Taylor Bell will tell you if you stay in it long enough, the hard times will eventually give something back.

The 21-year-old Brandonite who’s now known as the hero who delivered a national championship to Fremont, Neb., for the Midland University Warriors for the first time in program history a few months ago, didn’t have it quite so easy back in her early days with the team.

“My freshman year, obviously it wasn’t a great year for me,” Bell recalled. “Things were tough. It was just a big change and a big adjustment.”

Bell committed to the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s women’s Division 1 Midland squad for the 2022-23 season, majoring in exercise science after spending three years with the Central Plains Capitals out of the Manitoba U18 AAA Female Hockey League. She had reached out to a few different schools, but head coach Jason White was the first one to get back to her and express mutual interest.

Two Westman teams will be enshrined in the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame this fall.

The Brandon University Bobcats men of 1979 to 1984 and the Glenboro Panthers varsity girls of 2003 to 2009 are the two teams joining three players and three builders in the class of 2026.

The Bobcats won BU’s first-ever national medal when they reached the 1980 Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union title game, then won bronze medals in 1982 and 1983 before another silver in 1984.

The Panthers won five A provincial titles in six years, including four straight from 2004 to 2007.

Ilarion Bonhomme is taking another step in his coaching career.

The Brandon University women’s basketball head coach has joined the Winnipeg Sea Bears as an assistant for the 2026 Canadian Elite Basketball League season, which runs from May to August.

The staff, led by former Bobcat men’s basketball player and coach Mike Raimbault— now the University of Winnipeg men’s head coach — includes former BU men’s assistant Jeremy Wielenga.

The Sea Bears roster features U of W guard Kato Jaro and Manitoba Bison Mason Kraus.