Ace sportswriter spent well over 30 years in media
By Gordie Howe Sports Complex staff
Gordie Howe Sports Complex
It is an end of an era but also a great time to celebrate what an era it was.
Darren Zary. (Photo courtesy Zary’s LinkedIn profile)
Today, ace sportswriter Darren Zary worked his last shift at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. He retired from the outlet after working there starting in 1996 and spent well over 30 year in the provincial media scene.
Zary spent countless hours over the decades on the grounds of the Gordie Howe Sports Complex and covered every sport here that calls the Complex home. The family at the Complex is wishing the best for Zary as he embarks on this new phase of his life, but he will be missed by everyone here.
“I remember Mr. Zary sitting under the stands at Bob Van Impe Stadium at a Canadian Championship Game waiting for the last pitch sometimes at 1:30 in the morning just to ensure he got that last score into the newspaper the next morning,” said Bryan Kosteroski, who is the Chairperson of Gordie Howe Sports Complex Management Incorporated and is a member of the Softball Canada Hall of Fame as a builder. “Rain or shine, Darren (Zary) stood tall for the Sporting World at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.
“He does
not realize this, but people remember the hours that guy put in and the stories
he has written. Hats off to one of the biggest guys in the Saskatoon Sports
Scene for many years.”
Zary was
born and raised in Humboldt, grew up watching the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos and
played every sport available in the community. At one time, he had quite a
strong throwing arm in football, and his experience playing numerous sports
showed through in his writing.
He
graduated from Humboldt Collegiate Institute and attended St. Peter’s College
for one year. Zary then studied at the University of Saskatchewan for three
years, where his sportswriting career really started to take off as he worked
for the Sheaf student newspaper.
After that
experience, Zary began working at the Humboldt Journal becoming the outlet’s
sports editor. He moved on to Battlefords where he served as the sports editor
at both the Battlefords News-Optimist and Battlefords Telegraph. He remained
there after the two outlets merged before landing his position at the
StarPhoenix.
While Zary
is best known for his work in the sports scene, he was an agriculture reporter,
a desk editor, weekend web editor and page monitor during his three decades at
the StarPhoenix. As a sports writer, Zary covered everything in Saskatoon’s
sports scene including the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops, the WHL’s Saskatoon
Blades, the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush, the CEBL’s Saskatchewan Rattlers who were
recently rebranded as the Saskatoon Mamba, the WCBL’s Saskatoon Berries and the
CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders when they came to Saskatoon for training camp.
One of the
last big events Zary covered on the Complex grounds was the Hilltops latest
CJFL title win, when they downed the Okanagan Sun 21-18 at Saskatoon Minor
Football Field this past November 9 in 2025. He had been reporting on
happenings at the Complex just this past week putting together stories on
Garrett Hawkins heading off to Spring Training on the 40-man roster of the
MLB’s San Diego Padres and a look ahead to the Berries upcoming WCBL campaign,
where they will host the WCBL all-star weekend July 18 and 19 at Cairns Field.
Both those pieces ran in today’s StarPhoenix.
He will be
fondly remembered on the Complex grounds with the numerous memories he made
here including covering many Canadian Softball Championships, where some
tournaments had games that ran into the early hours of the morning under the
lights at Bob Van Impe Stadium.
While Zary
was outstanding as a sportswriter, he has been an even better father. He could
often be found in the stands at SMF Field doing the dad thing in supporting
sons Zach and Dax during their football careers that included suiting up for
the Evan Hardy Collegiate Souls. Those are some of the best memories that are
made on the Complex grounds.
A thank you
might not be enough. Still, we thank Zary for all his efforts covering the
sports scene not only on our grounds, but also the Saskatoon area and the
provincial scene.
We hope
this new phase of Zary’s life is everything he hoped for, and he gets to spend
tonnes of time with his family. We see Zary as being part of the family here,
and he is always welcomed to come down to the grounds here for a visit.
