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At the time, it was the most dev-astating moment of her career.

In likely the only opportunity they’d ever have to see her in a meaningful international modern pentathlon com-

petition close to home, an enorm-ous group of family and friends had gathered to watch Melanie McCann at the 2015 Pan Am Games, where she was favoured to clinch an Olympic berth.

But on a blistering hot afternoon in Markham, she lost a 46-second head start in the final run-shoot combined event of her five-sports-in-day discip-line, and ceded the lone Olympic berth available to a Canadian to compatriot Donna Vakalis.

Now, nine months later, McCann calls the letdown a “blessing in dis-guise.”

“I’ve just been so hungry and and ready to perform,” explains the 26-year-old Ottawa-based athlete. “Even though it was a disappointment in 2015, there was a silver lining to it – in terms of my development as an athlete.”

McCann has enjoyed a torrid start to her 2016 season and now finds herself firmly on track to claim a berth

for the Rio Games thanks to her solid international results thus far this year.

It’s a fairly complicated qualification system, but the world’s current #11 modern pentathlete has all-but-se-cured one of 36 total available Olympic spots based on her high global ranking.

McCann blasted out of the gate with a victory in her first event at Feb-ruary’s Open Spanish International in Barcelona.

By Daniel Prinn

Road to Rio Rebound

Pentathlete flies back onto Games trail after heartbreaking Olympic qualification miss at home 2015 Pan Ams

photo: steve kingsman

P.10Find out how our CAMPS Project’s new partnership will benefit youth from Ottawa Community Housing.

LINKING YOUTH TO SPORT

McCANN continues on p.10

April 2016 Your Not-for-Profit Voice for Local Community Sport SportsOttawa.com

P.4-6Local basketball and hockey players capped their university careers with national championships appearances.

GREAT GGs & RAVENS GRADS

P.3The Brier was one of the first of many major sports events that will take place in Ottawa in 2016 and 2017.

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Melanie McCann’s early-season performances in the modern pent-athlon’s fencing, swimming, eques-trian and combined cross-country running and shooting events have vaulted her comfortably in line for a second straight Olympic berth.

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2BYTOWN STORM BULLETINGet ready to race! Time to experience triathlon as Nationals nears

The Canadian Triathlon Cham-pionships are coming to town this summer and next, and along with the oppor-tunity to witness some of the

world’s top triathletes comes the perfect chance to get into the sport – or get more serious about it – thanks to a series of connected races for young to old.

“It’s really about having an active lifestyle,” Ott-awa Triathlon lead organizer Greg Kealey says of the swim, cycle, run pursuit. “The three disciplines that it’s made up of are things people can do every day.”

To get started in triathlon at a recreational level requires minimal effort and investment, Kealey high-lights, suggesting beginners get their bike properly tuned up at a place like Bushtukah, get a swim pass to City of Ottawa pools, and grab a pair of running shoes.

There is no shortage of websites that outline workouts and training programs for those who want to go at it alone, while joining a local club or program offers the opportunity to socialize and learn more about the sport while developing improved skills, and ensures training consistency and accountability.

Ottawa’s bubbling triathlon community has nu-merous options for individuals seeking experiences in the sport. The City offers introductory courses, Somersault Promotions holds a number of races loc-ally, the Ottawa Triathlon Club appeals to adult and recreational participants, Zone 3 focuses on the iron-man distance, while Kealey’s Bytown Storm club are leaders in youth development.

Joining a club program helps individuals improve their efficiency and technique in each discipline, adds Kealey, who has incorporated his expertise and know-ledge from working with some of the world’s best coaches and athletes into the Storm’s approach.

“Just because you can go out and ride your bike for

40 km doesn’t mean you know how to ride the best you can to get the best performance you can,” he highlights.

This spring, the Storm will introduce another im-portant step in racing with draft cycling clinics on May 1 and 15 around Canadian Tire Centre. The July 23-24 Ottawa Triathlon includes Canada’s first draft-legal race for masters age group participants.

The Storm also have regular masters programs that have been growing in popularity under standout coach Adam Smart. Those programs follow similar philosophies Kealey has implemented as he works primarily with the club’s youth athletes, where the un-wavering focus is on long-term development.

“When they’re 14 or 15, we’re not worried about them coming 1st, 2nd or 3rd or their actual perform-ances,” Kealey underlines. “It’s are we actually follow-ing the process so we’re getting where we need to?”

That means developing the skillset and discipline required to succeed in triathlon. But most important for newcomers, he says, is to “have fun with it.”

“It’s about picking what fits into your life comfort-ably,” Kealey adds. “If it balances well, you’re going to be in it longer.”

See ottawatriathlon.ca for more on Nationals events, and bytowntriathlon.com for clinics and programs.

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It was an exhausting 10 days for siblings Claire and Pierre Grall-Johnson at the Haywood Cross-Country Ski Nationals, but after travel to Whitehorse and four gruelling races between Mar. 19-26, they stood out as Ottawa’s lone podium finishers in their divisions’ aggregate standings.

“I was really happy,” says 16-year-old Pierre, the younger of the two and silver medallist in the junior boys’ 1999-born category. “To be able to get to the podium and perform when I was really tired, I was happy to get to where I was.”

Eighteen-year-old Claire, meanwhile, earned the overall bronze medal in the junior girls’ 1997 division.

“I just wanted to go out there super hard,” recounts the part-time University of Ot-tawa biomedical science stu-dent. “I definitely wanted to be on the podium when it was over. That was the goal.”

Preparing to race – whether that’s getting in train-

ing runs, or adjusting their skis and wax according to condi-tions – only adds to the phys-ical challenge of completing four races in a week, including the final long-distance event.

“It gets pretty crazy,” Claire highlights. “Sometimes, you are totally exhausted. But, you stay focused and sleep as much as possible.”

The grind of multi-day races is nothing new for the seasoned siblings, whose par-ents are also skiers and volun-teers for their Nakkertok Nor-dic Ski Club.

The Grall-Johnsons led the Cantley-based club made up largely of members from

Ottawa to its 7th consecut-ive crown in the national club standings.

“It is a total team effort,” underlines Pierre, who won the intermediate free race. “It helps we are all friends and we motivate each other and push each other to do well.”

Ali Pouw, a schoolmate of Pierre’s at Glebe Collegiate In-stitute and fellow OFSAA team champ, was another victor for Nakkertok, winning the jr. girls’ 1998 intermediate free race en route to 4th place in the aggregate, while the Carleton Ravens men were 3rd and the Ravens women 2nd in the na-tional university competition.

Sibling medallists help propel Nakkertok to seventh consecutive nationals title

– COMMUNITY SPORTS –

By Anil Jhalli Claire & Pierre Grall-Johnson

photo: phillipe daoust

photo: rob smith

The nation’s capital has hosted a number of major sports events in recent years, but Ottawa is going after something that would up the ante even further: the 2021 Canada Summer Games.

With around 4,600 athletes, coaches and man-agers over the two weeks, 1,000 VIPs, 300 observ-ers, 375 mission staff, 450 major officials, plus med-ical, media, family, friends and fans, the event would be double the size of the Francophone Games, which

Ottawa hosted in 2001.“It’s pretty transform-

ative for a city,” notes Ott-awa Tourism’s Darrell Cox, one of many leading the local bid for the 17-sport competition that brings to-gether top junior athletes from all provinces.

The Canada Games can

also be transformative in the careers of the particip-ating athletes.

“It’s not just young kids coming to compete or whatever, it’s some pretty serious competition at a high level,” Cox underlines.

Basketball, canoe slalom, curling, cycling, figure skating, golf, ice cross downhill, mixed martial arts, rugby, tennis, track-and-field, triathlon and volleyball.

It’ll be a sports lover’s dream in 2016 and 2017 as Ottawa gets set to host major events in each one of those sports (and odds are solid that hockey and football will join that list).

For Ottawa Tourism major events manager Darrell Cox and City of Ott-awa sports commissioner Jody Mitic, this is their dream too.

“Being involved with this every day and the excitement of bringing these events to the nation’s capital is a real thrill,” says Cox, who was a finalist for the Sport Tourism Champion of the Year Prestige Award during the Cana-dian Sport Tourism Alliance’s annual Congress, held alongside the Tim Hor-tons Brier in early March. “It makes you feel proud of your city.”

The plethora of provincial, national and international-level competitions coming to town (see sidebar for a list of confirmed events) is the payoff for efforts dating back a number of years.

The Events Ottawa organization was born in 2011 out of the City’s desire to be “more proactive and stra-

tegic in going after events – not just waiting for opportunities to come,” recounts Cox, a former long-time em-ployee in the City’s economic develop-ment department.

Created in late 2014, the sports commissioner’s job – filled by an elec-ted City councillor; Mitic being the first – also showed how serious Ottawa is about attracting major sports events.

“It’s really starting to pay off,” Mitic indicates. “But even before I was in this position, we had people grind-

ing hard to attract these events.”Having committed resources that

doesn’t require a drawn out political approval process to decide to go after events has been critical to Ottawa’s sport tourism success, Cox adds, as has collaboration with the City’s parks & recreation department, and the es-tablishment of the Ottawa Sport Coun-cil (in 2013) to connect the sports community.

Add to that the enthusiasm (and funding) to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary of confederation in 2017 and the product is something almost unimaginable like an ice course down the Rideau Canal locks between Chat-eau Laurier and Parliament Hill (for Red Bull’s Crashed Ice next March).

“People are excited,” underlines

Mitic, who’s been buoyed by the eagerness and enthusiasm he’s seen from the sports community since tackling his new role.

SPORT TOURISM BIG BUCKS

Hosting major sports events car-ries many positives for communities, but the driving interest remains the economic benefits provided for local businesses and tourism, Cox details.

Government and related agencies such as Ottawa Tourism see the value of putting money into hosting, he con-tinues, noting $400,000 of support for 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup games brought an estimated $20 mil-lion in economic activity to the Ottawa area, while a national championship may require a $150,000 contribution

to generate an economic impact of $4-5 million.

“The return on investment for that is huge,” Cox notes.

Events often leave a social and in-frastructure legacy as well, he adds, such as a new artificial turf field at Wesley Clover Parks alongside FIFA, or a new throwing cage for Terry Fox Athletic Facility when Ottawa hosts the Canadian Track-and-Field Champi-onships in 2017 and 2018.

TOP LOCAL CONTENDERS

While it’s business that may fuel government interest, there’s lots in it for fans of local sport too. With names such as curler Rachel Homan, figure skater Alaine Chartrand, cyclist Mike Woods, runner Melissa Bishop, whitewater kayaker Cam Smedley and triathlete Joanna Brown, there are a remarkable number of Ottawa athletes who will be legitimate con-tenders for the top when the champi-onship events come to their backyard.

Mitic says that is somewhat by co-incidence, somewhat by design.

“We know where we’re strong as far as the sports where Ottawa pro-duces athletes. The Sport Council is really helping us identify that,” signals the Innes ward councillor, suggesting the city’s sports strength comes from having great places to exercise – like running along the canal or cycling from one end of town to other – and the range of activities available in all seasons. “We have all these great sports in the city and each group is very passionate.”

3

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– COMMUNITY SPORTS –Super sports city set to welcome tons of championships

By Dan Plouffe

photo: steve kingsman

Ontario Cup Basketball U16 Girls (April/May 2016)Volleyball Canada 14U Eastern Championships (May 2016 & 2017)

Ontario Cup Basketball U16 Boys (May 2016)Canadian 10 km Road Race Championships (May 2016)IAAF Pan American Combined Events Cup (June 2016)

UFC Fight Night (June 2016)Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships (June 2016 & 2017)

Canadian Triathlon Championships (July 2016 & 2017)Canadian Men’s Amateur Golf Championships (August 2016)

Tennis Canada Senior Nationals (August 2016)World Junior Girls Golf Championship (September 2016-2018)Canadian Tire National Skating Championships (January 2017)

Red Bull Crashed Ice (March 2017)Canadian University/College Golf Championships (May/June 2017)

Canadian Track and Field Championships (July 2017 & 2018)Canadian Pacific Women’s Open (August 2017)

Canoe-Kayak Canada Whitewater National Championships (August 2017)World Vintage Rugby Carnival (August 2017)

Roar of the Rings Canadian Olympic Curling Team Trials (December 2017)CN Future Links Ontario Championship (July 2018)

UPCOMING CHAMPIONSHIP SPORTS EVENTS IN OTTAWA

Ottawa shooting for its biggest event yet: Canada GamesBy Dan Plouffe

CANADA GAMES on p.4

4

“It’s kind of the steppingstone for a lot of these athletes to start competing at the Olympic level,” he adds, noting 61% of the Canadian medals at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics were won by Canada Games alumni.

The Games can also help transform sports facilities, with provincial and federal governments committing significant capital dollars. Halifax’s Canada Games Centre was built in 2011, featuring pools, a field-house, a track and fitness centre, plus a nearby skating oval that continues to fea-ture free access and skate rental (including rollerblades in summer).

“Toronto was the perfect example with hosting Pan Ams last summer,” Cox indic-ates, referencing a new aquatics centre and velodrome amongst others, plus a sport institute home for high-performance athletes, and ongoing community coaching clinics and youth development programs. “We don’t want events that just come and go, we want to see some lasting legacy post-event.”

Ontario will be the host province in 2021, and while Toronto may seem like a frontrunner given its recent success with the Pan Am Games, it’s not quite the same ball game for Canada Games.

“The Canada Games is kind of to help communities to get to that level,” City of Ottawa sports commissioner Jody Mitic explains. “If you look at the traditional host communities, they’re usually a little bit smal-ler, and the Games bring such a huge be-nefit.

“We are just on the edge of being too big for Canada Games, but we feel as the capital that we should host it at least once.”

Ottawa is in the early stages of the bid process at present. Municipalities have until May 20 to submit their letter of intent to bid. A Cambridge-Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph al-liance is a possible strong challenger.

Ottawa is already moving ahead to plan for the technical review due before Canada Day, identifying sport and non-sport venues that could be used, and potential sport dir-ectors with the help of the Ottawa Sport Council.

“We’ve had some very strong people step forward (immediately),” Mitic notes, highlighting the strong spirit of volunteerism in Ottawa.

Finalists will be selected to submit a comprehensive proposal in January 2017, with the Games to be awarded in March or April.

“We’re going to do our best,” Mitic pledges. “This is one the Mayor is very ser-ious about. I’m very serious about it. It’s a great opportunity.”

CANADA GAMES cont’d from p.3

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K R S G GO R

The Carleton Ravens men’s bas-ketball team arrived home from the Mar. 17-20 Canadian Interuniversity Sport Final-8 with their 12th national crown from the past 14 years. For graduating co-captain Gavin Resch, it was his fifth in five years.

“I feel like it might’ve been the hardest to win on paper,” signals the Ottawa native. “We had a lot of new pieces and we had a bunch of guys in new roles, but at the end of the day, it comes down to how you come to-gether as a team, and this year was just like any other year.”

Carleton started the year without head coach Dave Smart – on sab-batical this season, with his nephew Rob taking over – and the dominant Scrubb brothers, Thomas and Philip. This season, Resch was in a leader-ship role for the first time.

“I don’t feel like it was a massive jump,” indicates Resch. “The main difference that I felt was that I would have to play better. That’s just kind of a different pressure than I’m used to because we had so much talent on the team previously and so many veteran guys that if I didn’t have the best game, it wouldn’t have an im-pact as much as this year.”

The 6-foot-2 guard threw dagger after dagger into the University of Calgary’s title hopes in the champi-onship game, scoring all 18 of his points on three-pointers in his final game as a Raven.

It was the perfect finish to a

university basketball career that first took root with the Gloucester Wolverines club and the St. Mat-thew Tigers, with whom he won an OFSAA high school provincial title in his Grade 11 season.

Similar to his experience at Car-leton, Resch wasn’t even a starter in his second-to-last year on the powerhouse team that included past Raven CIS MVP Tyson Hinz.

“At the end of the day,” Resch smiles, “my story turned out pretty well.”

BLUE-CHIP GG SHOWED ‘EM

Another Ottawa native also wrapped up his CIS basketball career

with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, who bowed out in the national quarter-final round with an 87-83 loss to Dalhousie.

“I’m not going to say we’re not happy getting to nationals,” says Vi-kas Gill, who earned a national silver medal behind Carleton last year. “But when you get to this stage in this program, it’s kind of championship or bust every year.”

For Gill to have become a key member of one of the country’s best university basketball teams stands as an unlikely outcome for a player who drew almost no interest from scouts while in high school.

Gill says local coaches played a big part in making it possible. While in Grade 11 at Sacred Heart Cath-olic High School, Ottawa basket-ball guru Tony House picked up the whistle and clipboard, and began coaching the team.

“Tony was great,” underlines Gill, 23. “He put us in all the toughest tournaments and he kept putting us in a position to succeed and believed we could beat these guys.”

Under House, the team would do more than just win a city champion-

ship in their final year.“At one point, we were (nation-

ally) ranked 4th, which is pretty cool for a small school in Stittsville,” re-calls Gill, who also credits House for getting him on the path to uni-versity ball. “I hadn’t gotten a single look from any universities and (Tony) told me I was a good enough player to play, so he emailed about six coaches for me.”

But none of the schools saw a fit for a teenager who had all the height in the world at 6-foot-7, but lacked mass at 170 pounds. Luckily for Gill, his fortune changed when the Gee-Gees appointed a new head coach.

“Coach Jimmy (James Derouin) got the job that year and he saw me play two games,” Gill recounts. “One where I scored six points, and the other I had, like, 18, and right after that he offered me a scholarship.”

After the Gee-Gees’ offer, sud-denly others took an interest in Gill. But he had made up his mind.

“Coach Jimmy believed in me the first time he saw me play,” says the forward who averaged over 20 minutes per game this season. “So even if other schools did talk to me afterwards, which they did, I just knew coach Jimmy was the guy I wanted to play for.”

This season, the guy no one wanted started all 19 of his regular season games for the team that was ranked #1 in the country for much of the year.

“I don’t dwell on it, but I hope the other coaches, the ones we emailed, regret it,” Gill indicates. “Because I feel like I had a pretty good five years.”

MVP AWARD STAYS LOCAL

Following four years of Ravens honourees with Hinz and Philip Scrubb, the Gee-Gees now have back-to-back winners of the Mike Moser Memorial Trophy. Mike L’Africain was selected as this season’s CIS men’s basketball’s outstanding player, fol-lowing Johnny Berhanemeskel.

– UNIVERSITIES –Local Raven Resch leaves with legendary 5-in-5

By Callum Fraser

file photo

Gavin Resch won a national title every year

he dressed for the Carleton Ravens.

OTTAWA HEALTHY KIDS COMMUNITY CHALLENGE

A series of provincially- funded initiatives to promote physical activ-ity, and healthy eating and lifestyle choices in children 12 years of age and under have kicked into high gear, includ-ing a workshop on the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy (left). See SportsOttawa.com for full details.photo: dan plouffe

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Catherine Traer and Kellie Ring have been together for every step of their basketball ca-reers – in sickness and in health, from cher-ished championships to nationals trips, till de-grees do them part.

The Orleans natives have been friends since childhood, mirroring one another’s steps into stars with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, but now their paths look to be separating.

After five years at uOttawa (but just four years in the lineup), Ring will be graduating with a communications degree and headed on to do a masters in digital media at Ryerson University, where she’ll use her final year of eligibility with the Rams.

“I think it’ll be a great new challenge and change,” Ring says of joining the team that beat uOttawa in the Ontario final and went on to win the national silver medal. “I’m going to miss everybody tremendously because it’s been an incredible five years. It’s been an extremely hard decision but for me academically, this is the right move.”

TRAER & RING SHARED TITLE AT RIEL

Traer isn’t looking forward to the prospect of playing against Ring. She’s had the past ju-nior national team member on her side dating back to their days with the Gloucester Wolver-ines and the Louis-Riel Rebelles, with whom they won back-to-back OFSAA provincial high school crowns in 2009 and 2010.

“We have so much fun together,” notes Traer, adding that Ring would be a “scary” op-ponent. “She is the toughest competitor I know. Every time she does anything, whether it’s bas-ketball or anything else in life, she wants to win. She’s an awesome teammate and her desire to win is just contagious.”

Ring says she was equally inspired by the group of wounded warriors that trucked through this season for the Gee-Gees and earned a berth in the Mar. 17-20 Canadian Interuni-versity Sport Final-8 Tournament.

Julia Soriano was the only core starter to play all 19 games this year as injuries rotated

through the squad, including Traer’s ankle ail-ment that cost her five games mid-season.

GEE-GEES TRUCK THROUGH INJURIES

“I swear, some people were playing on one leg at nationals,” signals Ring, who missed time early recovering from a concussion and lost a full season due to knee surgery earlier in her career, which included three nationals appear-ances with a bronze medal from 2012.

“When you see your teammates playing on one leg, you have to fight,” adds the 22-year-old. “There’s no other team you’d want to be on when you see your teammates do that.”

Despite the injuries, uOttawa posted the best regular season record in Ontario at 17-2 en route to a provincial silver medal and trip to New Brunswick for nationals.

The Gee-Gees were within six points of the eventual Canadian champs from Saskatchewan in the final minute of their quarter-final contest, earning praise from opponents as “the toughest team they’ve played all year,” Traer recounts.

Traer isn’t totally certain she’ll return to the Gee-Gees either, having completed her political science degree. She’s applied for a political sci-ence masters program and for international de-velopment at uOttawa as well as other schools in Canada and abroad.

“I don’t think I’m ready to give up basketball especially after the season we had this year,” underlines the 21-year-old forward. “I think a national championship would be in the future for this program, so it would be nice to stay.”

– UNIVERSITIES –Nationals trip the final stop on GGs journey for local pair

By Daniel Prinn

Ottawa’s Selena Pang (seen above in action at the Mar. 12-13 Kanata Cup event at Bridle-wood Community Elementary School) produced the top local result at the first Ontario rhythmic gymnastics provincial championships qualify-ing event Apr. 1-3 at Earl of March Secondary School. The Level 3C competitor topped her Age 9-10 group’s standings with silver medals in the hoop and ball events and gold in free.

Athletes from the host Kanata Rhythmic Gymnastics Club had four all-around podium fin-ishes, with Serena Nie 2nd in L2A A8-9, Britney

Han 2nd in L5A A13-15, Caroline Liang 2nd in L6B A16+ and Adeline Wang 3rd in L6A A16+, while Ottawa’s Alina Kozine was 2nd in L4A A10-12 and Vlada Coveny was 3rd in L2B A8-9.

KRSG national-level competitors made their debut at Elite Ontario Mar. 19 in Mississauga, with Haley Miller impressing in the junior cat-egory with rope and ball victories en route to a 2nd place finish all-around.

The rhythmic provincials will be June 10-12 in Etobicoke, while the nationals are May 18-22 in Winnipeg.

Super hoopster

photo: dan plouffe

University of Ottawa Gee-Gees veteran Kellie Ring (right) will play her final season of CIS basketball with the Ryerson Rams.

file photo

Winning waves In a first for a local school, the Univer-sity of Ottawa won

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edging McGill by a tenth of a point for the gold medal with

a score of 71.5.photo provided

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– UNIVERSITIES –

Ottawa natives Pat Killeen and Mitch Zion thoroughly enjoyed their ride in Canadian Inter-university Sport, and the graduating Carleton University pair made their Ravens careers last as long as they possibly could.

Facing the Saskatchewan Huskies in the national quarter-finals on Mar. 17 in Halifax, the underdog Ravens pushed the game to quadruple-overtime, eventually losing 3-2 in the longest game in University Cup tournament his-tory.

“It was an amazing experience,” reflects Carleton goaltender Killeen, who made 66 saves in the 5-hour, 8-minute marathon. “I don’t think many people who play this sport will have a chance to play a game that intense.”

Despite the Gatorade and Skittles to keep them going between periods, Zion says total ex-haustion delayed the team’s reaction to the loss.

“Once they scored I don’t think anyone had anything left in the tank to really feel anything,” explains the forward from Manotick. “It was dev-astating, but we’re super happy. We left it all out there.”

The nationals appearance to conclude their careers was a big moment for Zion, Killeen, and their teammates, who’d scratched and clawed their way to get there.

In the Ontario University Athletics East semi-final, the Ravens recorded their first-ever post-season victory over the McGill Redmen, with Zion scoring the overtime series winner in

front of a standing room-only crowd at the Car-leton Ice House.

“As a team we all celebrated by the glass with the fans,” Zion recalls, calling it easily a fa-vourite moment of his career. “It was four or five years in the making. We were pretty pumped.”

Carleton wound up falling to Trois-Rivières in the OUA East final, but won their trip to na-tionals with a 4-1 bronze medal victory at home

over Guelph.Zion scored the final goal of his Ravens ca-

reer in that contest, but it didn’t take long for him to get back on the scoresheet.

OFF TO THE PROS

Very quickly after his university season was done, the former Ottawa Jr. Senators and Corn-wall Colts player got his first taste of pro hockey

with the Brampton Beast of the ECHL.“It’s more to get experience,” notes Zion,

who signed with Brampton for the final nine games of their season. “They’ve given me a great opportunity so far. It’s just having fun and trying to build your career in hockey.”

Zion plans to keep playing pro hockey “for at least the next few years and kind of see where the cards fall,” notes the Carleton commerce major. “It was a big focus of mine to make sure I graduate with a degree and then whenever hockey is over, I have something to fall back on.”

While Zion is just starting his career in the professional ranks, Killeen came to Carleton with three years of pro hockey experience un-der his belt.

Being selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 6th round of the NHL entry draft, held in his hometown in 2008 with family and friends present “is definitely something you’ll never for-get,” underlines the former Ottawa Jr. Senators and Brampton Battalion junior player.

Killeen spent time in the AHL and ECHL be-fore deciding to join Carleton and study crimino-logy. He fondly recalls travelling with the team to Europe for exhibition contests in Germany, Italy and Austria, and getting the chance to reunite with some past teammates, most notably Nick Duhn.

“We’ve been best friends since kindergarten so playing university hockey with him was pretty special,” Killeen signals, noting he’s built many strong relationships at Carleton. “That’s some-thing I’ll hold pretty close to me.”

Ravens grads finish with longest game in University Cup historyBy Daniel Prinn

GLOUCESTER-LACROSSE.COM

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photo: marc lafleur

Mitch Zion celebrates the OT series winner in the Carleton Ravens’

home-ice playoff victory over McGill.

Chantal Beauchesne ex-perienced two unplanned life-changing events in 2009.

The first was not at all pleasant.

She was the passenger during a motorcycle crash and had her left leg amputated on the spot when it was sliced by a hydro post cable.

Later that year came a much better turn. At the Canada Army Run, Beauchesne met Karen Mc-Coy, a Gisèle-Lalonde grad

who played for her school’s able-bodied team whenever officials would allow her wheel-chair on the court.

“She mentioned she was part of the national sitting volleyball team and asked if I wanted to join,” recalls Beauchesne, who knew next to nothing about the sport at the time.

The Ottawa-born athlete who grew up in St-Isidore now says in her Volleyball Canada bio that “sport saved me.”

“Without sport it would have been difficult to rehabilit-

ate as fast as I did and accept what had happened to me,” Beauchesne adds.

The chance meeting with

McCoy, who is no longer on the team, unlocked a world of opportunities for Beauchesne.

The 32-year-old is now set to make her Paralympic debut this summer as a vet-eran influence on Canada’s Rio 2016-qualified women’s sitting volleyball team.

“For five and a half years now, we’ve been dreaming of going to the Paralympic Games,” underlines the Toronto 2015 Parapan Am Games bronze medallist.

7

With training and trials overseas, and na-tional program involvement back at home, it’s been quite the off-season for the Ottawa South United Force Academy 2001 boys.

The team’s series of exciting experiences began in late February when four OSU play-ers attended their age group’s Canada Soc-

cer National Excel Camp in Vaughan. Together, Nana Nuama Nuama-Mensah, Antonio Carlini, Mehdi Essoussi and Daniel Assaf marked the biggest representation from any club in the province.

“It’s fantastic for us,” beams OSU Club Head Coach Paul Harris, “in terms of growth and the opportunities that our players are now get-ting.”

Next up was an 11-day soccer development tour in March when the full U15 side travelled to the United Kingdom in order to experience a more intensified, soccer-based society than they were accustomed to in Canada.

“Part of it was to show them a different culture, a different way of life, and also to educate them in terms of being away from home,” un-derlines England-born Harris, a former coach in Everton FC’s academy program. “We used (the trip) as a good opportunity to teach some life skills, because as much as we’re promoting the players and getting them opportunities, we’re also trying to make good human beings.”

A definite highlight for the team was taking in a live Chelsea vs Ever-ton FA Cup match.

“It was a fantastic atmosphere and great game for the boys to see,” Harris notes.

The “business” part of the tour included a practice session run by Liverpool F.C. academy coaches, plus training and matches against professional academy teams such as Shrewesbury Town, Everton F.C. and Wigan F.C. Though still in preseason mode, Harris believes OSU faired extremely well in those contests.

“The games went fantastically from my point of view,” Harris indic-ates. “Some of the players got further interest from some of the scouts at the end.”

TRIALS AT CREWE & MUNICHWhile overseas, a number of OSU players attended trials with pro

academies. Carlini, Luca Nicastro, Matteo de Brienne and Ronan Kratt all spent a week with Crewe Alexandra F.C. in England, while Kratt and Amin Souaid went to Bayern Munich for another week.

All in all, the Force players are now reenergized for their upcoming season, where the 2001 boys will be chasing their first official provincial title (although the standings are not officially tracked at U13 level, those who keep track would have found the Force at the very top last year).

The experiences also served as important building blocks and pos-sible steppingstones to future careers, notes OSU General Manager Jim Lianos.

“This also serves as another tangible example of OSU Force Academy players having legitimate opportunities at the international and profes-sional level of soccer,” adds Lianos. “Exposure to the professional en-vironment at this age will serve the boys well and help prepare them for future success in the game.”

England tour, trials & Team Canada training for OSU 2001 boys

OSU Force Academy Zone

www.osu.ca

Everton was one academy the Force visited while in England.

Alongside OSU Club Head Coach Paul Harris, Antonio Carlini, Luca Nicastro, Matteo de Brienne and Ronan Kratt spent a

week on trial with Crewe Alexandra F.C.

They were history-makers ever since their first year com-peting at the provincial level, becoming the first team from Eastern Ontario to ever win an Ontario Youth Soccer League east division crown.

And now as the Ottawa South United Force 1998-born girls graduate from youth soccer, they have quite possibly set another unpre-cedented standard for the number of players from one team to move on to play at the post-secondary level – the total surpassing a dozen in March.

“Our goal is to make sure we progress players to the next level, whether that’s Ca-nadian or American universit-ies,” says Dom Oliveri, who’s worked with the ’98 girls in OSU’s new college prep pro-gram since the fall. “The play-ers have done a great job getting themselves into these positions and getting them-selves these opportunities.”

Many of the college/university-bound Force are headed off together to the same destinations. A trio are headed to the University of Maine, another three to Algon-quin College, and a pair to the University of New Brunswick.

“I’m really excited to go with them. They’re a great group of girls,” notes Maine-bound Priscilla Domingo, who will have Nicole Bailey and Kaitlyn Ball at her side as Black Bears. “We’ve been on the same team for about five years, so it’s good that I have them to go through the jour-ney with me.”

Andrianna Dmuchalsky, Georgia Iliopoulos and Hailey Martin will stay in town to play

together for Algonquin College under Oliveri, also the Thun-der’s coach.

“I’m so happy that they’re coming with me,” highlights Iliopoulos, who will study nursing. “It’s really good that they’re there, it just makes me feel more comfortable. The team is really nice, too, so I feel pretty welcome.”

CHOSE SAME PATHS

Although several players wound up at the same schools, that remains somewhat coin-cidental, they say, since each chose the place they thought was the best match for them.

That was the case for UNB-bound Clarisse Ramirez and Erin Foley. Ramirez, who will study psychology, was im-pressed by the university’s soccer program and academic opportunities.

Foley is the daughter of two UNB grads, including the

men’s program’s all-time lead-ing scorer, Dave Foley. The Varsity Reds coach had been after her since was in Grade 10. The quick-thinking 5-foot-3 winger was invited to training camp and loved the campus when she visited.

“I got to meet the girls and it was really fun,” Foley recounts. “I loved the team dy-namics and I loved the coach’s style of coaching. I knew right away that it was the school for me.”

One of OSU’s 1999-born players, Gillian Campbell, will be graduating high school a year early to play with one of the Varsity Reds’ rivals, the Mount Allison Mounties.

Julia Rosenthal will stay in town and play for the Uni-versity of Ottawa Gee-Gees, while fellow Force ’98 team-mate Taylor Beltz (University of Minnesota) and past OSU player Kath Herron (Southern

Methodist University) will head south of the border.

Another pair of players on the groundbreaking OYSL east champion team were Anna Munro (currently with Duke University) and Canadian un-der-20 women’s national team player Alexis Martel-Lamothe, who’s headed to Notre-Dame University.

BATTLING UNI TALENT

The current Force college prep program participants have been training together throughout the winter to get ready for the next stage of their careers, and have played matches against uOttawa, Carleton and Algonquin.

The ’99 Force girls also got a taste of the college level on their recent tour to Vir-ginia, Maryland and Washing-ton, D.C.

“It’s much more physical,” Domingo says of the matches she’s played against older op-ponents. “I wouldn’t say more skilled, I think we’re all at around the same level of skill, they know how to play a phys-ical game and we’re just not used to it yet, I guess.”

The players – most of whom have played together for at least five years, and many much longer – are making sure to enjoy these final opportunit-ies together as a team. There remains a somewhat bitter-sweet feeling to the success-ful horizons ahead, because although some of them are staying together, many will be headed their separate ways.

“It’s going to be hard mov-ing on,” Iliopoulos underlines. “We’re kind of like a family. We’ve been with each other for so long and I’ve grown up with these girls. They’re some of my best friends.”

– JUNIOR LEAGUES –OSU teammates head to university together

By Callum Fraser & Daniel Prinn

photo: daniel prinn

Erin Foley (pictured) will attend the Univer-sity of New Brunswick along with clubmate Clarisse Ramirez.

Army Run launched future Paralympian’s volleyball careerBy Callum Fraser

photo provided

Chantal Beauchesne is set to play for Canada at Rio 2016.

BEAUCHESNE cont. on p.8

“We’re excited. Basically, this has been our goal since we’ve been funded.”

Beauchesne recalls not having much exper-ience with volleyball when she first tried out the sport, but the national team didn’t have much depth at the time, so she was offered a spot in the program shortly after a trial in Toronto.

The Canadian women have slowly grown since then, meeting up to train together before tournaments.

“We all fly into Edmonton and then train to-gether at a facility. We’re from just about every-where in Canada,” highlights Beauchesne, who does get to practice regularly alongside team captain Jolan Wong in Petawawa, where she

lives with her husband, a member of the Cana-dian armed forces.

In preparation for their trip to Brazil later in the summer, Team Canada competed at the Mar. 17-23 World ParaVolley Intercontinental tournament.

“We’ve been multiple times in Europe, but this was our farthest trip to go and com-pete, and it was entirely worth it,” signals Beauchesne, whose team competed in a pool alongside other teams already qualified for the Paralympics. “We were kind of in a safe zone, but it was going to give us a really good idea as to what we were going to get competition-wise in Rio.”

Canada went 1-5 at the event to finish in 6th place.

“We’ve been somewhat of an underdog in the sport so far,” notes Beauchesne. “We are a very young team and we have a lot of new athletes within our team. We’ve competed quite well considering.”

The goal for Team Canada at the Rio Para-lympics is to place in the top half, she says.

“There’s tons of pressure on us, but we’re putting a lot of pressure on ourselves,” Beauchesne adds. “For Canada, it’s our first Games (in women’s sitting volleyball), so we have high hopes.”

8

Rebelles Wrap

Sierra Smith a skié des pentes des Rocheuses jusqu’aux Alpes italiennes ce mois passé, et elle a col-lectionné plusieurs médailles comme souvenirs dans le processus.

L’élève de 10e année à l’École secondaire publique Louis-Riel a entamé ses voyages au Trofeo Topolino le 4 et 5 mars en Italie – une compétition qui se veut les championnats mondiaux (non-officiels) de son âge.

« C’était un environnement vraiment différent, signale Smith. C’était bien plus sérieux que tous les autres évènements que j’ai faits auparavant. »

Smith est skieuse depuis l’âge de deux ans, mais elle tremblait dans ses bottes lorsqu’elle s’est trouvée à la porte de départ.

« J’étais très stressée pour ma première course, ra-conte l’athlète compétitive de cinq ans. Je ne savais pas à quoi m’attendre. J’espérais seulement ne pas être en dernière place. »

Par contre, Smith s’est trouvée dans le cadre des meilleures femmes moins de 16 ans. Elle a terminé 16e

parmi 84 skieuses dans la compétition de slalom, et 18e (et la première canadienne) dans le slalom-géant.

« Sachant que j’ai l’habileté d’être là avec elles, c’était vraiment excitant de voir, note Smith. Ça m’a beaucoup encouragée. »

HORAIRE DE SKI CHARGÉSmith a participé, dès le lendemain de son retour au

Canada, aux championnats provinciaux du Québec dans les Cantons-de-l’Est. Elle a terminé 2e en S-G, en plus de remporter deux courses consécutives de slalom par d’énormes écarts.

Vinrent ensuite les Can-Ams à Mont-Tremblant, où l’athlète du club Mont-Ste-Marie a mérité des médailles d’argent en slalom et S-G.

Finalement, Smith a participé à la Whistler Cup du 1er au 3 avril – une forme miniature du Trofeo Topolino, parmi des skieuses de 11 pays.

« Ça se passait assez bien en entrainement, alors j’étais plutôt confiante, indique l’athlète qui a remporté une médaille de bronze en super-G. J’ai tout assemblé,

et ça s’est très bien déroulé. »Avec tous ses voyages, Smith n’a pu assister qu’à

quatre jours d’école dans les derniers deux mois.« Ça aide beaucoup que les profs soient réceptifs

à ce que je fais, souligne la membre du programme sports-études à Louis-Riel. Ils adaptent tout selon mes besoins, et ils me supportent dans mes travaux. »

Smith est anglophone, mais elle a décidé d’étudier en français pour profiter des nombreux avantages du programme innovateur offert à Louis-Riel.

« Il y a beaucoup d’autres personnes qui viennent pour sports-études et ils apprennent le français, re-marque l’étudiante qui est née à Montréal et qui a vécu en France. Ça me donne l’avantage que je désire. »

Smith aime pouvoir s’entrainer à chaque jour à l’école, et passer quelques jours par semaine sur la neige l’hiver.

« Ça prend beaucoup de dévouement pour atteindre l’excellence en sports et à l’école, indique la champi-onne OFSAA 2015 d’équipe pour les Rebelles; Il faut vouloir faire ça pour la vie. « J’adore la course de ski, alors c’est bien amusant de le faire », conclut-elle.

A l p i n e skier Si-erra Smith z o o m e d d o w n slopes from the Rock-

ies to the Italian Alps in the past month, collecting many medals as souvenirs along the way.

The Grade 10 Louis-Riel high school student started with the March 4-5 Trofeo Topolino in Italy – widely recognized as the (unoffi-cial) world championships for her age group.

“It was a very different environ-ment,” signals Smith. “It was way more serious than anything I’ve ever raced.”

Smith has been on skis since age 2, but she found herself shaking in her boots once she got to the start gate.

“I was quite stressed for my first run,” indicates the competitive racer of five years. “I did not know what to expect. I went there just hoping that I wouldn’t come last.”

Instead, Smith wound up within range of the very best under-16 women, finishing 16th out of 84

racers in the slalom event, and 18th (and top Canadian) in the gi-ant slalom.

“Knowing I can be up there with them, it was exciting to see,” Smith underlines. “It really boosted my confidence.”

SCHOOL WELCOMES BUSY SKI SKED

Upon returning to Canada, Smith raced the next day at the Quebec U16 provincials in the Eastern Townships, placing 2nd in GS and then winning back-to-back slalom races by massive margins.

Then it was off to Mont-Tremb-lant for the Can-Ams, where the Mont-Ste.-Marie club athlete claimed silver medals in GS and slalom.

Finally, she attended the April 1-3 Whistler Cup – a smaller-scale Trofeo Topolino with entrants from 11 countries.

“I’ve been doing pretty well in training, so I was pretty confident,” says Smith, who a super-G bronze medal. “I put it all together and it went real well.”

With all the travel for compet-itions, Smith has only been in

school for four days in past two months.

“It really helps that my teachers are supportive of what I’m do-ing,” emphasizes the member of Louis-Riel’s sports-study program. “They’re all very accommodating with my schoolwork and they all help me out.”

Smith is anglophone, but de-cided it was worthwhile to study in her second language given what the innovative program offers.

“There are a lot of others who come for sports-études and learn French,” notes the Montreal-born student who’s lived in France. “The program gives me the edge that I want.”

Smith enjoys having a daily physical conditioning period during her school day in the off-season, and the opportunity to train on snow several afternoons a week in winter.

It takes a lot of dedication to suc-ceed both in sports and at school, says the Rebelles’ 2015 OFSAA team champion.

“You need to want to do it for life,” Smith adds. “I love ski racing, so doing this is a lot of fun.”

Rockin’ Rebelle Profile: International alpine skier Sierra Smith

Profil Rebelle: Sierra Smith, skieuse alpine internationale

www.louis-riel.cepeo.on.ca/sports-etudes

Fifteen hours after a quad-ruple-overtime semi-final de-feat knocked them out of con-tention for the title, the host Eastern Ontario Wild reboun-ded to win a bronze medal at the Mar. 28-Apr. 2 All-Ontario Bantam ‘AAA’ boys’ hockey championship in Rockland.

“We played a good game,” says Wild captain Nicolas Chartrand. “We were working hard all season for this mo-ment and we got the win.”

The Wild got goals from Chartrand, Mathieu Talbot and Kieran Craig in their 3-0 bronze medal match victory over the North Bay Trappers, while Justin Lalonde recorded the shutout in goal.

“I believed in the boys standing in front of me,” un-derlines Lalonde, whose team had lost to North Bay earlier in the preliminary round. “I think it wasn’t just my efforts – but the entire team. I really appre-ciate them being on the rink.”

Lalonde provided fresh legs in the bronze game after Zachary Paputsakis stood in goal for nearly 90 minutes in the Wild’s marathon 5-4 semi-final defeat against the top-ranked Whitby Wildcats.

Dylan Peterson’s equalizer for Eastern Ontario with the goalie pulled and 1:35 left on the clock in the third period forced overtime, which finally ended in the 7th period.

“(The game) was an amazing moment,” reflects Chartrand. “Memories for the rest of my life.”

Wild coach Frank Hincks says the loss “was almost like a numbing experience.”

“They were tired but they we were ready to go” for their final contest the next day, adds Hincks, whose players were coming off just a 10-11-9 season in 2014-15. “To win the bronze medal at the pro-vincial championship is special. They’ve come a long way and worked hard.”

The tournament featured

the league champions from Ontario’s six ‘AAA’ districts, plus a second host entry for the Eastern Ontario runner-up Ottawa Senators, who man-aged just a win and a tie in six games.

The All-Ontario tourna-ment rotates between the six leagues, so the chance to play a provincial championship at home is a rare experience most players never receive.

“It’s been really fun,” notes Lalonde, a Rockland native who plays alongside many play-ers from Orleans. “We got to miss a week of school and we got to play hockey – it’s the best thing ever.”

Mississauga went on to beat Whitby 3-2 in the champi-onship final.

The Kanata Lasers were also provincial bronze medal-ists in the Midget ‘AAA’ com-petition Mar. 28-Apr. 3 in Waterloo, while the Ottawa Senators will compete in the Peewee ‘AAA’ All-Ontarios Apr. 4-8 in Sudbury.

Wild win bronze after wild semi vs Wildcats– COMMUNITY CLUBS –

By Daniel Prinn

photo: daniel prinn

Fiery finish

It was all Calgary Inferno in the Clarkson Cup final as they downed Montreal 8-3 to win the Canadian Wo-men’s Hockey League title Mar. 13 at Canadian Tire Centre. SportsOttawa.com has more coverage.

photo: daniel prinn

BEAUCHESNE: Underdog Team Canada wants top half in Riocontinued from p.7

9

WAVE GOALIE ‘OUTSTANDING’ BUT CANADA WATER POLO A GOAL SHORT OF OLYMPICSJessica Gaudreault and the Canadian women’s water polo team came within a goal of forcing extra time in the match that determined if they’d go to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, falling 8-7 to Italy on March 26 at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in the Netherlands. The 21-year-old member of the Capital Wave Water Polo Club earned special praise from Team Canada captain Krystina Alogbo for her “outstanding” goal-tending in the deciding match. Canada went 2-3 in the preliminary round of the tour-nament to earn their chance at one of the four available tickets to the Olympics in the quarter-final round. The Canadian men’s team, featuring Ottawa Titans products John Conway, Alec Taschereau and Dusan Aleksic, plays in their Olympic qualification tournament Apr. 4-10 in Italy.

Playing for Clarkson University at the Mar. 18-20 NCAA women’s hockey Frozen Four in New Hampshire, Ottawa Lady Sens products Katelyn Fournier and Amanda Titus and Nepean Jr. Wildcats alum Josiane Pozzebon lost 3-2 in overtime to top-seeded Boston College in the semi-final round. The Clarkson Golden Knights were 30-5-5 overall this season. Their former Provincial Women’s Hockey League junior teams were both knocked out of the first round of the playoffs this season. The University of Vermont skier Dom Garand of Ottawa earned first-team All-American honours by placing 4th in both the slalom and giant slalom at the March 9-12 NCAA alpine championships in Colorado. Ottawa native Marial Shayok experienced March Madness in his sophomore season with the University of Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team, scoring 10 points in 12 minutes of action in his team’s opening round victory over

Hampton, producing 12 in 25 minutes in the 2nd round against Butler, 5 in 22 for a Sweet Sixteen triumph over Iowa State, and then seeing just 6 minutes with a single point as the Cavaliers were upset in the Elite Eight by Syracuse.

LOCAL TRIO REACH NCAA WOMEN’S HOCKEY FROZEN FOUR

Three local players claimed medals at the inaugural Rugby Canada National U18 Sevens Championships Mar. 10-12 in Vancouver.

The Ottawa Indians’ Myles Donoghue and the Bytown Blues’ Elias Hancock won silver with the Ontario 1 men’s team, while Gabriel Casey of the Barrhaven Scottish earned bronze with the Ontario 2 men. Rachel McCallan of the Ottawa Irish was on the Ontario 1 women’s team, placing 4th. Pamphinette Buisa of the Ottawa Irish appeared for Canada’s senior women’s sevens Maple Leafs White entry at the inaugural Vancouver Rugby Fest Mar. 10-11. The Maple Leafs White placed 4th, while Maple Leafs Red were champions. University of Ottawa Gee-Gees product Natasha Watcham-Roy, a Pan Am Games gold medallist, has been sidelined due to injury but remains a contender for Canada’s Rio 2016 Olympic team.

LOCAL RUGBY PLAYERS MEDAL NATIONALLY

REPEAT CANADIAN TITLE FOR LOCAL BOXER

NEPEAN RAVENS TAKE PROVINCIAL RINGETTE BRONZE OVER OTTAWA ICE

OTTAWA SPORTSPAGE SNAPSHOTS

Erica Adjei defended her women’s 54 kg Canadian title at the Mar. 28-Apr. 2 Boxing National Champi-onships in Quebec City. The Beaver Boxing Club-brewed athlete now fighting out of Final Round bested four challengers to win her division. Final Round’s Harley-David O’Reilly was also a national medallist, earning bronze in the men’s 81 kg class, while Beaver boxers collected three medals: Clare Hafner (silver, women’s 81+ kg), Marija Curran (silver, 81 kg) and Cedric Parina (bronze, men’s 56 kg).

Gloucester Concordes products Ivanie Blondin and Vincent De Haitre capped their highly successful 2015-16 international speed skating seasons with silver medal wins at the Mar. 11-13 ISU Speed Skating World Cup Final in the Netherlands. World Championships gold medallist Blondin felt she let a victory slip away in the women’s mass start race, also finishing as the runner-up in the World Cup circuit’s overall standings to Dutch skater Irene Schouten. “It’s frustrating, but winning the World Championship title was definitely more important to me this season,” the winner of two previous World Cup silver and two bronze mass start medals said in a Speed Skating Canada news release. “In the end, I get to come home with another medal and another accomplishment. I’m proud to bring this home for Canada.” De Haitre earned his silver in the team sprint event alongside Gilmore Junio and Alexandre St-Jean, placing just one hundredth of a second behind the champion Dutch team en route to a 3rd-place finish in the overall World Cup series standings. “We worked well as a team and went out and did what we knew we could,” De Haitre, who led the last of three lasps, said via Speed Skating Canada. “We communicate exactly what we want to do before the race and then focus on our individual tasks during the race.” Gloucester’s Isabelle Weidemann,

in her first year out of the junior ranks, finished the season ranked 16th in the women’s 3,000 m.

CONCORDES PAIR WIN FINAL SPEED SKATING SILVERS TO CONCLUDE SEASON

The Nepean Ravens under-19 Belle ringette team downed the Ottawa Ice 4-3 to win the bronze medal at the Mar. 10-13 Ontario ‘AA’ Ringette Championships in Waterloo. Ottawa also reached the playoff stage in the U16 division, while the Gloucester-Cumberland Devils topped the U14 preliminary round standings but lost both playoff games to finish 4th. The #4-ranked Gloucester Devils (19-8) and #8 Ottawa Ice (17-11) both qualified for the Canadian Champion-ships of the National Ringette League, to be contested Apr. 3-9 in London, Ont.

OTTAWA-BREWED WRESTLERS HIT NATIONAL PODIUMFive local soccer players took part in a Canada Soccer national Excel program camp from Feb. 28-March 3 in Vaughan: West Ottawa’s Idir Zerrouk and Ottawa South United players Nana Nuama Nuama-Mensah, Antonio Carlini, Mehdi Essoussi and Daniel Assaf. Alongside gatherings in B.C. and Montreal, the Vaughan camp was one of three that brought together 60 athletes from the under-15 men’s level to identify talent for future involvement in Canadian national team programs.

Local baseball players Justin Emond and Alex Guy recently committed to college programs in New York state, joining a number of their Ottawa Knights Baseball Club teammates headed on to post-secondary baseball. Emond will join the highly-ranked Herkimer College Generals of the National Junior College Ath-letic Association, while Guy is headed to Watertown to play with the Jefferson College Cannoneers along with fellow Knight Keenan Fox. Other Knights headed on to the next level include Alex Beattie (Carleton University) and Nestor Tapia (Global Institute of Technology, NY). See SportsOttawa.com for more details.

OTTAWA KNIGHTS MOVE ON TO COLLEGIATE BASEBALL RANKS

MORRIS COOLS OFF AND MISSES BRIER PLAYOFFSAfter a solid 3-0 start, Ottawa native John Morris and his Pat Simmons-skipped Team Canada curling rink cooled off and finished 6-5 to miss the four-team playoff round by one place at the Mar. 3-13 Tim Hortons Brier at TD Place. Alberta’s Kevin Koe was the champion, downing Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue 9-5 in the final. Emma Miskew made it furthest out of Team Homan players by reaching the semi-final round of the Mar. 31-Apr. 3 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships in Saskatoon. Miskew, alongside Ryan Fry, downed the previously unbeaten husband-wife team of Mike and Ottawa native Dawn McEwen 7-6 in the quater-finals before

falling 10-7 to the eventual champions, Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant. Lisa Weagle and Rachel Homan were quarter-final-ists, while Joanne Courtney also reached the first stage of the playoff round. Mixed doubles is set to make its Olympic debut at the Pyeongchang 2018 Games. Team Homan also played alongside men as the lone women’s entry in the Mar. 17-20 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling Elite 10 event in Victoria, going 1-3 with a win over Charley Thomas.

The Ottawa Jr. Senators were locked in a 2-2 tie with the Hawkesbury Hawks after four games of their second-round Central Canada Jr. ‘A’ Hockey League playoffs series. After knocking aside Kemptville 4-1 in the first round with a double-overtime triumph on home ice to end Game 5, the Jr. Sens have again defended home ice against Hawkesbury, winning 4-1 and 6-1 contests at Jim Durrell Recreation Com-plex but dropping 4-2 and 5-3 battles in Hawkesbury. The Cumberland Grads were knocked out in the first round of the CCHL post-season. Check SportsOttawa.com for updated coverage on the CCHL playoffs.

JR. SENS ADVANCE THROUGH CCHL ROUND 1

The Ottawa Outlaws are set to take the field for the start of their second season of pro ultimate in April, confident that les-sons learned in their first campaign will now allow them to rise higher in the American Ultimate Disc League.

“It was really different, (but) it was a lot of fun,” recounts Outlaws player Mathew Berg. “It was a little harder in some as-pects with not being used to running on that big of a field with that many players on there. Knowing when someone is a threat on a field that large took some getting used to.”

Berg was one of the many rookie Outlaws who had extensive experience playing in high-level club ul-timate.

Lengthy club tourna-ments with many matches on a weekend put them in solid physical condition to start, but “a lot of us were unprepared” for the fitness required come the final quarter of four intense 12-minute periods, Berg highlights.

“You run a lot harder because you don’t have to save yourself for an-other game,” explains the 31-year-old. “The focus this winter was not only on strength but a lot of

us have been going to the track.”

OUTLAWS GANG WIN NATIONAL 4-ON-4s

A number of Outlaws also used the recent Cana-dian 4-on-4 Ultimate Cham-pionship as an opportunity to tune up for the season.

The Trillium Carnage, featuring seven male Outlaws alongside four females, defended their national crown at the Mar. 19-20 event at the Gloucester SuperDome, defeating fellow Ottawa entry Swift to start the playoff round, followed by 15-14 and 19-10 wins our Nova Scotia’s Brunch Money and the Nunavut Ta-cos (actually from Toronto).

Events like the 4-on-4 indoor championship are indeed a high-level oppor-tunity for development, but the AUDL loop remains a bit of a different animal.

Gone are the goofy names and the carolling to opponents some might associate with Frisbee, and in their place are real refer-ees and rock music during stoppages in play.

Karl Loiseau, an Out-laws owner and player/coach, says it took awhile for the team to adjust and find its identity last year.

“Our first couple games were pretty rough,” sig-nals the 28-year-old who’d gained a year of AUDL ex-

perience with the Toronto Rush before bringing the Ottawa club to life. “We lost a couple games that we could have won last year.”

There is one constant in ultimate, no matter the level, however, and that’s the camaraderie on the team, which flowed seam-lessly for the Outlaws since many players had previ-ously been teammates, Loiseau indicates.

“It’s a pretty good vibe,” he notes. “Guys hang out a lot together, so most of us are friends off the field.”

The AUDL rookies missed the eastern con-ference playoffs by one game last year, finishing in the middle behind Toronto, New York and Montreal, and ahead of D.C., Phil-adelphia and Rochester.

“For our first year, 7-7 was pretty good,” Loiseau adds. “I think we got the hang of it by the end of the year, so we’re looking for-ward to bringing that mo-mentum into this year and hopefully we can improve on that.”

TD PLACE OPENER

The Outlaws start their season with a pair of road games, then play their home opener on May 6 at TD Place before returning to their usual confines at Carleton University’s MNP Park for the bulk of their home schedule.

Outlaws eager to gain ground in Yr. 2– ELITE –

photo: daniel prinn

By Daniel Prinn

Andy Corey and several Ottawa Outlaws teammates were champions at the March 19-20 indoor Canadian 4-on-4 Ultimate Championship at the Gloucester SuperDome.

10 EDITORIAL

Mailing address:345 Meadowbreeze Dr.

Kanata, Ont. K2M 0K3

The Ottawa Sportspage is a not-for-profit publication devoted to shining a spot-light on local amateur sport.

Under the direction of the Ottawa Community Sport Media Team, our group also promotes access-to-sports initiatives for local youth who live in social housing communities.

Contact:Editor: Dan Plouffe

[email protected]

OTTAWA COMMUNITY SPORT MEDIA TEAMBoard of Directors

Josh BellAnne DugganJohn Haime

Josh KaranjaDan Plouffe (Executive Director)

Mohamed SofaDoug Scorrar

Youth from Ottawa Community Housing neighbourhoods are now a step closer to their sports dreams thanks to a new partnership an-nounced on Mar. 31 at the RA Centre.

Through their recLINK program, the OCH Foundation will work with the organization behind the Con-necting Athletes of All Means to Paths in Sport Project to offer free sports opportunities and transport to youth living in OCH communities.

“We’re very excited to expand the reach of our programs and in-crease the positive impact we can make in many youths’ lives,” says Tara Howlett, Director of Com-munity Engagement for the OCH Foundation/recLINK. “Although our initiatives have blossomed inde-pendently, this new partnership will strengthen our resolve to help chil-dren and youth in low-income com-munities participate in barrier-free recreation and sport.”

With the support of the Com-munity Houses at Britannia Woods, Carson’s Grove and Rochester Heights – the three communities the program will serve initially, with an eye on reaching others in the future – the CAMPS/recLINK partnership brings together a pair of like-minded organizations with similar objectives

and complementary strengths.recLINK is a leader in helping

families to overcome participation barriers in all forms of social re-creation, while the CAMPS Project connects youth to optimal sports developmental avenues thanks to its partnerships with community sports clubs.

In exchange for offering posi-tions in their programs at no cost to OCH youth, CAMPS Project part-ners are able to promote their activ-ities on OttawaSportsCAMPS.ca as well as in the Ottawa Sportspage newspaper.

Caitlyne Brewer, recLINK’s Fam-ily Coordinator, will identify parti-cipants who could benefit most from the program while ensuring barriers

are reduced and that the proper support structures are in place so youth can fully enjoy their recre-ational experiences.

The partnership will allow the CAMPS Project to access the or-ganizational resources required to advance beyond its current summer camps-focused format to a year-round program that will put parti-cipants on the path to excellence in sport.

The goal is to give young ath-letes the chance to access univer-sity sports scholarships and po-tentially make a career in sport. It aims to inspire a new generation of sports leaders who can be positive influences in the community.

“We’re very pleased to have laid

the groundwork for this initiative, but we still need support from the sports community to help us take the CAMPS Project to the next level,” says Dan Plouffe, the Exec-utive Director for the not-for-profit group that operates the Sportspage and the CAMPS Project. “In the coming months, we will be reaching out to sports groups, businesses and individuals who are interested in contributing to the CAMPS Pro-ject and helping us offer opportunit-ies in sport to the youth in our city who, otherwise, would not have the chance to participate.”

The CAMPS Project has also launched an online fundraising cam-paign. An array of rewards are avail-able for contributions at various levels. Those giving $20 or more prior to May 31 will be entered into a draw for the Ottawa Super Fan Prize Pack, which includes pairs of tickets to many of Ottawa’s major sports teams.

See OttawaSportsCAMPS.ca/donations for more details and to watch the CAMPS Project’s intro-ductory video.

Contributions are also possible through the Ottawa Community Housing Foundation, which can provide a charitable tax receipt, via ochfoundation.ca.

CAMPS Project & recLINK partner to connect Ottawa Community Housing youth to sport

Team Members: Katie Allerton, Rebekka Steenkamer, Sarah McIlveen, Rachel Baxter, Kaitlyn Sennema, Jewelle Crocker, Genevieve Fritz-Nemeth, Veronica Rojas, Alice Nepveu, Jane Douglas-Therien and Coach Adrian Steekamer.

About: The Capital Wave Water Polo Club won the first senior national medal in its four-year history on the Apr. 2-3 weekend in Montreal. After a 9-2-1 regular season and a 12-10 de-feat to Saskatchewan in the semi-finals, Alice Nepveu scored her 7th goal of the contest

Sport: Soccer

Club: Ottawa Fury FC

School/Grade: Grade 12 Sacred Heart CHS

About: Zoom Langwa got a little taste of the pro soccer life before even being done high school. The member of Ottawa Fury FC’s junior academy received a significant amount of play-ing time and helped setup a goal during the Fury North American Soccer League team’s pre-season, lining up alongside the likes of Cana-dian national team captain Julian De Guzman.

YMCA-YMCA OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

STARS OF THE MONTH

Team of the Month: Capital Wave Major League Water Polo Women’s Team

Athlete of the

Month:

Ndzemdzela “Zoom” Langwa

“As a season opener, I ended up feeling really good,” reflects the southwestern Ontario-raised athlete who moved to Ottawa in 2010 to train under national team coach John Hawes. “It all came down to the last 100 meters. That was a really excit-ing start to the season for me.”

McCann followed up with a “very respectable” – and highly valuable – 7th-place showing at World Cup #1 in Egypt.

Her 28th-place finish in a mon-strous downpour at World Cup #2 in Rio wasn’t as satisfying. The eques-trian event, where athletes draw an unknown horse at random and have 20 minutes to warm up, was Mc-Cann’s “biggest struggle” at the com-petition serving as the Rio test event.

“I didn’t mesh with the horse and we weren’t really a good match,” re-counts McCann, who placed 31st in equestrian. “Unfortunately I had a few refusals and that cost me a lot of points.”

Her result at the Mar. 30-Apr. 3 World Cup #3 in Rome was a stronger 20th-place finish.

“To turn around in Rome and have a perfect ride was definitely a

McCANN: ‘Still chasing that feeling’

of Olympic bliss

continued from p.1

Tara Howlett, OCH Foundation/recLINK Director of Community Engagement and Ottawa Community Sport Media Team Executive Director Dan Plouffe.

photos: daniel prinn

confidence booster. It was a bit of a comeback after Rio,” indicates Mc-Cann, who had a perfect equestrian score but an uncharacteristically poor fencing showing. “Getting all five events right on the same day is usu-ally the biggest challenge.”

McCann now hopes that “my last two months go as smoothly as the first (few) months have.” On the topic

of whether she expects to make a second consecutive Olympic appear-ance, McCann is unwavering.

“Don’t be silly,” laughs McCann, who says the pressure of having to qualify for the Olympics carries an as-pect that “you love and thrive on.”

At London 2012, McCann ex-celled on the big stage, placing 11th in her Olympic debut at age 22, in

a sport that takes years to master somewhat unrelated disciplines.

“That was an absolute dream come true,” recalls McCann, who was introduced to the sport when she was a teenaged competitive swimmer and high school cross-country runner. “To set a new Canadian national Olympic record was just bliss. It was a feeling like no other. And I’m still chasing that

feeling.”McCann now focuses on improv-

ing “each event in a little way, whether mentally or physically,” every day in training.

“I’d love to improve on my finish in London,” she notes. “Obviously a medal is possible and (it) would be a dream come true if I could bring home a medal for Canada.”

with 1:52 left to lift the Wave women to an 11-10 win over Dollard-des-Ormeaux (and former Wave coach Dan Bekhazi) in the bronze medal match. Carleton Ravens grad Rachel Baxter was named tournament MVP. Visit SportsOttawa.com to find out more.

11– ELITE –

There’s been a change of travel plans for Sam Zakutney, and it’s landed the 17-year-old Ottawa native on the doorstep to the Olympics.

Zakutney had originally been scheduled to head west to Washington state for this month’s Pacific Rim Gym-nastics Championships, but instead he’s headed to Rio de Janeiro to compete for an Olympic berth April 16-22 alongside Canada’s in-jury-riddled men’s artistic gym-nastics team.

The news came to the Franco-Cité high school senior midway through the March 17-20 University of Calgary Inter-national Cup. During practice in Calgary, one national team athlete wiped out on rings, landed on his face and “went into a scorpion,” recounts Za-kutney, who was told at that point to keep an open mind about heading to Rio.

The day after another gymnast tore his ACL knee ligament, the team director informed Zakutney he’d be

joining the team for the last-chance qualifier.

“I was sure as hell happy when he admitted it,” laughs Zakutney, who won the all-around title in the senior na-tional competition and also earned a high bar bronze medal in the international por-tion of the Calgary event fea-turing athletes from Canada, USA and China.

UNEXPECTED CALL

Having a shot at Rio 2016 comes as a fairly big surprise to the junior-aged athlete who’d been focused on making it to the 2020 Olympics.

“Back in 2013, all I could think about was competing in Rio – that was really my dream at the time,” recalls Zakutney, explaining that he started look-ing at it a little more realistic-ally as the date drew closer. “Now I can’t believe I ever doubted myself. It’s just a real confidence boost.

“Now, I rarely want to leave the gym. Every time I do some-thing wrong, I want to repeat it. And if I wanted to stay an hour later, I would because I

know I’d be working on some-thing amazing.”

Underdog Canada needs a top-four finish (out of eight teams) at the event to send a full team to the Olympics. Otherwise, just two individuals

will go, in which case Zakut-ney suggests his chances at competing in the 2016 Games would be “pretty much gone” since he assumes specialists who can contend for a medal will be sent.

There remains a chance that Zakutney will only be an alternate at the qualifier since the Montreal gymnast who crashed and pulled muscles in his neck is cleared to train and will join the team. The team director will decide which six of seven athletes will compete once in Rio.

Regardless, Zakutney is looking forward to the ex-perience and is excited to be there with many of the biggest names in gymnastics.

“When you watch these guys on the Internet doing these amazing tricks you pic-ture them as gods. They’re so majestic and amazing when you look at them,” he under-lines. “Then one day you’re go-ing to look at them in person and you’ll realize they’re not that much taller than you or more built than you, then you just look at them as people. That gives you the indication that someday maybe people will look at you that way, too.”

OTTAWA GYMNASTS POWER ONTARIO

The enormous Calgary

meet featured competition in many categories, with several local gymnasts helping Team Ontario to the top of the stand-ings in their categories.

Ottawa Gymnastics Centre athletes Philopateer Faltas (Provincial Level 4, under-13) and James Doucette (P3, 13+) both finished 2nd all-around.

Faltas won floor gold and silver for rings, vault and paral-lel bars, while Doucette earned pommel horse and rings gold, and vault silver.

Nicholas Dugan and Tyson Morton from Tumblers Gym-nastics Centre also finished in the same position in their respective categories, placing 7th in National Open and P3 13-.

Dugan won high bar silver and Morton took floor bronze and vault silver.

Their club will host its an-nual Tumblers Classic invita-tional meet from Apr. 15-17.

The Ontario Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships will be held from Apr. 7-10 in Mississauga, with a number of local athletes in contention for the podium.

Gymnast selected for Canada’s final Rio Olympic qualifier teamBy Daniel Prinn Sam Zakutney.

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Fun and gymnasticsfor Active Kids!We offer 10 weeks of full day and half day summer programs for children 4-12 years of age. No gymnastics experience is necessary! Our NCCP certi�ed coaching staff deliver an exciting weekly program of themed activties that will keep your child active while developing new gymnastics skills.

Full Day Camp (age 4+) 9am-4pm- 3 hours of gymnastics daily in our fully equipped gym- Fun & exciting themed activities each week- Pre-care and post-care included from 7:30am to 5:30pm- Free camp t-shirt with a full week registration- Pizza lunch on Friday

Half Day Camp (age 3+) 9am-12pm or 1pm to 4pm

Special NeedsWe welcome children of varying needs and abilities into our summer camp. For more information about programming for children with special needs, please contact us.

*All camp programs are subject to an annual membership fee

Fun and gymnastics for Active Kids!We offer 10 weeks of full day and half day summer programs for children 4-12 years of age. No gymnastics experience is neces-sary! Our NCCP certified coaching staff de-liver an exciting weekly program of themed activities that will keep your child active while developing new gymnastics skills.

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photo: steve kingsman

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12

It was an underwhelm-ing finish to a rather suc-cessful season for Alaine Chartrand of the Nepean Skating Club.

Looking to better last year’s 11th-place showing at her first ISU World Figure Skating Championships, the reigning Canadian cham-pion fell short of that mark and ended up in 17th this time around at the Mar. 28-Apr. 3 event in Boston.

“I didn’t have the per-formances that I know I can,” Chartrand indicates. “With skates like had at nationals, I would’ve placed much higher.”

The 20-year-old’s worlds score of 157.82 points was well off the 201.99 total she produced in January to win the first national title of her career in Halifax.

“There wasn’t really just one thing, just little mis-takes that added up,” ex-plains Chartrand. “My pro-gram is just as difficult as

the girl who won or anyone on the podium. It’s just the execution of it.”

Looking forward, the Brian Orser/Michelle

Leigh-coached athlete is seeking to improve her con-sistency.

“I’ve had some brilliant skates this season, and

some not-so-brilliant,” she notes. “If I can always put together two good pro-grams, obviously that’s what it takes to be at the top.”

Though the results weren’t in her favour, Chartrand enjoyed having the worlds relatively close to home so that her family and friends could attend. Because general seating was sold out at TD Garden, they all chipped in and bought a corporate box for the entire competition.

Family support has al-way been in high supply for Chartrand. The Prescott native gets a drive into Nepean several times a week for training, and then loads up for the Toronto area on weekends. She says the unorthodox but successful setup is “very likely” to continue next sea-son.

“It was really nice to have all those people there (for worlds),” Chartrand underlines. “It made it ex-citing.”

– ELITE –Nepean skater laments worlds letdown

Alaine Chartrand.

By Callum Fraser

photo: danielle earl