Red River Rebels men’s sports teams in 2016/2017

by Sam Calvert

Volleyball

For the first time in eight years, the Red River Rebels men’s volleyball team failed to make the playoffs.

The team finished in last place in the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference with a record of 2-18.

The Rebels were an inexperienced team this season, with 10 first-year players.

Head coach Erik Hansen, who won four MCAC championships as a player at RRC, will not be returning to the team next year. The Rebels will look to someone new to lead the team and hope to have a bounce back season in 2017-18.

Basketball

The old saying “streaks were made to be broken” proved to be true for the Rebels basketball team, as their streak of eight MCAC championships in a row came to an end.

The Rebels finished the regular season in first place with a record of 11-1 and looked poised to win their ninth straight title.  The Canadian Mennonite University Blazers had other plans, as they defeated RRC 77-68 in the championship game.

RRC will look to get back to its championship ways next year, but it’s going to be difficult. The team will head into the 2017-18 season without their star player, Taylor Brown, who has spent the past five seasons with the team.

Shane Ray, the Athletics and Recreation Services manager at Red River College, says it was “bittersweet” to see Brown play his final game in an RRC uniform.

“Taylor represented the program and college well,” said Ray. “We will miss him on and off the court and thank him for everything he has done to represent us.”

Soccer

For the second year in a row, the RRC men’s soccer team lost the championship game to rival Universite de Saint-Boniface Les Rouges.

A turning point in the championship game was losing all-conference goaltender, Rory Picton, to a lower-body injury. The game was tied when Picton went down. Soon after he left the game, the Les Rouges scored, and they ended up winning 2-0.

The Rebels finished the regular season in second with a record of 6-3-1. Two of their draws came against the eventual champs, the Les Rouges.

Despite the tough ending to the season, the Rebels had many bright spots to the season. They had three players make the MCAC all-conference team. Forward Anderson Pereira, fullback Brendan Adamo and goaltender Rory Picton all received the honours.

Futsal

The men’s futsal team made sure the year didn’t end without an MCAC championship for Red River College.

The Rebels defeated Providence University College 6-4 in the final to win their first futsal title in school history.

Many players on the futsal team also played on the soccer team.

“This was my last year so I needed the championship bad,” said team captain and all-conference player Anderson Pereira.

Shane Ray says Pereira has been a team leader in his three seasons playing at RRC, and that he was thrilled to see him and the team win a championship.

“We talk about playing on a Rebels team as being an opportunity and it is up to each student what they chose to do with this opportunity,” said Ray. “Anderson has made the most of this opportunity and more and to see someone rewarded like this has been special.”