The 2018-2019 school calendar year begins this week across our province.

“It’s exciting,” said Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association executive director Chad Falk. “Football is in full swing, volleyball and cross country are just around the corner while soccer in the rural areas will be going soon. We really get off with a jolt right away and we’re super excited to launch our new website. It’s something I’ve been working on for the last 18 months and it’s exciting to finally be able to show everyone across the province the main hub for high school sport in the province.”

Falk is beginning his third year as executive director of the MHSAA as he replaced Maurice Glimcher in the summer of 2016.

“I’ve come a long way since day one,” reflected Falk. “Year one was really an eye-opener and just trying to understand everything. I always said year two was knowing what to expect around every corner and now year three is just feeling a little more comfortable – knowing what to expect and start taking on some projects that I really wanted to get done. The website was a big one. It was one thing I wanted to deliver and mentioned even when I interviewed for the position that it was something that needed to happen and it’s exciting to have that major project done with. Now we can look into a few other things.”

Falk is also looking forward to the first Provincial High School Championship of 2018-19 which will take place September 28th at the Hecla golf course.

“It’s one of Manitoba’s finest courses and we were really lucky that that zone wanted to host and Hecla was willing to come on board. What a spectacular treat for our golfers.”

A number of small schools will be hosting provincial championships including Ross L. Gray.

The Provincial A/AA Junior Varsity Boys Basketball Championship is set for early March in Sprague.

“We’re a provincial body and we want to spread our provincial championships out across the entire province,” Falk said. “We have tons of smaller communities hosting these major events and they’re doing an incredible job and the hosting that goes into it is just unbelievable.”