We will have a year-end wind up party on Wed, June 6 starting at 530pm.
We start with approx. 60 minutes of dryland training and games (mandatory for all athletes) and then eat a barbecue of hot dogs and burgers.
Location: Assiniboine Park – Picnic Site #3 (very close to the volleyball courts and it is also the only picnic site with a shelter, please note the circled area on the left side of map, this is where we will be).
Cost: $10/athlete (covers all food and drink). Please bring $10 cash with you when you come to the park. Parents/Family are welcome to attend and if you would also like to eat please bring an additional $10/person.
RSVP: deadline is Friday, June 1 at 4pm. (we need to know so we can purchase the appropriate amount of food)
RSVP by sending an email to michaelreid.ca@gmail.com
I am finalising some training for the month of June, more info TBA. My initial plan to to start on June 1, 2012. I will post any updates on this website.
TEAM Manitoba was left watching from the bleachers as clubs from Quebec and Alberta battled for gold at the Under-16 Girls National Water Polo Club Championships on Monday afternoon, but the eighth-place home squad had plenty of reason for optimism.
The host team finished 1-4 over the weekend, losing 8-7 to the Ottawa Titans in Monday morning’s seventh-place game at the Pan Am Pool.
It was the first national championship for the Manitoba team since the provincial program was re-established this year, and it was a showcase for a sport that is always looking to boost its participation numbers.
Montreal’s Dollard club won gold, downing the Calgary Renegades 8-4 in the final.
“It went pretty well,” said Heather Carson, the provincial assistant who ran the team while head coach Mike Reid was with the U-16 boys in Victoria. “It had its ups and downs, but it was a step in the right direction.”
Carson said the squad is at a stage where every competition is a learning experience, as players from three different clubs in Winnipeg and Selkirk try to form a cohesive unit.
Teams like Montreal’s gold medal-winning Dollard Water Polo Club — which brought two teams to Winnipeg — or the Calgary Renegades, who claimed silver, play against top-level competition much more frequently than the Manitobans.
“Most of the teams here travel and play internationally,” Carson said. “It’s the one piece missing (in Manitoba.)”
Team Manitoba is hoping to compete out-of-province and out-of-country more often next year, while the coaches are expecting to see improvement from some key players who will spend time with the national team this summer. Natalie Blouin, Annika Armstrong and Hanika Nakagawa were already on that team’s radar, and 15-year-old driver Sheila Jensen turned heads with her performance at the Pan Am.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” said Jensen, who scored five goals against Ottawa and credited the provincial program for her success. “It’s been a new way to learn things and we’ve all grown so much as players. It’s helped us break out of our shells.”
Despite having nowhere near the number of players as B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, a strong local volunteer base has made Manitoba a regular destination for national water polo competitions. The Pan Am Pool has hosted national championships in three of the last four years, and competition chair Cam McIntyre said it wouldn’t be long before another event is scheduled.
“We do it to try to help build the sport,” he said. “We want to give it more of a presence in the province, and it helps us raise money through sponsorships for programs and equipment for our clubs.”
If watching some high-level water polo over the weekend led to any young people signing up for their middle school or high school team — or joining a club like the Neptunes or Bushido–organizers would consider the event a success.
“Any sort of exposure we can get is really good,” Carson said. “Having a national event like this here is great for the water polo community.”
– Saper
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 22, 2012 C4
Winnipeg Sun First posted: Monday, May 21, 2012 07:06 PM CDT | Updated: Monday, May 21, 2012 07:11 PM CDT
Manitoba’s Sheila Jensen was named the first star after scoring five goals in an 8-7 loss to Ottawa in a placement game of the 2012 16U Girls National Club Water Polo Championship at the Pan Am Pool on Monday. Manitoba finished eighth overall out of the 11 teams that were competing. It was ranked eighth going into the championship.
The Dollard WC 1 defeated Calgary 11-4 to win the gold medal. CAMA sunk Saskatchewan 6-3 to take the bronze.
A number of the competitors will be added to the list of invitees to a national junior development camp in Montreal this week.
Last game of the tournament was against Team SASK today (Sunday) at 1615 Winnipeg time. Both of these teams know each other very well and have played many games against each other this year.
For Team Manitoba to win they would have to shut down their best player (#5) who has been a game star for every Team SASK game. This was not going to be easy, this young fellow from Team SASK plays with great determination and effort.
Lee Walker was given the task of covering #5 from Team SASK.
Overall, the boys played their best game of the tournament but it was not good enough to beat Team SASK. The game was tied 7-7 with 24s left and we had the ball. After a timeout out which the boys were instructed to control the ball and then get a shot with 5s left. We waited with the ball so that if we did not score Team SASK would not have another opportunity.
It worked good and we ended with Zev Robinson, one of the stronger shooters on the team take a shot from about 6-7m. He hit the inside of the top corner and the ball dropped down and behind the goalies head but he was able to get it before it went passed the goal line and that was how the game ended.
Team SASK 7 – Team Manitoba 7
1st Game Star: Sam Haight
3rd Game Star: Lee Walker
Goal Scorers: Jared Grocholski 1, Zev Robinson 1, Andre Chyzzy 2, Lee Walker 2, Chris McCallum 1.
First posted: Saturday, May 19, 2012 10:12 PM CDT | Updated: Saturday, May 19, 2012 10:19 PM CDT
Team Manitoba’s Natalie Blouin (right) tosses the ball past Pacific Storm White’s Aleksandra Dojnov during Manitoba’s 18-2 victory over the Vancouver based team during the 16U Girls National Club water polo championships on Saturday.
Near the end of the third quarter, Manitoba’s Natalie Blouin manoeuvred around a defender, dribbled the ball down the pool, then whipped a shot past the Storm White goalkeeper.
It was simply a great individual effort that demonstrated the promising young water polo player’s strength as a swimmer.
Blouin, who just turned 15, had been involved in both competitive swimming and water polo since she was eight. But this year, she decided to devote her energy to the sport some call water hockey.
“Honestly, this is a team environment and I enjoy team sports a lot and there were a couple of other reasons, but mostly it was my choice of going with a team environment,” said the driver, who scored three goals in Manitoba’s 18-2 victory over the Vancouver-based team at the 16U Girls National Club Championships at the Pan Am Pool on Saturday morning.
“I had a really bad shoulder injury, so I needed a break for the summer and this was still going.”
That injury hasn’t hurt her in water polo competition. Blouin was one of three young water nymphs who were picked to play for the Manitoba U18 team at the nationals in Kamloops, B.C. recently.
“Her background in swimming has definitely helped her in her transition to water polo,” said Manitoba assistant coach Heather Carson. “Natalie is a great person to have on your team. She’s a strong leader. She’s super passionate about everything she does and extremely dedicated to her team.”
Hanika Nakagawa and Annika Armstrong were the other youngsters who played for the U18 team. Nakagawa, 15, actually enrolled in competitive swimming to improve her water polo skills.
“I really enjoyed water polo but I wasn’t very good at floating so, I joined speed swimming to improve my speed,” said Nakagawa, also a driver who scored two goals Saturday. “Once I had obtained this level in both sports, I had to choose one or the other, so I chose this one because it was something that I always wanted to do and I found it a lot more fun.”
Armstrong, 14, never was a competitive swimmer.
“My cousin used to play and he brought me to the pool and I liked it,” said Armstrong who scored two goals at the ‘one centre’ position. “We were just in Kamloops for the nationals and I was the youngest on that team.”
The three of them have also been picked to attend a national development camp in Montreal.
The girls have been inspired by the likes of Manitoba’s Serena Bredin, Shae Fournier and Breda Vosters, who are still enjoying success in the pool.
“Fournier, Foster and Serena are my idols,” Nagagawa said. “That’s who I strive to be.”
Bredin currently plays for the national women’s team, which just missed qualifying for the 2012 Olympics recently.
“I’d love to go to the Olympics,” Blouin said. “Serena wasn’t the only one to get that far, but it’s really inspiring that people have made it that far.”
In the quarter-final, Blouin was named the third star in a 15-8 loss to Saskatchewan.
The championships wrap up on Monday, with the gold medal match scheduled to be played at 1:30 p.m.
We played a team from Quebec called DDO which actually has 3 teams here competing. This was a game we could have won. The boys controlled the play, Sam was stopping almost everything coming his way except for some counter attack goals. We missed some golden opportunities to put the ball in net but just lacked the finish. One of the issues the boys have been dealing with is unforced errors. Although we drastically cut those errors down the few we made in this game lead directly counter attack goals for DDO.
DDO 2 5 – Team Manitoba 4
3rd Game Star: Lee Walker
Coaches Game Star: Sam Haight
Goal Scorers: Lee Walker 2, Scott Bachus 1, Zev Robinson 1.
Last game of the tournament for Team Manitoba is today (Sunday) at 1615 Winnipeg time versus Team SASK.
