One of the biggest champions of university and high school athletes in British Columbia will have his turn in the spotlight at the University of British Columbia this Friday.
The UBC Thunderbirds varsity program will be honouring Howard Tsumura, a journalist who covers amateur sports at The Provincenewspaper, for his many years of hard work celebrating the best of sport in B.C. The ceremony will take place at half time of the UBC/Winnipeg men's basketball game on Friday night at War Memorial Gym.
"We are honoured to recognize Howard for his exemplary service and support of amateur sport in B.C., especially university sport and the UBC Thunderbirds," said Theresa Hanson, UBC's Associate Director, Intercollegiate & High Performance Sport. "He is our very own homegrown champion and it is our privilege to pay tribute to him on Friday night."
Tsumura has been a sportswriter for the past three decades, including at the Burnaby NOWand the last 24 at The Province. For most of that time, he has written about the most exciting and compelling athletes and coaches in university and high school sports, including many of UBC's greatest Thunderbirds.
Each year, the school sports season culminates with The Province'sHead of the Class section, which features profiles on the best high school athletes in B.C. as well as stories on the coach of the year and the student winner of the adversity award. Tsumura took over the duties of producing Head of the Class in 2004 from colleague Steve Ewen, another NOWsports writer who began the project four years earlier.
In 1995, the Vancouver Grizzlies started play in the National Basketball Association and Tsumura became The Province'sbeat writer for the team, a position he held for the franchise's entire six-year existence in the city.
Tsumura's coverage of university sport is renowned across Canada. He is a two-time winner of the Canada West's Fred "Gus" Collins Media Award and took home the national Canadian Interuniversity Sport Fred Sgambati Award in 2009.
The celebration of Tsumura is scheduled for half time of the UBC men's basketball game at around 8:30 p.m.
