Hear from the people who helped shape some of N.L.’s biggest sports moments of 2025

Newfoundland and Labrador punched above its weight in sports, and 2025 gave the province the chance to shine on the national and international stages.

Starting in late 2024 with a provincial designation that 2025 would be the Year of Sport, the province's athletes didn't disappoint with their fair share of highlight moments.

Here are just a few of Newfoundland and Labrador's standout sporting moments in 2025, shared by the people who made them possible.

Fantastic 4 for Baggs

Long before 2025, many in Newfoundland and Labrador knew the summer would bring sporting opportunities not seen in nearly half a century. The Canada Games returned to St. John’s for the first time since 1977.

More than 4,200 athletes competed in 19 sports across the two-week event, but none shined brighter for Team N.L. than Gavin Baggs.

At just 18, Baggs won four of the province’s seven total medals at the Games across two sports, swimming and para-track-and-field.

"It was definitely the craziest Games experience I've ever had,” Baggs, who was competing in his fourth Canada Games, told CBC News in early December.

“I wouldn't have done any other thing this summer than prepare for the Canada Games and compete at the Canada Games, because it truly was an unreal experience."

Baggs said he was driven by the hometown crowd each time he wheeled to the starting line, adding it gave him the boost he needed to compete.

Now that the Games are complete, and legacy venues still stand, Baggs said he hopes the success of the Games can keep the momentum moving forward in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"[We] need to keep training like [we're] still training for the Canada Games," he said.

“We need to ride off that wave of training level, and we need to keep it high. And if we keep it high, then the future of sport in Newfoundland is just going to keep getting better and better."

Heading into the new year, Baggs is continuing his training in sledge hockey, hopeful to earn a spot on Canada’s Paralympic sledge hockey team.

Breaking the baseball gender barrier in St. John's

History-making moments were also made on the diamond during the Canada Games, when Newfoundland and Labrador stepped on to the field in the first women’s baseball match in the competition’s history.

Assistant coach Kristyn Coley told CBC News she had hoped to see the moment for years. Things really ramped up when St. John’s pitcher Jaida Lee broke the gender barrier at the previous Games as the first woman to play for a men's team.

“We've said to the girls since, one thing that we'll always have is that memory. You know, that we were part of that. The crowd, the atmosphere, the support was amazing," Coley said.

Later in the year, Lee would be selected by New York in the first round of the inaugural Women’s Pro Baseball League entry draft.

She joins a growing list of young women from Newfoundland and Labrador to compete in professional ranks, like Abby Newhook and Maggie Connors in the PWHL.

As women’s sports has its moment in the province, Coley said it’s important to have trailblazers carving a path for the next generation.

“No matter where you are, if you're good, you're going to be found," said Coley, who also chairs the Women and Girls Committee for Baseball Canada.

"There's something here for you, and I think going forward we're going to see a huge boom in registration numbers for girls in sport across the province in many different areas."

Regiment light the goal lamp

On the ice, 2025 saw another return of high-level hockey to St. John’s. But this one brought a little extra déjà vu.

The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, often referred to as ‘The Q,’ made its return to Newfoundland and Labrador for the first time since 2008. The Newfoundland Regiment kicked off its season in October.

Quinn Norman, a defenceman for the Regiment from Conception Bay South, told CBC News in June that he jumped for joy when he found out the club was coming to St. John’s.

Months later, he was drafted by the team and is living out a hockey dream at home.

"It's an incredible honour, honestly. Just playing at home as the hometown kid, me and Ben [Veitch], and just playing in front of the crowds. The crowds are unreal," he said. "Every night I play, I just remember that I'm playing for my province."

Heading into the second half of the Regiment’s first season, Norman said he’s confident the team can establish itself as a playoff team. The Regiment sits fourth in the eastern conference as of mid-December.

"Our whole team feels it. And honestly, before we all step out on the ice, we all just have to embrace it," Norman said. "The fans here are so good to us, so we just got to make [it] up for them."

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