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Steinbach Sports Heritage, 321 Elmdale Street, Steinbach, MB (2026)

05/30/2026

Wayne Banman was better known as a pitcher than as a hitter or baserunner, but showed he was no slouch in those departments either as he engineered a double steal with Brian Gadsby at third to earn the Steinbach A&W Stealers the right to represent the province at the 1977 national senior men’s fastball championships.
With one out in the top of the ninth inning in the final game of the provincial playdowns and the score deadlocked Gadsby singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a single single by Banman.
That is when a creative piece of baserunning by the Stealers ace pitcher resulted in the winning run.
When the catcher for Terry Balkans threw to second, in an attempt to get Banman, Gadsby broke for home.
With Banman caught in a rundown, Balkans tried desperately to keep Gadsby at third. The ball went back to the catcher and then back to second. When the dust cleared, Gadsby had scored and Banman was safe at second.
In the bottom half of the inning, Banman struck out Frank Enns, Jack Ladobruk in right field robbed Buzz Lamonde of a base hit, and Gord Ferguson grounded out to second.
John Friesen, a former member of the Stealers now wearing a Balkans uniform, nearly won the game for last year’s champions in the early innings. Friesen hit a two-run homer off Paul Doerksen in the fourth inning to give Balkans a 4-2 lead, and followed with a defensive play in the outfield to stop the Stealers from scoring two runs in the fifth.
The Stealers fought back with a pair of runs on wild pitches in the seventh and ended the tournament with the single run in the ninth. For the Stealers, it was a matter of back-to-back vicories, as they faced elimination if they did not defeat Balkans twice in the finals.
In the first game of the finals, the Stealers got all the runs Banman needed in the first inning. Butch Steingart led off with a single, Vic Peters followed with a walk and Allan Ladobruk hit a single to score both.
Wayne Banman threw a two-hitter to shut out the Balkans by a 2-0 score. With their two game sweep in the finals, the Stealers earned the rignt to represent Manitoba in the national finals in Hull, Quebec.
-Carillon Archives

05/25/2026

James “Sharky” Koop of the Chaco Chuckers gets ready for the next pitch. The Steinbach slow-pitch team was thrown together for the 1990 Provincial “C” Men’s Slow-Pitch Championships and earned a berth in the following year’s National Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick.

The Chaco Chuckers built up an early 4-1 lead in the finals against defending champions, Krevco Pool and Patio, and held on for a 6-3 victory and the Provincial championship banner.

The Chuckers posted an equally huge upset in the semi-finals, when they eliminated the Petro-Can Classics, winning 8-6. The Classics are the defending Manitoba Masters Champions, and have competed in numerous national championships in the past.

The semi-final game started out predictably, as Petro-Can rattled off five runs in the first inning. The teams traded runs in the third inning to make it 6-1 for the Classics after three. But three consecutive singles in the top of the fourth for the Chuckers set the stage for Richard Enns’ dramatic grand slam home run, as the Steinbach team exploded for seven runs and an 8-6 lead.

There was no more scoring in the contest and the Chuckers moved on to the final, where they engineered another upset and earned a trip to New Brunswick, next August.

The Chuckers completed round robin play in the provincial championships with a 2-1 record, which put them in the quarter-finals against the Winnipeg Shortstops, the first place team in Pool “B”. A 12-8 win moved the team on to the semi-finals against Petro-Can.

The Chuckers exploded for seven runs in the first inning of their opening game in the round robin and went on to a 14-1 win. The next two contests were much closer with the Chuckers winning 8-6 and losing 5-4.

According to playing coach, James Koop, the Chaco Chuckers had hoped to compete in the “D” Division at the provincials but were bumped up to the higher category when they finished third in a field of 16 teams at a June qualifying tournament.

At the provincials, the Chuckers were one of a dozen “C” teams. There were 16 in the “D” Division and another four in “B”, which is the highest calibre of Men’s Slow Pitch in Manitoba.
-Carillon Archives

05/16/2026

Jim Schellenberg, centre, rolled three strikes in the final frame to lead his bowling team to the commercial league championship over Penner Dodge, Loewen Body Shop and Steinbach Dry Cleaners in the inaugural season of league competition at Deluxe Bowl in May of 1963. Other members of the Derksen Printers team were Jim Steel, Pete Guenther, Ernie Doerksen and Richard Hildebrand.
•
The car dealership a stone’s throw away may boast it is the brightest spot in town but it would be hard to argue that Bill and Katharine Kostynyk’s Deluxe Bowl is not about to become the busiest. Since the day it opened in December, all eight lanes at the new bowling alley have been booked solid for casual bowling, while people taking up the newest sport in town anxiously await the organization of bowling leagues.

Mayor L.A. Barkman snipped a ribbon draped across a lane between two ball return chutes (choosing not to risk damage to the floor by throwing out the first ball) for the town’s first grand opening of 1963.

After declaring the new facility officially open, Mayor Barkman told the huge crowd of impatiently waiting bowlers, the town had waited a long time for someone to build a bowling alley in Steinbach, and he complimented Bill Kostynyk on making it a reality.

Steinbach Chamber of Commerce president Eugene Derksen welcomed the new proprietor, saying the opening of a bowling alley is a significant step in the development and growth of recreational facilities in the town.

“Now people coming here, as well as those in town, can round out their activities with this sport, which is gaining in popularity so rapidly. After looking at this magnificent building and the equipment, I know it is the kind of place we in Steinbach will be proud to show off.”

RM of Hanover Reeve John Harms, also welcomed the new enterprise, saying that he was only sorry that Councillor Abram F. Wiebe had not lived to see this development, as he had been such a very ardent bowler.

Kostynyk said he had never made a speech and would not start now, adding that there would be free bowling for everyone, once the official ceremonies were concluded.

05/13/2026

Sad to say goodbye to an incredible person who made such an enduring contribution to Steinbach sports. Henry Penner served over four decades as a coach, manager, executive, and an official during his time with the and
Thanks for your amazing contributions. You will be dearly missed!

05/08/2026

1990: The Links at Quarry Oaks is at least two years away from becoming the world class golf course its promoters are promising, but Harry Fehr is more than happy to show prospective members around.

An office has been set up at the site east of Steinbach, and fairway cuts have been made through the bush at the old C.T. Loewen gravel pits, to give potential investors an idea of what it is they are buying in to.

Fehr expects serious construction work on the course to begin about mid-June. The sides of the fairways will be flagged as the first step, and trees will be cut as firewood and removed.

“People want to see what they are buying,” Fehr explains, as he conducts a tour of the 18-hole layout.

The 18th fairway runs between two spring-fed ponds, another fairway splits a stand of oaks, and knolls of natural grasses will provide uncut rough throughout the course.

Fehr is confident the project will get off the ground later this summer, in spite of lagging interest in shares at this point.

To date, $900,000 of a $5 million share offering has been sold, with an equal amount in “expressions of interest” by prospective investors. Promoters expect they will be taking a big chunk of the initial offering in a revised financial plan subject to the approval of the Manitoba Securities Commission.

Fehr said revisions to the financial structure will in no way jeopardize the integrity of the plans for the golf course or the clubhouse.

Course designer Les Furber has indicated all the features of the Quarry Oaks site will be utilized for the golf course.

The abundance of sand-based material at the site is what the golf course will be created from, Furber explains.

“The 20 acres of gravel pit lakes and ponds are a tremendous boon, as irrigation is the single most important aspect of building a golf course.”

The gravel mounds will be incorporated into the design of the golf course to give the Links at Quarry Oaks a Scottish-style links look.

-Carillon Archives

05/03/2026

The 1958 Blumenhof Black Hawks came back from a one-game deficit to win two straight games, becoming the first champions of the brand new Hanover-Tache League, organized just three months earlier.

The team was awarded the L.A. Barkman Trophy, after defeating Shakespeare, 7-3 in the deciding game of the best-of-three series.

With the score tied 3-3 at the 14-minute mark of the third period of the final game, Blumenhof star John Penner led an offensive attack that earned him a hat trick in 2:30 minutes and gave his team the win. John Kornelsen added an extra goal to make the final score 7-3.

Pictured (front row; left to right): Eric Toews, Ernie Penner, Eddie Penner, Victor Friesen and John Kornelsen. Back row: Coach Ben Klassen, Johnny Wohlgemuth, Leo Thiessen, Jake Wiebe, John Penner, Ruben Plett and Bill Penner. Missing is Johnny Penner.

-Carillon Archives

04/30/2026

Tomorrow is the public’s opening day at the but in 1957, the Steinbach golf course officially opened in the last week of May. Pictured here is Peter Vogt looking on as Al Steingart lined up a putt on the sand “greens”.

04/22/2026

The SCI Sabres won three hockey games by lop-sided scores on the way to their second straight Manitoba High School Hockey Championship on home ice, capping off the 1971-72 season.
Back row: Reg Harder, Gil Penner, coach; Allan Ladobruk, Reg Penner, Vic Peters, Cornie Martens, Brian Sim, Wayne Porter, coach; and Gerry Klassen.
Front row: Ken Neufeld, Ernie Fehr, Peter Loewen, Randy Reimer and Ray Mutcheson.
-Carillon Archives

04/19/2026

Teammates crowd around SCI Sabres Captain Ralph Krentz with the 1971 Manitoba High School Hockey championship trophy. Members of the winning team are: Ernie Hiebert, Randy Penner, Vic Peters, Dave Schellenberg, Andy Stoesz, Don Neufeld, Randy Fast, Ed Ladobruk, Reg Penner, Ray Mutcheson, Kim Fries, Ernie Fehr, Ken Neufeld, Joe Penner, Randy Reimer, Gerry Klassen, Vern Dueck, and Coach Gil Penner.
-Carillon Archives photo

Steinbach Sports Heritage

05/30/2026

05/25/2026

05/16/2026

05/13/2026

05/08/2026

05/03/2026

04/30/2026

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04/19/2026

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