WARNING: This article includes graphic details of alleged sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone impacted by it. Regardless of the outcome of the sexual assault trial for five former world junior hockey players, the issues it’s raised — about hockey culture, consent and how the legal system handles such complaints — will be debated long after the judge hands down her decisions Thursday in London, Ont., suggest legal experts and advocates. It’s expected Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia will give lengthy reasons for her rulings after the eight-week trial that wrapped in mid-June. Carter Hart, Alex Formenton,…

WARNING: This article gives graphic details of alleged sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone impacted by it. Regardless of the outcome of the sexual assault trial for five former world junior hockey players, the issues it’s raised — about hockey culture, consent and how the legal system handles such complaints — will be debated long after the judge hands down her decisions Thursday in London, Ont., suggest legal experts and advocates. It’s expected Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia will give lengthy reasons for her rulings after the eight-week trial that wrapped in mid-June. Carter Hart, Alex…

The Boston Fleet have hired Kris Sparre as the second head coach in the Professional Women’s Hockey League franchise’s history. Sparre, a 38-year-old veteran assistant with no experience in the women’s game, replaces Courtney Kessel, who had a 27-19-8 record and a Walter Cup Finals appearance before leaving to take over at Princeton. Her departure leaves only two female head coaches among the PWHL’s eight teams. “This is a league that has tremendous momentum right now. And to be able to work in a city like Boston, that has such a rich tradition in winning, and building successful teams, is something…

Kerrin Hands calls walking soccer “the biggest sport no one’s heard of.” Hands, who runs the Toronto Walking Soccer Club, was initially skeptical about the appeal of a no-running version of the world’s most popular game. But it didn’t take long for the game to win him over. “The game is pretty engaging. When I first heard of it and I went to play for the first time, I had my doubts, walking through it didn’t sound that exciting,” Hands said. “But within 10 minutes, I totally understood it. “You have to be able to pass well, you have to…

Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo advanced to the third round of the Citi Open hard-court tennis tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan on Tuesday in Washington. Diallo, who had a first-round bye as the 15th seed in Washington, had 10 aces and broke Marozsan twice on seven chances. Marozsan, who committed six double faults, failed to convert the only chance he had to break Diallo’s serve. Diallo improved to 2-0 against Marozsan, with his other win coming earlier this year in a Davis Cup qualifier. Diallo will play on Thursday against the fourth-seeded Ben Shelton, who beat wild…

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has effectively barred transgender women from competing in women’s sports, telling the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an “obligation to comply” with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. The new policy, announced Monday with a quiet change on the USOPC’s website and confirmed in a letter sent to national sport governing bodies, follows a similar step taken by the NCAA earlier this year. The USOPC change is noted obliquely as a detail under “USOPC Athlete Safety Policy” and references Trump’s executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,”…

Ben Rice’s ninth-inning home run helped the New York Yankees salvage a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday at the Rogers Centre. Toronto’s four-game win streak and franchise-best 11-game home win streak were snapped with the loss, but the Blue Jays still hold a three-game lead over the Yankees in the American League East standings. Jazz Chisholm Jr., had a three-run homer in the first inning and Cody Bellinger added a solo shot in the fifth for an early New York (56-45) lead. Cam Schlittler gave up seven hits and three walks over five innings but limited…

WARNING: This article references sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone impacted by it. On Thursday, Justice Maria Carroccia will deliver her decisions in the world junior hockey sexual assault trial — a case that dates back to 2018 and has manoeuvred numerous curves as it played out over eight weeks in a London, Ont., court. Five former players are charged with sexually assaulting a woman, known as E.M. due to a standard publication ban, in a hotel room in June 2018 while the team was in the southwestern Ontario city to celebrate their world…

For the last number of years Canadian swimming teenage superstar Summer McIntosh has been racking up international medals, breaking national and world records and rewriting history. Her star continues to rise at a meteoric clip, something that doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.  It’s the expectation now that when McIntosh is swimming, something spectacular is going to happen. And while many have felt that sooner or later she has to come back down to earth, Summer continues to swim in the clouds and take her performances to another level.  In a lot of ways her excellence has been…

The Toronto Raptors will be holding their training camp at the University of Calgary, the first time in franchise history the team will hold camp in Alberta. The team will practise at Jack Simpson Gym from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, with those sessions being closed to the public. The Raptors will have an open practice on Oct. 3. Toronto will open pre-season action against Canadian Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 6 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The game will mark the seventh Canada Series game in Vancouver and the first since 2023, when the Raptors defeated…