Titans at 14U Coed Provincial Championship, Feb 29th-Mar 2nd 2008

Submitted by Adrian Steenkamer and Sue Sidebottom

On February 29th, 2008, two Bantam coed teams, the Titans Orleans Gators and the Titans Kanata Crocs, braved the weather and headed to Etobicoke to attend the Provincial 14U Coed Championships. The Titans Sea Serpents were also along to participate in the Technical Foundation division at the tournament.

The two Bantam teams were placed in separate divisions each containing 5 teams.

After the round robin part of the tournament, the Crocs ended up in 1st place while the Gators were in 3rd place. The cross-over games had the Gators against Hamilton which they won 10-3. They next faced KW for 5/6th place. Unfortunately, despite the hard work and efforts from all team players, the Gators lost the game in a thrilling 10-9 overtime finish. The Crocs cross-over game was against Scarborough. This was a tough game with the Crocs losing 14-8. The Crocs could still medal but needed to play their best against a crowd-supported Mississauga team. With some nervous parents in the stands, the Crocs stepped up and delivered a 7-5 victory to gain the Bronze medal.

Congratulations to Ben Paterson (Gators), Mackenzie Ricketts and Monique Sidebottom (Crocs) for being selected to the All-star team. We'd like to award Mackenzie's parents, Rhonda and George, the "All-Sub" Award for dropping off sub sandwich orders and picking them up for all three teams to keep them fueled through the weekend :)

The Sea Serpents participated in a Technical Foundation component of the tournament. With some "borrowed" players from the Crocs and Gators, the focus of these games was on developing the game awareness and playing experience of the players in a competitive tournament environment. All Titan players shared playing time. Key results of the tournament included building on the athletes individual thought processes in game situations and building strength and character regardless of the outcome of the game. Above all, the athletes had fun.

Thanks also to coaches Jen Hampton, Blake Christie and Adrian Steenkamer for their hard work coaching, working closely as a team through the weekend. Thanks also to the chaperones and the parents on the bus, who bought a selection of movies for the kids for the ride home. "Return of the Mummy" was a hit, after which the kids tried their best to out do Blake at cards in a game of "Cheat" on the ride home.