Invitation Jeunesse CAMO Tournament, Feb 8th - 10th, 2008

Submitted by Sharon Lapins

 

The Ottawa Titans Stingrays participated in the U18 CAMO Invitational Tournament this past weekend, Feb 8-10, at the Centre Sportif Claude Robillard in Montreal.  With four of our top athletes playing up with the Piranhas, coach Rob Tarnoczy invited some of our younger, less experienced athletes to fill out our roster, giving all of the athletes the opportunity to gain valuable experience playing water polo in a highly competitive atmosphere.

 

With each game played, our team learned many lessons including working on defensive and offensive strategies, the importance of communication in the water, as well as having the confidence to shoot......"if you do not shoot, you will not score".

 

These tournaments provide an opportunity for our athletes to learn so much more than water polo skills alone.   They learn compassion for their teammates who become ill while away from home, they learn how to be flexible when thrown into a variety of situations, they learn how to be a good friend.  The most important lesson this weekend, though, was Rob's excellent talk about playing water polo with heart and with pride.......the satisfaction that comes from working hard and leaving it all in the pool, no matter what the outcome on the scoreboard.  The pride we all feel as representatives of the Ottawa Titans. 

 

Congratulations go out to the Piranhas, who brought home Silver medals!  Great job!

 

Go Titans!


2nd Annual York University Lions Water Polo Tournament, February 8th and 9th, 2008
Submitted by Adrian Steenkamer

Two teams traveled to York University to participate in a Bantam tournament.  Both teams were balanced and the goal of the weekend tournament was to gain some tournament experience, have fun, and get to know the other Titan players.

The two teams, Kanata Crocs and the Orleans Gators, left the Nepean Sportsplex on Friday afternoon along with the coaches Blake Christie and Adrian Steenkamer, and the two chaperones/team managers Sue Sidebottom and Andrea Kennedy.  Some of the players had not yet experienced an "away tournament" and there was a certain amount of nervousness and anxiety that could be seen before leaving.  This quickly dissipated within an hour and the athletes were laughing and having a great time.

The Crocs had the first game that evening beating the Hamilton Raiders 6-2.  The Gators weren't as fortunate losing to Mississauga 8-2.  After four hours on the bus and two late games, the Titans were eager to get to the hotel to relax and get some sleep. 

The following day was to be a test of endurance, for the athletes, coaches and team managers.  Each team was to play 4 games in total including the playoffs.  The Crocs started by losing 8-3 against Scarborough, 9-3 against KW Inferno and then winning against Hamilton Buccaneers.  This left the Crocs in 3rd place in their division and playing for 5th place overall.

The Gators began the morning with a 12-2 win against Etobicoke, followed by 11-2 and 10-1 wins against London and Guelph respectively.  The Gators ended in 2nd place in their division and were playing for 3rd place overall.

The playoffs proved to be a real test of the Titans endurance and will to win.  Already having played 3 games and bowling for over an hour with 8-10 pound bowling balls, the Titans were tired but excited to finish off the day with final wins.  The cross-over playoff format pitted the Crocs against Etobicoke for 5th place.  Full defensive pressure and quick counter attacks provided the needed spark for the Crocs to come up with a 7-1 routing over Etobicoke.  The third place game between the Gators and Scarborough proved to be more challenging and it took some good goal-tending and excellent defense to come up with a 5-4 lead with less than 2 minutes left in the game.  Scarborough finally tied the game at 5 and neither team could score in the final minutes.  With a schedule that did not allow much time between games and constantly running behind schedule, the tournament organizers decided that the tie would stand and both teams received the Bronze medal.  It was evident that both the Titans teams really stepped up when it was important and played their best games of the tournament.

A late pizza dinner left the halls of the hotel very quiet as the athletes arrived back in their rooms for the night.  Sunday morning would come early and an hour and a half scrimmage against York was what the Titans had to look forward to on a bitterly cold morning.  Tired but happy from the weekend games, we left York and headed home with smiles and great memories and some very valuable experience.

Thanks to all of the organizers, coaches, parents, and athletes who made this tournament a huge success.

Note: Blake was crowned the 10-pin bowling "championship" with some earth shattering strikes.  I think another challenge is forthcoming.