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Ottawa Titans Water Polo Weekly Newsletter
  February 4, 2009

  

Titans Invitational (16U AAA and 16/18U AA, Men and Women)- This Weekend at Nepean Sportsplex

Come out and cheer on the Titans as five of our local teams compete in the annual Titans Invitational. Game schedule is available here: http://titanswp.hypermart.net/Titans200809/Tournaments/TitansInv/2009TitansInvlGameSchedule.pdf

Hel-l-l-l-p-p-p-p! We still require volunteers as minor officials on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. PARENTS of participating athletes, we need you! Students looking for volunteer hours are more than welcome to sign up. If you haven't done one of the jobs before, please come well in advance of your shift, and we'll ensure someone orientates you and that you are comfortable with your role.   We also need help with pool set up at 3pm on Friday.  The Volunteer Sign-Up is available here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pMUnObbsO4HuSflKvfh21eA

Reminder For Minor Officials This Weekend:

  1. Wear a white top/T-shirt if possible
  2. Bring a pair of sandals to wear around the pool as outside shoes are not permitted on deck
  3. Show up at the hospitality suite at least 15 min before your game, or a whole game (at the officials' table) if you haven't done this for a while

Mouth Guard Clinic at Titans Invitational This Weekend

While the Titans don't have a position on whether athletes should or should not wear a mouth guard during play, many families have expressed interest in them. We have an opportunity for you to purchase one this weekend at Nepean Sportsplex during the Tournament. Cost is $45. They accept VISA, Mastercard, cash are cheques. The mouth guards are made on the spot and ready in about 75 minutes. They are custom fitted and available in many colours. A portion of the sales will be donated back to the Titans.  Hours are 4:30-9pm Friday night and all day Saturday. Further information on Mobile Smiles Ottawa is available here:  http://www.mobilesmilesottawa.ca/  Note that custom mouthguards are not recommended for athletes with braces.


Titans Cup A Big Success!

Thank you to everyone who made the 11th annual Titans Cup tournament such a big success. Nineteen teams participated in this developmental tournament. We had SEVEN Titans teams entered, the most ever! Sixty-eight Titans Academy and ILWP players participated, and for some this was their first taste of competition.

It takes a lot of work to make an event run as seamlessly as this one. A number of thanks are due. Firstly, to Colin Kelly, our fearless Tournament Director, who offered early on to organize this event. He was super, he was unflappable, and has even been overheard saying he would do it again next year.

Next are the volunteers who held key positions: Mary Davies, who coordinated the Hospitality Room, giving our volunteers, coaches and officials a homey place to visit for a bite to eat and a drink; Charline Giroux and Aniko Kellar, who coordinated the recruitment of volunteer minor officials and ensured everyone was in place when they should be during the event; Milenko Krsmanovic, who coordinated the communication to our own athletes regarding the event; Slavia Frlic who prepared the Tournament Booklet and had it printed; Dino DiPerna, for running the minor officials orientation; Christine Taschereau, for Titans merchandise sales; and Todd Bealor, our Head Referee. Finally, but also very importantly, a thanks to all the parents and older athletes who signed up as volunteers, who dropped by to see if we could use some help, and who picked up garbage and put away equipment. You are all great!

Scores from the games over the weekend are available on the club website or by clicking here: results

C.T. Photo provided photography services over the weekend. Photos can be viewed and ordered at a very reasonable price by visiting their website: www.ctphoto.ca.


Ottawa Sports Awards Celebration

Submitted by Christine Taschereau

I recently attended the 56th Annual Ottawa Sports Awards Celebration where local athletes are recognized for their outstanding accomplishments. The 2008 edition included an extra-special presentation to 26 local athletes, who represented Canada with distinction at the 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, including Aaron Feltham and Sasa Palamarevic who were members of the Canadian Olympic Water Polo team. Sasa Palamarevic is well known to the current U18 Great White Sharks who them practice with him in the National Development Program and play against him in the Ottawa Water Polo League and it was thrilling for Titan Water Polo players to see him being recognized as a Water Polo Olympian.

 

Nineteen teams were also recognized for their accomplishments on the provincial, national and international stages. Among those 19 teams were 2 Ottawa Titans Water Polo teams. The 2007-08 U18 Great White Sharks (GWS) and U16 Tiger Sharks (TS) were honoured for their achievements at the Provincial and National championships. Present to receive the awards were coaches, Jerry Tesanovic GWS and former Titans coach, Pierre Fiset TS, as well as Logan Seaman, a former GWS and James Bickerton and Lyle Brooks, co-captains of the TS, and Ben Bouwer, Charles McClintock and Alec Taschereau, TS players.


Congratulations go out to all the athletes, coaches and team managers on the GWS and TS teams, namely:


GWS - Ben Bouwer, Lyle Books, Calum Norton-Kendrick, Ognien Gutovic, David Lapins, Logan Seaman, John Conway, Charles Bouwer and Connor Lee - Coach Jerry Tesanovic,  Manager Heather Seaman
 
TS - Ben Bouwer, Patrick Cauthers, David Tushingham, Anthony Croteau, Sébastien Fiset, Alec Taschereau, David Lapins, Ognien Gutovic, Lyle Brooks, Maxim Hébert, Charles McClintock, James Bickerton and Owen Kennedy - Coach Pierre Fiset, Manager Christine Taschereau

 

It was a pleasure to be present and see these coaches and players being rewarded for all their hard work over the past seasons. As a parent I am well aware that it takes more than one season of practicing to achieve such tremendous results. Thank you to the coaches for their devotion and to the players for their dedication.

 

In the words of Alan Armstrong "Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character."
 




Titans at the Bytown Invitational Water Polo Tournament,  January 30th - February 1, 2009

There was a lot of great action at Carleton pool this past weekend as Titans athletes participated in both the Men's (Tesanovic) Divison and Women's (Kaulbach) Division of the Bytown Invitational.

Swordfish and Piranhas

Submitted by Greg Sidebottom

The Titans 18U women had lots of water polo fun this weekend at the the Bytown Invitational Water Polo Tournament.  Celso, Alison and Adrian were on hand to coach the Piranhas and the Swordfish.  This version of the Piranhas consisted of all of our older 18U AAA woman except Nathalie, who joined the Swordfish with our 16U girls who train in the 18U program with the addition of three Stingrays who were called up to play with the big girls.  The other teams were the University of Ottawa Gee Gees, RORCA consisting of Carleton Ravens and alumni including Alison, the Golden Girls who were not as old as their name would suggest (coach Jen Hampton appeared with the Girls), several Golden Girls were in the same age range as Titans parents. 

The tournament opened on Friday night with the Swordfish overcoming a two goal deficit in the fourth quarter including a goal in the final seconds to salvage a 10-10 tie.  The Golden Girls, which included former national team members and Olympians including Logan's mother Heather Seaman in goal, were very tough with a little less speed and endurance but had a strong bench, years of experience, and super quick ball movement and shots. 

In the next Titans game Saturday afternoon, the Swordfish looked very strong holding the lead the whole game against the Gee Gees and winning 12-7 for an excellent start to the tournament.  The Piranhas first game was a 6-3 win over RORCA Saturday afternoon, followed by a 7-3 loss in an evening game against the Golden Girls.  In the final Saturday evening game for the Titans woman, the Swordfish took on RORCA.  It was a close game with the Swordfish missing at least 5 great opportunities in the first half and trailing 3-2 at half time.  But the Swordfish were not able to overcome RORCA's tough play in the second half and lost 7-2. 

The Piranhas had the early morning game Sunday, which was a close 6-5 loss to the Gee Gees.  But the Piranhas and Swordfish made up for this disappointment by celebrating Gillian's 18th birthday with breakfast and cake. 

Going into the Piranhas-Swordfish match up, the final game of the round robin, places 2nd - 4th were still up for grabs.  The Golden Girls had already sewn up first place with an undefeated 3-0-1 record.  RORCA was 1-3 but had lost to the 1-2 Piranhas and had fewer game points than the 1-1-1 Swordfish, so RORCA was fifth and out of the playoffs.  But the Gee Gees were 2-2 and had beaten the Swordfish but lost to the Piranhas.  So a Piranhas win meant second place and a playoff game for the gold with the Swordfish relegated to fourth to play for the bronze.  But a Swordfish win meant the converse.  Quite a lot on the line!

The game started with the traditional group cheer at the center of the pool.  The game was a continuous nail biter with never more than a two goal differential.  In the last minute the Piranhas tied it up 7-7 and then the final buzzer sounded.  But there was a game clock error and the referees had 4 seconds put on the clock with the Piranhas in possession.  The Piranhas goalie attempted to set up a play from center but the ball was stolen by the Swordfish for one final shot at the open net.  The true final buzzer sounded while the ball flew through the air, landed near the goal line and slowly drifted towards the net.  But in this situation, it is no goal as the game ends where the ball hits the water.  It was a fabulous game to watch - we really do have two very balanced teams with our Swordfish and the Piranhas playing such a close game that could have easily gone either way.

The officials quickly determined that a tie still meant the Swordfish finished second with a 1-1-2 record to tie them in game points but with a head-to-head win.  So the Swordfish earned a rematch with the undefeated Golden Girls and the Piranhas got to fight it out with the Gee Gees for the bronze.

The Piranhas fought hard against the Gee Gees but in the end had to settle for fourth place after an 8-4 loss. 

The Swordfish came out storming against the Golden Girls, quickly building up and maintaining a 3 point or greater lead for the whole game.  But the Golden Girls never gave up, matching the Swordfish point for point and making plays and great saves in the second half.  But in the end the Swordfish prevailed 11-8 to take home the Bytown Invitational cup. 

Congratulations to all the girls and women involved for an exciting weekend of water polo.  Also special thanks go to our dedicated coaches, Celso, Alison and Adrian who were there for all the Swordfish and Piranhas games!


Bytown Invitational Photo Gallery

Below is a glimpse of the action this weekend.  For more photos, click on pictures to see the complete photo gallery posted on the club website under "Tournaments".  Special thanks to Yew Lee, Therese Hodgson and Greg Sidebottom for sharing their photos with us.
 





Titans Alumni Logan Seaman Profiled in Carleton University's Charlatan Newspaper

Full story available here: http://www.charlatan.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21173&Itemid=151


$50 REWARD Offered For Recruitment of New Players!

In an effort to step up our recruitment of new players, the Titans are offering a REWARD ($50 cheque) payable to any player or parent who is able to bring a brand new player on board. While our aim is primarily to broaden our base by increasing the number of players in 'I Love Water Polo' and Recreational House League, we will also honour a reward for new recruits to our competitive programs (by invitation of the head coaches in this case). Potential new players are welcome to come out and try a practice before committing. In order to cash in on your $50 reward, the new player must sign up and pay for the remainder of the season (late registrants are entitled to a pro-rated fee).  Contact General Manager Deanna Barry at INFO@titanswaterpolo.ca. OFFER EXPIRES FEBRUARY 13, 2009.


Newsletter Submissions

If you would like to contribute an item to the newsletter, please send your submission to Sue Sidebottom at news@titanswaterpolo.ca .  I depend on the readers to submit articles to keep club members up to date with water polo news!   Photos from tournaments or other club events are always welcome.  Any submissions received before noon on Wednesday will go out with that week's news.