Photo roundup anchored by images form Institute of Saskatchewan Football
Written by Gordie Howe Sports Complex staff
Before coming to Saskatoon, Joe Carnahan was already a WCBL legend.
The product of Ashland, Wisconsin, played for Swift Current from 2001 to 2007 and helped the team win league championships in 2001, 2005 and 2006. Carnahan was named the circuit’s most valuable player in 2002 and 2005 and was playoff MVP in 2001 and 2005.
Starting in 2008, Carnahan became Swift Current’s head coach, and he guided the team to league championships in 2010, 2016 and 2017. He was named the league’s coach of the year four times, when he was the skipper in Swift Current. Carnahan resigned as the head coach and general manager of the Swift Current 57’s in September of 2020, but that ultimately wasn’t the end of his WCBL story.
On July 5, 2023, the newly created Saskatoon Berries announced that Carnahan was hired as the team’s first head coach. Carnahan’s arrival in Saskatoon gave the Berries a huge shot of instant credibility.
He came to the team with the belief he could get them winning out of the gate. In each of their first two seasons, the Berries made it to the WCBL’s East Division Championship Series. In 2025, the Berries set a new WCBL record for regular season wins topping the circuit with a 46-9 record, and Carnahan was named the circuit’s coach of the year for the fifth time in his career.
Our main feature for the April upload of “Howe Happenings” comes from what was basically a coffee chat visit with Carnahan. He reflects on his first two seasons guiding the Berries.
That included a slow 3-8 start out of the gate in 2024 and the quick rise to seeing the squad being one of the WCBL’s strongest teams. Carnahan also looks forward to the upcoming 2026 season that will start in late May.
To go with the feature on Carnahan, April’s “Howe Happenings” upload has a photo roundup that is anchored by photos from the Institute of Saskatchewan Football practicing at the Indoor Training Centre. The photo roundup also has pictures of action from baseball, football and softball at the Indoor Training Centre along with skiing wrapping up on the ski trails on the Glenn Reeve Fields.
You can find these items on the “Howe Happenings” blog at howehappenings306.blogspot.com.
New content will be released normally on the ninth day of each month. We hope you will enjoy the stories that make up the posts on the “Howe Happenings” blog.
