coaches, volunteers, Recreation Services members, parents, Indigenous community members, and others.  

These conversations confirmed what many already know: the current logo carries deep meaning. But there’s also strong support for an updated mark that better reflects the strength, determination and spirit of today’s Bisons. 

“We’re grateful for the voices that have shaped this process so far,” says Douglas Brown, Dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management. “We’re approaching the final stages with a sense of excitement and responsibility.” 

The refreshed brand will focus primarily on the Bisons logo, with complementary iterations also being developed for Junior Bisons and competitive recreation clubs. This will ensure alignment across all levels of participation and consistency across UM’s broader sport and recreation community. 

Stay up to date on the project at Bison brand refresh webpage. 

“I knew coming in to the faculty there would be things I’d learn that might impact my running, but it’s been so much more than I thought,” says Tyrell Davis, a third year Bisons track and field athlete. 

Davis, in his second year of the Bachelor of Kinesiology degree program in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, says it isn’t uncommon for him to think of a question during practice, like why he was cramping so much, only to find the answer in a class or chapter. 

He says finding these tangible connections between his passion and schoolwork is helping him find more joy in the classroom. 

“Because I’ve found how I can relate to the content, I think these last two years have been my best years academic-wise,” says Davis. 

The year might also be one of Davis’ best on the track. Going into the Canada West championship this weekend, Davis is the number two ranked 60-metre athlete in U SPORTS with a time of 6.71 seconds. 

Davis says the whole team is hungry to do well not only at Canada West but also at the national championships in early March. 

“My focus right now is to just be healthy going into Canada West,” says Davis. “Sharpen everything up so that I can put a full race together.” 

Tyrell celebrates a performance with a hug from a teammate. Fellow Bisons sprinter, Jordan Soufi, looks on.

Davis is currently ranked number one in the Canada West conference, right beside fellow Bison Jordan Soufi, who is ranked number two. Davis says the team is hungry to do well not only at Canada West but also at the national championships in early March. 

“I think everyone’s working towards that goal of a national championship,” says Davis. The men’s team finished second during the 2023-24 season. He says the team feels this season might be their “best shot to get the job done.” 

The track and field team are one of several Bisons teams heading into the post-season championships with goals of bringing home some hardware. The women’s volleyball team, currently ranked first in U SPORTS, is set to host the U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball National Championship on their homecourt and is looking to go higher than their silver medal finish last year. 

“It definitely motivates everyone else to rise to the challenge of the other teams,” says Davis. “Iron sharpens iron.” 

While Davis’ attention is on the upcoming Canada West Championship, taking place Feb. 21-22 in Regina, Saskatchewan, he is looking forward to continuing his work in the classroom and see what new paths open up for the future. 

Bunn started the event as a healing walk for her community in July 2021 when the recovery of the remains of 215 children at the Kamloops Residential School in May of that year reopened deep wounds in her community.

“I felt like I needed to bring healing in some way. And for me, that was movement,” says Bunn. “Movement has a deeper ability of healing things that maybe you don’t think can be healed while bringing people together and finding a way to move forward together.”

Tréchelle Bunn at the Reconciliation Run finish line / Al Foster

The idea for a community walk of healing clicked into place for Bunn when she recalled how her Unkan (grandfather) Donald would say he wanted nothing more than to run away from the school and go home, something he was unable to do.

Members of Bunn’s community of Chan Kagha Otina Dakhóta Oyáte (Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation), including her Kunshi (grandmother) Mildred and Unkan, were survivors of the residential school in Birtle or have felt its generational impact.

Tréchelle Bunn’s Unkan Donald and Kunshi Mildred

“For many, it was the first time they’d ever been back to school and had been able to walk away on their terms, so they were really reclaiming that space,” says Bunn. “It had a power of bringing people together.”

“Ever since I was young, my parents told me I can do anything I put my mind to, and they’ll be there to support me,” says Bunn, who spoke with her family, members of the community, the Chief and the council and received total support and encouragement for her idea of organizing a healing walk. “It pushed me to put my words into action.”

“Everyone got behind it,” says Bunn. “When you have so many people who are passionate about what you’re doing, it makes it easy.”

Now in its third year, the Reconciliation Run has expanded to include a satellite run in Winnipeg and a virtual run. Bunn hopes the run continues to grow and provide healing, education and reflection for communities outside her own.

Birdtail Sioux youth during the Reconciliation Run / Al Foster

“It has a way of impacting people differently, no matter where you are on your journey of truth and reconciliation,” says Bunn. “It gives people that perspective of not only can they be part of truth and reconciliation, but they need to be a part of it to make sure there is a better future for all of us.”

Turning words into action doesn’t stop with run organizing for Bunn. Creating a better future is at the heart of everything she is undertaking. Bunn is beginning her second year in the Faculty of Law, being the inaugural recipient of the Wendy Whitecloud Bursary in Law, which Roxanne Gagné [LLB/2008] established to “give back to the community and support diversity in the legal profession as well as help forge a path towards reconciliation by making legal education attainable to such students.”

“I am quite familiar with the injustices within the justice system that my family and community faced, and I have witnessed community members face incarceration and be impacted by the system,” she says. “I thought if I could be a part of administrating justice, I could provide hope in a system that feels so hopeless for so many of my people.”

Tréchelle Bunn and fellow SCO Youth Chief Joshua Gardiner representing the organization at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland

Bunn was also elected as one of the two youth Chiefs of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO), representing the voice of youth across 34 communities. This role has given her the ability to share the youth perspective with the SCO.

She was recently in Geneva, Switzerland, speaking at the United Nations about Indigenous health transformation and self-determination.

“I’ve always set goals since I was young, and it has always been my dream to attend the United Nations. I never thought I would speak there, especially at 24 years old,” says Bunn. “Serving as Youth Chief has truly been the honour of my life.”

Moving forward the annual Reconciliation Run not only continues to provide a platform for truth and reconciliation through movement but the funds raised will be put into a new scholarship for Indigenous Bisons student-athletes as they pursue their academic and sports goals at the university.

For more information about supporting the Reconciliation Run Scholarship for Indigenous Student-Athletes, please call Jennifer Triggs, Leadership Giving Officer, at 204-299-6641 or email at Jennifer.triggs@umanitoba.ca.

You can read the entire article in the Winnipeg Free Press.

The sun won’t rise for another hour, but one of the 75 staff members who will work on this day unlocks the door and lights up the Wayne Fleming Arena, clearing the way for a recreational group skate at 6:30 a.m.

It’s the first in a laundry list of activities and events that takes place on the Fort Garry campus each weekend. Everything from community pickleball to wall climbing, to badminton, to dance class will run before the day ends.

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But it was the real deal. And just a few short months later, Mandamin’s face is now on the sides of buses and streetcars in Toronto.

It’s part of a partnership between the Raptors and the Toronto Transit Commission to celebrate the contributions of Indigenous athletes to Canadian sport at home and on the international stage.

Mandamin, who is from Iskatewizaagegan 39 Independent First Nation, also known as Shoal Lake #39 in northwestern Ontario, is one of eight athletes being showcased.

Read here

Rauhaus beat out McMaster’s Alex Cheng and Acadia’s Spencer Richards for the award, becoming just the third Bisons player to win U Sports’ highest prize.

“Mark carries himself with the utmost integrity and is a role model to the young players in our program. His influence on those around him is all encompassing, he helps bring out the best athlete and person in those around him, often serving as a moral compass,” Bisons’ head coach Brian Dobie said in a statement.

Read here