The Summer Camp, ILWP and Recreational House League (Teen Polo from last year) receipts were mailed some time ago. Receipts for the competitive program have just been recently mailed. If you have questions or concerns about the receipt you received, or if, for some reason your receipt has not arrived by February 29, please contact Titans General Manager Deanna Barry at INFO@titanswaterpolo.ca. Please note that to be eligible, the child must be under the age of 16 at some point in the 2007 calendar year (those players born 1991 and later are eligible). A maximum of $500 per child can be claimed. Titans are able to issue a receipt for income tax purposes for amounts paid in 2007 only. Amounts paid in 2006 or 2008 do not qualify, even if part or all of the activity took/ takes place in 2007. Many thanks to the following Titans volunteers for their assistance in preparing receipts. They are: Registrar Alka Steenkamer; John Pabstel; Kim Perron; Denise Walter; Lorraine Proulx; Bernice McIntosh and Ginette Sharp. This was a large undertaking and many hands made the work much lighter!

Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) and the Titans Competitive Program
A Message from David Hart, Head Coach:

I am providing you with a document which I feel is a "must read" for all members of our organization, parents and athletes included. Click on http://titanswp.hypermart.net/2007/docs/LTAD_Competition.pdf to view the document.

I believe the LTAD document speaks for itself and encourage you to take the time to read it through.

It supports the view that I and the club Executive have been trying so hard to have our community of coaches, athletes and parents to understand.

In my opinion, reading carefully through this document is VITAL to your understanding of your child's experience in our sport, for both our current approach as well as the on-going plans we have for our organization in the years to come.

We will also likely need to hold more discussions with the athletes to further educate them and help them understand the logic behind our decisions.

Cheers

David Hart

11th Annual Valentines Water Polo Tournament, Victoria, B.C.

Submitted by Sharon Lapins

On February 20th, Rob Tarnoczy and I, along with fourteen U16 female Titans athletes, flew out of Ottawa headed for Victoria, BC to participate in the Valentines Water Polo Tournament at the Saanich Commonwealth Pool. This is the first time that the Titans have participated in this event and we were all very excited to meet new people, touch base with old friends and, of course, to play some tough water polo.

We were picked up at the airport in Victoria by some of our billeting hosts and taken to their homes to spend some time getting to know each other. Despite the fact that we were all tired from a very early morning and a 3 hour time difference, that didn't stop the girls from finding things to do like jumping on trampolines or walking to the ocean to look for shells. Probably the most apparent thing that we noticed was the freshness of the air and the beautiful landscaping everywhere.

Our tournament hosts, Gabi and Ferenc Vindisch, made every effort to treat us as their special guests and offered our team 2 hours of training both on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. We were all feeling jet lagged and keeping active is one of the best ways to overcome the fatigue. On Thursday morning, our girls along with several athletes from the Saanich Water Polo School, met in Victoria's China Town for some shopping, sight-seeing and, of course, eating!

The tournament began on Friday morning for the Stingrays facing Pacific Storm, one of our major competitors since losing to them at Cadet Nationals last year. We definitely came into this first game hungry for the win, and ended up beating them 5-2 in a pretty intense game. Our next game was against Fraser Valley and we found ourselves completely flat in the water. Although we "suffered the win", we all knew that we had not performed up to par and that we would need to re-group for the following day of competition.

Rob did a wonderful job of coaching giving all athletes a lot of play time in every game throughout the entire tournament. Our first game on Saturday was against Saanich Water Polo School and we beat them 18-3. Facing Calgary A next proved to be an "in your face" kind of game with us working hard, never letting up, and we proved to be the better team of the day with a 6-4 win.

Our last game in the tournament was versus Calgary B. This team was of equal strength as Calgary A and the game was tough with no time to relax. Despite the fact that Calgary had their huge, and very loud, fan club perched above the pool in the stands, our team remained focused and were victorious with a 4-2 final score, resulting in GOLD medals for the Stingrays. Congratulations to the girls for bringing so much to the pool and a huge thank you to Rob for the education and caring you always bring to our team.

Five of our "young guns", as they were affectionately referred to by Rob, played in both Bantam and Cadet categories giving them a wonderful opportunity to play many games and learn/practice new skills. The Bantam team was filled out with other girls from the Saanich School and we all made new friends that will, hopefully, last for many years. Congratulations to the Bantam girls who brought home BRONZE medals!

Travelling with our girls to Victoria meant so much to Rob and me as we have learned the importance of team building/bonding and the value in tournaments and playing lots of games. Thank you to all of the parents who have supported our attempts in making this team the best it can be!