Revealing the culture behind the number one ranked Yogurt Team in North America.

USask has no shortage of talented, hardworking athletes on its rosters. Whether it’s football, volleyball or track & field, the Huskies always make the turfs bleed green and white. But in the shadows of championship banners and Hardy Cups, a new sport is stirring up the competition. 

Within mere months, the USask Varsity Yogurt team has grown a following of over 2000 fans across Instagram and TikTok, @usaskyogurt, with hundreds of thousands of views. They made their first post in October 2025, seemingly out of nowhere, catapulting them into the spotlight to their yogurt fans, whom they have endearingly dubbed the “Gurt Squad”. These videos often feature yogurt reviews and blind guessing yogurt challenges, with Huskie locker rooms and running tracks as backdrops. 

The team has had over 100 applicants sign up for their yogurt roster, no doubt eager to join the likes of their other “top yogurt recruits”. 

Despite the spotlight, the Yogurt Team has managed to keep a tight lid on their team operations. Undoubtedly, their mystique and allure have piqued the curiosity and intrigue of yogurt lovers all over campus. Who are they? What are they all about? Is yogurt now a verb or a noun?

I had the chance to sit down with three pillars of the USask Varsity Yogurt Team: Founder Keegan Colleaux, and two committed yogurt athletes, Ethan “Ethan B.” Berardocco and Jacob “Bird” Baird. Ducking their heads under The Sheaf’s office door, the three strolled in, donning their infamous Varsity Yogurt Team merchandise — white t-shirts with their classic yogurt cup logo on the top left, over the heart. Impossible to ignore, and equally impossible to get your hands on. 

It all started from a dream Colleaux had one night. “I just had a dream about there being a yogurt team, legit. And then I told these guys, and they were really supportive in getting it off the ground.”

The sport of “yogurt” has since reached new heights, expanding into an international Varsity Yogurt League, reminiscent of the Ivy League, and inspiring yogurt clubs all over. Students in Hudson Bay, McMaster, Dalhousie and even North Dakota have all been inspired to create their own varsity team, and the first Junior Varsity Yogurt Team popped up at Aden Bowman Collegiate. 

The Yogurt Team spans across provinces in the case of Albertan athlete Berardocco, but it also has developed global reach. Baird is a recruit from Australia, who would like to make a special shoutout to Logan City, his hometown. Although he cannot get his favourite brand of Aussie yogurt, he has settled on tubs of raspberry Chobanis here in Saskatchewan. Baird is not even the only international recruit. The Varsity Yogurt team proudly boasts a recruit from Indonesia on their yogurt roster, who was one of their first applicants and is now leading the Jakarta Varsity Yogurt Team. 

Colleaux is quick to preface that anything big has to be worked toward steadily, “Oikos wasn’t built in a day.” He advocates for starting small and not expecting huge results the first time around. As “professional yogurt athletes”, Berardocco notes that many first-timers suffer from biting off more than they can chew. “Oikos Pro is a big danger in the community; it’s a professional-tier yogurt.”

Aside from consistency, flavour is another factor that can impact one’s dairy performance. “Contrary to popular belief, plain vanilla is a difficult flavour.” Berardocco instead suggests yogurt drinks or a strawberry banana flavor for beginners. Colleaux maintains that no matter what, it’s most important to find what works for you and to pick what you enjoy. True in yogurt, and in life. 

The process of becoming a “Yogurt Athlete” all starts with a simple Google form. Be prepared to be asked about your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your goals with the Yogurt Team. If applicants are looking to stand out in their applications, Colleaux mentions that video submissions and uniqueness have helped athletes like their newest recruit, Logan Kaban, get scouted. In terms of what the team looks for in a recruit, it’s someone who shows that they want to work hard and can #FearTheGurt (a slogan coined by yogurt athlete Ty Gilkes).

Even lactose-intolerant recruits are welcome on the team by Colleaux. “We’ll take anyone, you just gotta be ready to deal with the consequences.” The team believes that the ability to perform in spite of your lactose intolerance is the mark of a dedicated athlete. “If someone is willing to outwork it, that’s a great sign. You know that they’re fully committed.”

“[#FearTheGurt] really brings our culture all together. Physically, you don’t have to be afraid of yogurt. It can be intimidating for sure. But it’s just more about the action of having that dog mentality when you are eating yogurt.” 

The team has pushed them beyond their personal limits as competitors. When discussing the biggest hurdles that they’ve overcome while on the team, the athletes could barely hold it together. “Jacob [Baird]’s was … he would just miss his mouth.” For Baird, being overambitious is apparently not exclusive to rookies. Colleaux recalls professional injuries obtained by trying to do too much, too soon. “His body was telling him no.” 

Many of the yogurt athletes are double-booked, also being committed to Huskie Athletics. When asked how they balance it all, none of them seemed phased by the challenge. Colleaux believes that one needs the other. “All the key features for yogurt are built on our volleyball training. The mindset, the mentality, the grit … it’s kinda reinforced every day. Volleyball has really helped us build the mentality for yogurt.” 

“You gotta make sacrifices, and I make that sacrifice with my sleep,” Berardocco dutifully states. He believes yogurt to be more competitive of a commitment than his Huskies contract, while Baird sees the two as an ability to “mix all our passions together”. Two birds with one stone. Colleaux corrects me: “Two yogurts, one spoon.”

Speaking of spoons, Baird’s tried and true spoon is a plastic Ikea spoon, a product that he has trusted for the past 14 years. He believes them to be beginner-friendly, with less risk if one were to miss their mouth. 

Each yogurt athlete has their own style. I asked the athletes to picture a small cup with a foil lid. The question is, are we detaching the lid all the way? Baird closes his eyes and mimes holding a small cup of yogurt. “It depends on the environment. So, for example, [on] bus rides, if I don’t have a bin easily accessible, I will leave the tip of the lid attached. In the perfect, competitive environment, fully detached. Always.” 

Colleaux jumps in. “And that’s been a point of conflict, because, I would say, my only personal rule is: fully detached. And I see him doing this, and I wanna kick him off the team right then and there.” 

Berardocco has other priorities. “The thing I will focus on is always licking the lid.” At the mention of licking the lid, Colleaux hangs his head. 

“My lowest moment, there was a video that we made where it was a yogurt review, and I didn’t lick the lid. I was just caught up in the moment, and I forgot, and I felt terrible, ‘cause that’s just not what I do. That’s not what we’re about. And everyone saw that, and it was pretty controversial,” Colleaux revealed.

Colleaux is lucky that the competition regulations are lax, according to Berardocco. “If you wanna fully clear it off, be my guest. But the USask Varsity Yogurt Team standard and our culture is: one lick is enough.”

One thing they can all agree on is “if you lick the spoon clean, you don’t have to wash it.”

Dealing with all the new eyes on them, the guys recount how their lives have changed since the Varsity Yogurt Team took off. Baird admits: “We’ve turned into something of minor celebrities on campus.” 

Baird recalls how Berardocco recently signed his first autograph. He flips his phone around to show a screenshot: “Ethan” typed out in the Notes app. 

The athletes express great gratitude toward their Gurt Squad. Baird speaks fondly: “The yogurt community has grown to be really big. Whether they’re on the team or not, we really appreciate everyone.” 

No squad works without its leader. Baird reflects on Colleaux’s leadership in this journey. “I really can’t speak highly enough of Keegan [Colleaux] as a leader … as a person, you know, and as a member of the Yogurt Team. He really is the best of us, and he’s really done so much to give us all these opportunities.” 

Colleaux humbly hopes to inspire others who dream of going out and starting something of their own. “Put yourself out there and chase your dreams. Sometimes a random thing will be bigger than it should be. Go for ‘gurt.”