ing up at 5:30 a.m. to catch the bus forearly-morning practices.

BBAACCKKGGRROOUUNNDDSS IINNSSPPIIRREE FFIIRREE

The team’s hard-working attitude stemsfrom players who are largely first-generationCanadians, notes Koeslag, who shares an

added connection to the players through hismother-in-law, a former immigration judge.

“She’s sworn some of these families in,”Koeslag recounts. “It’s pretty amazing. Theydon’t come from much, but they leave it allout on the floor. They’re hungry. It givesthem something they can hang their hat onand be proud of.”

It’s a similar type of motivation for the‘A’-champion Deslauriers Phénix, who wontheir second consecutive city crown andwere hoping to improve on their bronzemedal result from last year’s OFSAA despitemany new faces on the team.

“Because we don’t come from a lot, al-ready, everything we have, we have to fightfor it,” explains Deslauriers captain JonathanProulx, whose squad downed the AshburyColts 61-41 in the final to earn a trip to St.Catharines. “And we love showing them that

we fight on the court too.”Proulx says the Phénix really don’t think

of themselves as teammates, they considerthemselves family.

“Almost every day, we’re together atschool, and we practice together all summer– that’s why I say we’re like family,” Proulxemphasizes, explaining that it’s their sportthat draws them together. “That’s our numberone love. What we love most in the world –basketball.

“I get joy out of it. When I play, I forgetabout all the problems I had that same day.”

It’s the young players’ growth as indi-viduals that Deslauriers coach Alain Cadieuxsavours most. The Ottawa Community Hous-ing worker wound up coaching the Phénixfour years ago when no one else would.

p. 5

STEPPING UP FOR DUNKERLEY

The running community has rallied aroundParalympian Jon Dunkerley with free legalhelp in the face of a $350,000+ lawsuit.

p. 12

BOBSLED: THE ULTIMATE RUSH

Former hurdler Cody Sorensen and pastfootball player James McNaughton saynothing compares to their new sport.

p. 10

OTTAWA DOMINATES ONTARIO

Hannah Sunley-Paisley and the Gee-Geeswomen were one of three Ottawa basket-ball teams to win provincials the same day.

p. 4

SEEKING AN OLYMPIC SPLASH

Team Canada water polo player John Con-way can book his ticket to London with awin at the Olympic qualifier in Calgary. TRUE CHAMPS continued on p. 8

Many hail from areas wheresporting excellence isn!t thefirst thing their neighbour-hoods are recognized for, butthis year!s high school seniorboys! basketball championsembody the spirit of commu-nity better than any others,Dan Plouffe reports.

It’s a sight that’s really unmatched inOttawa high school sports. The sea of greenfollowers, the sheer number of supporters,and the pride they take in what the youngmembers of their community are achieving.

It was a picture St. Patrick’s Irish sen-ior boys’ basketball coach Tina St. Amourhad never seen in her decade-long career onthe sidelines. And one her players are sureto remember for a lifetime as their fanscheered them on to an appearance in theMarch 5-7 OFSAA ‘AAAA’ provincialchampionships in Ottawa.

“We’re just one big family,” describesIrish guard Roydell Clarke. “Our wholeschool is like that. We have our principalcoming out, our teachers coming out andsupporting us. Our fans are all dressed upin green, black and yellow with their facepainted – everything.

“It is a fun time.”It was a memorable day when St. Pat’s

earned their ticket to OFSAA with a home-court victory over St. Peter, and then the cel-ebration was on again as they prevailed in atight city final against Louis-Riel.

“What we’ve been able to do is a wholecommunity contribution,” notes Irish co-coach Matt Koeslag, highlighting that theirprincipal came in on the weekend to openthe gym so they could practice, that teacherswould cover for the coaches during out oftown tournaments, that parents would pro-vide fantastic support all along, and students would get behind team fundraising.

“It’s been a whole community effort,and you see that in the crowd,” adds Koes-lag, whose team was seeded eighth of 18teams at OFSAA. “We have that supportthere to achieve all these kind of goals.”

Koeslag carries tremendous pride in theunrelenting commitment his playersshowed this season and over the course ofthree years since the group first came to-gether, with many of them frequently wak-

Deslauriers wona second ‘A’ citytitle in a row.

TThhee HHeeaarrttbbeeaattHHeeaarrttbbeeaatt ooff tthhee OOttttaawwaa SSppoorrttss CCoommmmuunniittyy VVooll.. 66 MMaarrcchh 22001122 SSppoorrttssOOttttaawwaa..ccoomm

PHOTOS: DAN PLOUFFE

The St. Patrick’s Irish won the nationalcapital senior boys’ basketball ‘AAA/AAAA’ championship over the Louis-Riel Rebelles at Carleton University.

Do you know whothe highest NHLdrafted player fromthe Ottawa areawas? If you arethinking 1981 andthe L.A. Kings, thenyou might be able to

recollect the name Doug Smith. Not only a great67’s alumni, but a great person with an extraordi-nary story and inspiring message who I recentlyhad the pleasure of meeting.

Hockey development has taken many differentavenues to improve a player’s performance –skating treadmills, new composite sticks, energygels and oxygenated water, for example – but themental side of the game often plays a huge rolein a player’s performance.

Even an athlete’s personal life can have an ef-fect on his game, as seen most notably with TigerWoods. Hockey politics can also affect a player’spsyche, such as not getting fair ice time, being crit-icized for every mistake, or when your confidenceis affected because your scoring touch is missing.

Doug Smith was challenged mentally, as wellas physically, when he was in a major ATV acci-dent where he broke his shoulder blade and lostfunction of one of his arms. At this time, he had toprove to the Buffalo Sabres that he could pass thephysical to stay eligible to play. His major obsta-cle was regaining the external rotation of his arm.

After he was unable to do it by exercise andrehab, he took more of a direct focus on visualiz-ing shoulder muscles and nerves firing together,with his wife doing the physical movements.

His biggest challenge, however, was when hewas diagnosed as a paraplegic after falling into theboards and breaking his neck. Besides having to

do physical preparation for recovery, there was a lotof other mental visualization, meditation, and sup-port that he partook in to keep thinking clearly andprogressing towards his goals. Improvements wereslow – from small toe movements, to sitting up, andthen to catching a ball off the wall. He kept focusedby meditating, doing physical activity and receivingsupport from those around. He eventually was ableto regain full body function with some limitations.

As Doug was exposed to meditation and visu-alization, I too was given the same opportunity asa child. My father was a counselor and did sportspsychology for the OHL’s Niagara Falls Thunder.

I would go to sports psychologists to help medevelop a preparation plan for games. I was taughtto visualize a green glow of a rink and then I wouldpicture plays I would do on the ice during thatgame. I would do this for 15 minutes before everygame, and if I had a bad period, I would visualizewhat I wanted to change during the intermission.

Slowing your breathing in through the nose anddown into the lower part of the lungs and stomachand exhaling out through the mouth is anotherstrategy. It is so easy to get stressed with the pres-sure to succeed and these approaches allowedme to stay focused and relaxed.

Everyone should read The Trauma Code byDoug Smith. The principles can be used to healan injury, for stress relief, and personal growth. Itdoes not only help you when you face obstacles,but to get the most out of life, where happinessbecomes effortless. It creates an awareness thatthe subconscious mind has valuable informationthat affects your performance. Be aware of it anduse methods to relax and control the emotionalroller coaster we are exposed to as athletes.

Doc Hockey Corner--By Dr. Shayne Baylis, Doc Hockey

Visit thetraumacode.com for more infomation.

@doc_hockey

doc hockey

Trauma and Mind GamesTrauma and Mind Games

Many athletes from eastern Ontarioare set to compete in the 27 sports of theOntario Winter Games March 8-11 inCollingwood, but the Ottawa Senatorswomen’s hockey Bantam ‘AA’ squadcan certainly lay claim to sending one ofthe largest contingents from a single clubteam.

With six forwards, a defender and agoalie selected from a pool of approxi-mately 500 players province-wide, therewill be plenty of familiar faces for theeight Senators chosen from a two-daytryout in Rockland.

“It’s pretty good for our team toshow that we have a strong group,”notes Amanda Ieradi, who scored thelone goal in the Senators’ playdown vic-tory over Gloucester to secure a spot inthe provincial championships. “We allclick together – the forwards and the de-fence. And we all get along really well.”

That camaraderie may get turned onits head at the Winter Games, however.The teams are not formed by region atthe competition, which means that sev-eral Senators will be on opposing sides.But the friendly spirit of the Games iswhat Ottawa assistant captain CassidyHerman is looking forward to most.

“Outside of hockey, I want to see allthe other sports and participate,” says theGrade 9 Holy Trinity Catholic High

School student. “I’m just excited – reallylooking forward to it.”

Around 3,500 total participants withathletes, coaches and officials are ex-pected to take part in the Ontario WinterGames, which act as a breeding groundto prepare youth athletes for the CanadaGames and then international events.

The roster of sports includes many

activities usually found on summer cal-endars, such as field hockey, table tennis,wrestling and synchronized swimming.

In February, Ottawa’s MargaritaGourbounova was a standout at the On-tario Parasport Winter Games inHuntsville, winning one gold and twosilver medals in cross-country skiing forathletes with a visual impairment.

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Losing a grandparent – especially a close one whowould come out to watch your hockey games – is atough moment for an 11-year-old.

“Liam was pretty upset when he passed away. Hewas young, 65,” notes Gloucester Cougars Peeweehouse league coach Tim Tierney, who lost his father aday before his team took part in a Future Sens game atScotiabank Place.

The Cougars saw one of their own was hurting, sothat’s when Nick Persaud stepped up to lift his team-mate’s spirits a little by making labels with the intialsAJT (for Allan John Tierney) that each player nowwears on their helmets.

“It was really nice of him to do that,” says Liam, whoplays ball hockey with his teammates in the summerwhen they’re not on the ice together. “It’s fun. Every-one works together. We’re sort of like brothers now.”

That a young player would think of such a gesturewithout prompting from parents really impressed thecoach of the first-place club.

“This team is unbelievable,” adds Tim, the city coun-cillor for Beacon Hill ward. “A lot of people say, ‘Youknow, kids today...’ I have to disagree. Kids today arestill very compassionate and they care a lot about theirteammates. This was a real great show of support.”

11-year-old shows great compassion

(Top, L-R) Jordyn Pimm, Samantha Bouley, Morgan Townend, Leah Buchanan, (Bottom,L-R) Cassidy Herman, Sarah Hiscock, Amanda Ieradi and Anonda Hoppner of the Ot-tawa Senators Bantam 'AA' team will all compete in this month's Ontario Winter Games.

COMMUNITY CLUBS

The Nepean Raiders are finally back on top.The local Jr. ‘A’ hockey club has cemented its #1

ranking in the Central Canada Hockey League stand-ings as they head into playoffs, beginning March 14.It’s a position most Ottawa teams have struggled toattain in recent years.

“We’ve battled back, been able to come back ingames we were down in. My guys just don’t quit,” sayscoach and general manager Peter Goulet. “Just goodsolid hockey from the net out, all the way around.”

Second-year Raider Kenneth Neil believes thathaving a closer team has made a big difference thisseason.

“Everyone gets along,” notes the forward who’smore than doubled his point total from last season.“And everyone wants to win.”

The Raiders haven’t just been winning – they’vedominated the league. With only nine regulationlosses through 59 games, the Raiders led in nearlyevery statistical category. Nepean’s powerplay, forone, scores at an astounding rate of 35%, and theirpenalty killing tops the league at 85%.

“We’ve just got the right guys for the rightplaces,” Neil adds. “Last year, we never really had theright pieces. This year, we’ve got everything.”

He credits Goulet and the coaching staff withfinding and developing the talent. That’s always achallenge for Ottawa-based teams, who typically drawthe smallest crowds in the league, Ottawa Jr. Senatorscoach Rick Dorval highlights.

“It makes it hard to be able to bring in kids and letkids go at will,” explains Dorval, whose seventh-place

squad upset the Raiders 5-2 on Feb. 29. “Financially,there is a cost to bringing kids in.”

He mentions Pembroke, which draws over fourtimes as many fans as either the Jr. Senators or theRaiders. “The gate helps [them] on revenue. We don’thave that luxury. A lot of it is homegrown talent.”

Among the homegrown talent for the Raiders istheir captain, Craig Cowie. In his fourth season withthe team, Cowie has demolished the competition inthe league scoring race. With 38 goals and 78 assistsfor 116 points through 59 games, he’s more than 20points ahead of the runner-up.

“He’s just so much smarter than everybody elseout there,” marvels Goulet. “He sees everything. Hedoes it all. He’s a great leader, he’s absolutely phe-

nomenal in the room. Off the ice, on the ice, I could-n’t ask for anything more.”

Linemates Ryan MacLean and Neil have alsobenefited from Cowie’s play. Both will finish in thetop seven in league scoring.

“Craig’s an outstanding player,” MacLean says.“To be close to a player like that [in scoring], it’s prettyexciting.”

And with two solid goaltenders in Matt Zawadzkiand Dylan Brind’Amour, who have shared the load allyear, the team is cautiously optimistic about their up-coming playoff run, although Cornwall, Brockville andCarleton have all put together solid seasons as well.

“We’ll hopefully go far,” says Neil. But, he warns,“Playoffs is a whole different game.”

8 Sens head to Ontario Games

Raiders ready to resume romp in Jr. !A" playoffs

PHOTO PROVIDED

PHOTO: DAN PLOUFFE

By Dan Plouffe

By Ian Ewing

The Nepean Raiders had a single-digit regulation loss totalheading into the final two games of their regular season.

FC Capital United SoccerClub, along with the Ontario Soc-cer Association, put a new spin ontheir free Family Day soccer clin-ics as they reached out to newCanadian families in particular forthe event that featured young play-ers from age four to 12.

“It was a very, very fascinatingday,” says Capital United vice-president Anne Lavender. “We hadalmost 100 kids from across theworld – all new Canadians.”

Capital United’s coaches ledsessions where they taught basicskill development, and then therewere some games, of course, whereyoungsters got to play with somenew friends in a team sport setting.

“It’s an opportunity to help

them integrate, and have fun,”Lavender explains. “And in somecases, there may be some real tal-ent out there.”

In a survey conducted by Capi-tal United, they found only four kidswho attended the event previouslyplayed with a local soccer club.

“Hopefully when they seethere’s something of interest, we can

connect them and their kids to differ-ent clubs across the city dependingon where they live,” adds Lavender,whose club collected donations forthe Ottawa Food Bank. “We reallyenjoyed the partnership we had withthe Ontario Soccer Association. Wefelt they had the same values as us,which is putting the players first andfocusing on the children.”

Marie-Eve Chainey’s kidneys may have failed her,but that hasn’t slowed her down. Chainey was just 18when, during a trip to Spain 11 years ago, her kidneyssimply stopped working. Her blood pressure skyrock-eted to 220/147 and her body bloated with close to 50pounds of water.

She still doesn’t know exactly what caused the prob-lem, but it seemed as though her promising career as anelite high-jumper was all but over. Instead of giving up,Chainey has spent the last decade defying the odds. Sheeven competed in the Canadian track-and-field champi-onships in July 2010, a far cry from when she waswheelchair-bound and couldn’t even wash her own hair.

“Well, my parents would say I’m just too stubbornto stop,” Chainey says with a laugh. “My goal was al-ways just to be back in the gym. That’s just where I feelcomfortable and where I belong.”

The amiable 29-year-old is now passing on her driveand determination to others through the Alive to StriveKidney Fitness Project, a non-profit organization she co-founded with triathlete and friend Nicholas Newell.

The Project’s flagship event is the Alive to Striverace, which will be run from Terry Fox Athletic Facil-ity on April 29 – a change from last year’s August dateto avoid scorching temperatures, and to provide a pos-sible tune-up run just before Ottawa Race Weekend.

Participants compete in 1, 5, or 10 kilometre racesand funds raised are used to support various charitiesand to supply weight loss and fitness grants to localdialysis patients. Chainey expects up to 500 competi-tors this year, including groups from schools, sportsteams and businesses. The goal is to raise awarenessof kidney disease and to promote an active, healthylifestyle as a means of prevention.

“What we’re doing is we have a health check

booth at the event. We will have the nursing unit outtaking blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, things likethat to see what your risks are,” Chainey highlights.“It’s a very silent disease. It’s the silent killer. That’swhy it’s very important to keep track of your health.”NNOOCCTTUURRNNAALL DDIIAALLYYSSIISS KKEEYY FFOORR HHIIGGHH JJUUMMPPEERR

For those who already have kidney disease, treat-ment has historically meant endless trips to hospitalswhere they are hooked up to dialysis machines for threeor four hours at a time. Chainey started her treatmentthis way, but when she couldn’t even make it up thestairs after getting home from the hospital, she knewsomething had to change.

Deborah Zimmerman, Chainey’s doctor and amember of the Alive to Strive board of directors, sug-gested that she try nocturnal hemodialysis through theOttawa Hospital, where Zimmerman has worked since1999.

Under the nocturnal method, patients have a dial-ysis machine at home and use it overnight, usually sixdays a week.

“The long frequent treatments allow for more fluidand toxin removal so that people with kidney failureare able to eat a more liberal diet,” Zimmerman ex-plains. “Doing the dialysis when you sleep means thedaytime is free to pursue your dreams.”EENNEERRGGYY LLIIFFTT FFOORR UU OOFF OO NNUURRSSIINNGG SSTTUUDDEENNTT

When Chainey tells other dialysis patients abouther unique treatments, she doesn’t always get the mostenthusiastic response.

“Well if you talk to dialysis patients in general andI say I do it six days a week, they’ll say I’m crazy be-cause people don’t want to do dialysis,” Chainey says.“So why would you want to do it six days a week? Butfor me I just found such a big difference in energy thatthe day off that I have a week, I hate it.”

Even accounting for such resistance, Zimmermansays nocturnal hemodialysis is slowly becoming morepopular. Chainey says her success with the treatmentwas part of the inspiration for her trip to the nationalhigh-jump championships.

“That’s the main reason why I wanted to go to na-tionals for high jump, to prove that this treatment worksand it’s much better and that three times a week I wasin a wheelchair and with nocturnal I’m competing na-tionally.”

Chainey, now a nursing student at the University ofOttawa and a high jumper for the Gee-Gees, has comea long way from that hospital bed in Spain. Now shewants to make sure, through the Alive to Strive raceand organization, that fewer people have to face theharrowing journey she has.

“We want to prevent kidney disease,” she notes.“That’s why we call it a run for kidney health, not a runfor kidney disease.”

Visit alivetostrive.ca for more information.

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diryouth@fccapitalunited.com or call 613-695-2832.

Youth development programs at

Race leaps to new heights in kidney health questBy Braedon Clark

By Dan Plouffe

Alive to Strive race organizer Marie-EveChainey, a nocturnal hemodialysis patientwho lives without functional kidneys,achieved the qualifying height for the OUAtrack-and-field championships high jumpcompetition this season. Her annual eventto promote kidney health and encouragekidney disease patients to be active is setfor April 29 out of Terry Fox Athletic Facility.

PHOTO: JACQUES FALARDEAU

Capital United event welcomes newCanadians to soccer on Family Day

PHOTOS: ASHA MOHIDDIN

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ELITE

Matt Hawes headlines the Ottawacontingent of swimmers heading to theCanadian Olympic team trials March 27-April 1 in Montreal, but two localteenagers also have legitimate shots atearning trips to the London 2012 Games.

When Karyn Jewell is on the pooldeck at her Gatineau Phénix club, shedoesn’t stick out.

“Being like a normal kid, I want to gotalk to my friends, but I’m not really sup-posed to talk to anyone before practice,” ex-plains Jewell, whose training regimenvaries from teammates’. “I have some re-

ally close friends on my team and it’s hardseeing them socialize, and I want to do that,but I also want to do really well this month.”

Jewell is certainly no ordinary kid onthe water. The 18-year-old St. PeterCatholic High School student has alreadyachieved the Olympic ‘B’ standard in hersignature 400-metre individual medley racewith a personal-best time of 4:45.64 and isone of two strong bets to win the trials race.

“I definitely have a shot. I know I do,”smiles Jewell, who’s been receiving e-mails from the Canadian Olympic Com-mittee after making the long list of Londonhopefuls. “I get those sneak-peaks that no-body else gets, and it’s kind of scary be-

cause I’ve never pictured myself going tothe Olympics so young.”

Coming off a bronze medal in the 200IM at last summer’s world junior champi-onships, Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson alsohas a shot in Montreal.

“I’m actually just really excited,” saysthe 16-year-old John McCrae SecondarySchool student. “I try to keep really posi-tive and I’m hoping and praying that it’llturn out good.”

Seltenreich-Hodgson upset Canadianrecord holder Erica Morningstar at lastmonth’s Eastern Canadian Championshipsin Gatineau and also won the 100 m breast-stroke, which helped make her believe an

Olympic berth is within reach.“I think it’s possible, but it’s going to be

very difficult,” adds the Nepean-Kanata Bar-racudas athlete. “But that’s my goal, to behonest. I really want to make the Olympics,but five years from now is Rio, so if I don’tmake it this time, that’s what I’ll aim for.”

At age 26, Hawes has the best shot atclaiming an Olympic berth of the trio.Hawes has been training with some of theworld’s fastest swimmers at the Universityof Sydney in Australia since last summer’sworld championships, where he placed19th overall in the 200 m breaststroke.

Visit SportsOttawa.com for up-to-date coverage from Montreal.

London next in Conway"s travel plans

Trio of Ottawa swimmers shoot for 1st Olympics at Canadian team trials By Dan Plouffe

“Train, eat, sleep and study. That’s basically it,” John Con-way says, describing his life these days.

The 20-year-old Ottawa native is part of the Canadian men’swater polo team, currently preparing for their last-chanceOlympic qualifier, set for the beginning of April in Edmonton.

“We go pretty much everyday except for Sunday,” explainsConway, outlining a training regimen consisting of an hour ortwo in the gym in the morning, followed by two to three hoursof practice. “And then at night, another two hour practice.”

Conway recently returned from eastern Europe, where thenational squad was training with a Croatian professional team inpreparation for the big tournament. Croatia is just the beginningof Conway’s extensive travels. Water polo has taken him all overthe world to more countries than he can readily remember.

“I’ve been to China, Australia, Italy, Montenegro, France,Spain, Hungary, Serbia,” Conway lists.

But don’t ask him for travel tips. Conway says these tripsare almost exclusively for training purposes and he hasn’tsoaked in anything but pool water.

“People say, ‘You must get to see all these great sights,’”he recounts. “But the only sights I get to see are the airport andthe pool.”

Conway isn’t complaining. The University of Calgary busi-ness student is thrilled to be competing at the highest possiblelevel, and preparing for a shot at the Olympics.

“This has been a childhood dream for me,” the former Ot-tawa Titans star highlights. “It would just be a huge honor andan amazing experience.”

While Canada is known for cultivating athletic talent on theice and on snow, you don’t often hear of young children takingup water polo. But for Conway, it was in the family, with his

mother introducing him to the sport at age seven.“I just grew to love it,” recalls the Ashbury College grad

who was involved in soccer, cross-country running, cross-coun-try skiing and triathlons before turning his primary focus towater polo when he was 15. “That’s when I started to travel inthe summers, and play some international games, so that’s whenit got really serious for me.”

A member of numerous youth and junior national teams,Conway was a part of the first-ever Canadian gold medal-win-ning team at the Junior Pan American Championships in 2010and transitioned rapidly into a starting role on the senior squadafter moving to their full-time training centre in Calgary.

Now he hopes to conquer an even greater mountain – the2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England.

“We’ve already had a couple chances (to qualify) that we’vemissed out on,” notes Conway, whose team fell to the U.S. 7-3in the Pan Am Games gold medal final this past fall. “So this isour last chance.”

Canada will face each of their pool opponents – Venezuela,Turkey, Spain, Brazil and Argentina – on consecutive days asthey vie for all-important seeding for the quarter-final roundagainst the other group of Montenegro, Germany, Greece, FYRof Macedonia, Romania and Netherlands.

With four spots available, the semi-finalists will advance tothe Olympics. Securing a 2012 Olympic Games berth at a homeevent would not only be a triumph for Conway and his team-mates, it would also be a victory for the water polo communityin Canada.

“Water polo is becoming more popular, partly due to thefact that we’re advancing and we’re growing and we’re be-coming a force to be reckoned with,” Conway adds. “I thinkthat if we were to medal (at the Olympics), that would be hugefor our sport.”

By Emily Panetta

BE PART OF IT!

WWW.OTTAWAFURY.COM

Five Ottawa Fury Youth Development Academy players will be heading south this fall to begin the collegiate careers as Maddie Allen, Brianna Boutziouvis (right), Marissa Duguay, Taylor Piovesan (left) and Lauren Hughes (center) have all landed scholarships to play in the NCAA. All fi ve players were members of the Ottawa Fury U17 Girls that captured the Super Y-League North American Championship in 2010. That championship winning team has seen its entire roster earn scholarships split between the NCAA and Canadian College and Universities. Head coach Jimmy Zito says “they are all deserving because of the work they’ve put into receiving these scholarships.” Since the Fury began its Youth Academy back in 2003 some 80 players have received scholarships to NCAA schools with over 100 players playing at the varsity level for Canadian colleges and universities.

See More Success Stories at OTTAWAFURY.COM

Facebook OttawaFurySC

Twitter @OttawaFurySC

YouTube OttawaFuryTV

STAY CONNECTEDWITH THE FURY!

ON MARCH 15th, the Ottawa Fury are inviting Ottawa’s best house league and competitive players to a half day Player Evaluation

Showcase. Offered FREE OF CHARGE TO ALL PARTICIPANTS, the Fury are seeking the top U9-U12 Boys and the top U11-U13 Girls.

For More Information or to Register visit OTTAWAFURY.COM

THE NEXT STEPF iv e Ott aw a Fu ryYouthT HE N EX T ST EP

FURYNEWS

Team Canada starter John Conway of Ottawa isafter one of four available Olympic berths at thelast-chance qualifier April 1-8 in Edmonton.

FILE PHOTO

Erika Seltenreich-Hodgsonwill aim foran Olympicberth in the200 m IM.

PHOTO: DAN PLOUFFE

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It's back on track for Jon Dunkerley.Community support, the offer of free legal work,

and a healed ankle mean that the 2008 Paralympicrunner who is blind is now able to focus his atten-tion on the major athletic task ahead of him – quali-fying for the London Paralympics this summer.

This is many steps forward from the stateDunkerley was in last month. As detailed in the Feb-ruary edition of the Ottawa Sportspage and subse-quently in other media outlets such as the OttawaCitizen and MacLean’s, Dunkerley, is being sued forover $350,000 for injuries caused by a collision withanother runner, Mimi Lepage, on Jan. 24, 2010.

Running in the same direction as Dunkerley anda group of eight other runners along the Rideau Canalpathway, Lepage was accidentally knocked down byDunkerley and Stevenson as they were the last onesto attempt to pass her. Dunkerley’s brother, Jason, hisguide, Jamie Stevenson, several other runners whowere part of their group, and the Ottawa Lions Track-and-Field Club are also named in the lawsuit.

“We now have a lawyer from Toronto,” notesDunkerley. “He is going to be representing Jason andI pro bono.”

Lawyer Edward Babin made his offer to theDunkerley brothers through a connection with WonWith One, an organization that provides guides fortriathletes with visual impairments.

LLAAWWSSUUIITT TTOO DDIISSSSUUAADDEE GGUUIIDDEE RRUUNNNNEERRSS??

The relief is obvious in Dunkerley's voice as hetalks about the support he has received from localrunners. One of the most vocal is Running Room re-

gional manager Phil Marsh, who has promised to or-ganize a fundraiser should the brothers need it.

Marsh is particularly concerned about thebroader implications of the lawsuit for guide runners.

“As a guide for the past 25 years, this sends a chillthrough me because the freedom to run and walk ispart of what blindness takes from amazing folks likeJay and Jon,” adds Marsh, who helped raise $20,000for the Kanata cyclists who were hit by a car a fewyears ago. “To suddenly have guides fearing litiga-tion would make it so difficult to help them.”

With an ankle injury that kept him off the tracka month ago now healed, Dunkerley is back tospending his days training. With a May Paralympicqualifier on the horizon, Dunkerley has his eye on a4x100-metre relay position, as well as an improve-ment on his 400 m seventh-place finish in Beijing.

JON DUNKERLEYJON DUNKERLEYand guide dog Lars.

FIILE PHOTO

Running community rallies around Dunkerley in lawsuitBy Anne Duggan

Skaters make tracks – long & short

Gymnasts inch closer to provincialsMacKenzie Lewis and Sophie Paquin already shared

many things in common – they are in the same Grade 6class at Arc-en-ciel elementary school and they are bothTumblers gymnasts in Orleans – and after their recentprovincial championships qualifier, they can add one morething to that list.

Both athletes attained some personal-best scores enroute to all-around titles in their respective Level 5 Age 11and Level 7 Age 11 categories in Alliston, Ont.

“We’re good friends,” notes Paquin, who felt veryproud of her total score. “And we spend an awful lot oftime together.”

On top of the full day at school, the pair are togetherfor 18 hours a week training with the Tumblers

“It’s not hard to keep going, although it can get tiringby the end,” describes Lewis. “Your muscles are sore, butyou start to get used to it.”

The competition was Lewis’ first after returning froma foot injury that required physiotherapy.

“I was really surprised at what happened because ofmy foot,” adds Lewis, who was also taken aback to learnshe was first all-around. “I felt so happy when they said myname. I was pretty shocked.”

Several other Tumblers also positioned themselves tomove on in the top-32 places as determined by standingsfrom athletes attending meets province-wide.

Around 75-80% of Ottawa Gymnastics Centre com-petitive team members should earn berths for the April 19-22 provincials set for Ottawa. Before many athletes headedoff to a meet at Disney World, they posted some impres-sive results on their own at a Pickering qualifier.

Sofia Baggio, in Level 8 Age 10/11, and Bella St.George, in Level 9 Age 14+, both topped the all-aroundstandings in their categories for the second time this year.

Adrianka Forrest earned gold in every event to leaveno mystery about who the all-around winner would be inthe Level 7 Age 10/11 category, while Meaghan Smithtopped the Level 8 Age 12/13 all-around competition.

OGC coach Tobie Gorman is particularly enthusias-tic that her girls will get to compete at provincials locally.

“I can’t even remember when the last time champi-onships was held in Ottawa,” adds the veteran coach.

“This is a real treat as we get to stay home, sleep in ourown beds and not have to travel. Friends and family thatnormally cannot attend now have the opportunity to cheeron their OGC athlete and support the club.”

That’s an especially bright prospect for the youngOlympia Gymnastics club located between Kanata andStittsville as all three of their athletes – Sara Miller,Meghan Heer and Emily Urbisci – are poised to claimprovincial qualifying positions.

“For a club our size and only in its fourth year of hav-ing a competitive program, it is a great result,” saysOlympia coach Nausikaa Muresan.

Jamie LeFort, Manisha Blasketvich, Anna Meech andDianna McAllister are some of the top medal threats fromthe provincial host Nepean Corona club, while Les Sit-telles are also poised to send a sizeable group to the event.

“Having the provincials hosted locally was an addedincentive this year,” Muresan adds, echoing the sentimentsof many Ottawa clubs. “At the start of the season whileidentifying goals, we emphasized the idea of seizing theopportunity. What better chance for these girls as well asthe club to show families, friends and the community thatdedication, hard work and determination is possible foranyone – even girls from small clubs but with big dreams.”

Local speed skaters continued toreel in honours through February,two of the bigger ones go to Glouces-ter Concordes athletes Vincent DeHaître, Philippe Bergeron and Is-abelle Weidemann, who earned gold,silver and bronze medals respec-tively in individual distances at theCanadian junior long-track champi-onships in Saskatoon.

“All of them did extremelywell,” notes coach Mike Rivet, not-ing the Ottawa long-trackers wereparticularly handicapped because theoutdoor natural oval at Brewer Parkhas rarely been useable this winter.“It’s been a real challenge. Mothernature has not been very good to us.”

Out of necessity, local skatershave taken to driving to the nearestrefrigerated oval in Lake Placid, NYto skate for four hours and thendrive back home in the same day.

“We haven’t had a lot of time on

ice,” says Weidemann, who earnedher national medal in the 3,000 me-tres. “My season’s gone pretty well.I’ve had a few good PBs and I did alot better than I did last year.”

Looking back, De Haître regretsnot finishing his final 5,000 m race atjunior nationals because he wouldhave been close to making Canada’sjunior world championships team,but he was pleased to beat some whodid qualify in a few races.

“It was like, ‘I’m not far off –

I’m coming,’” explains De Haître,also a Team Canada track cyclingmember who will compete in April’sPan Am junior championships inGuatemala. “I’ve got one more year,and I will definitely prepare myselfwell for that. Next year I’ll be in Calgary.”

Concordes athlete Max Morrisput his name in the record books byerasing a 23-year-old provincial1,000 m benchmark at the Ontarioshort-track championships.

Tumblers gymnast So-phie Paquin topped theLevel 7 Age 11 all-aroundstandings at a provincialqualifier in February. PHOTO PROVIDED

By Dan Plouffe

The Gloucester Concordeshosted an eastern Ontario abilitymeet on March 3 in Orleans asyoung speed skaters practicedtheir trade to prepare for biggerraces in their futures. PHOTO:

DAN PLOUFFE

By Dan Plouffe

Ottawa natives Jamie and Adam Cuttswere beat up on the whitewater by the endof last summer, but the C-2 canoe pair arehoping living through that tough experi-ence in the 2011 season will now pay offwhen they compete in the March 9-11 PanAmerican Olympic qualifier in Brazil.

Their 38th-place finish at last year’sworld championships was disappointingafter training for months in advance on thetough course in Bratislava, Slovakia.

“It’s definitely the biggest, most pow-erful whitewater course we’ve been on sofar,” recalls Adam. “I think by the timeworlds came, we were both worn out phys-

ically and emotionally from the training.”The 20- and 25-year-old brothers

(Jamie being the eldest) largely paid theirown way to compete in some of the world’sbiggest whitewater races – no small ex-pense simply for transportation, let alonelodging and meals.

“It sounds great, but especially in East-ern Europe, it gets to be a little tiring,” ex-plains Jamie, who loved visiting theLondon Olympic venue for training, al-though his food review is not quite as good.“London was actually the worst. A lot ofthe restaurants were greasy fish and chipstypes of places.”

On top of poor food, Adam says thereare times when “you’re sick of being on the

road, and sick of your brother.”“I think we get along pretty well, all

things considered,” adds Jamie adds, whobelieves that competing as a sibling teamcan be easier since there is the guaranteethey’ll be honest with one another. “At theend of the day, we’re brothers and we getback to being pretty friendly no matterwhat happens.”

But through all the struggles, the Cuttskeep at it because of their drive to reach tothe top in their sport.

“Some of our coaches have told us thatafter a long trip like last summer that youmight not see the results right away, but Ithink the whole trip itself was a pretty coolexperience to get that long exposure to the

top level paddlers,”Adam maintains.

The U.S. boatwill be the Cutts’top challenger forthe lone Olympicberth up for grabs.The Nepean HighSchool grads areranked slightly be-hind the Americans,but beat them ear-lier this year in adual race on U.S.water.

“It’s alwaysbeen at the back of

our minds that it’s possible for us to makethe Olympics,” Jamie says.

“It’s exciting,” Adam adds. “Regard-less of where we are in the world, we’restill the top Canadian boat in our field andwe’re right up there with the Americans, so

that keeps us motivated.”Other Ottawa River Runners compet-

ing for Olympic berths include John Hast-ings in K-1 men, Cameron Smedley andJulian Potvin-Bernal in C-1 men, and TheaFroelich and Sarah Bowdens in K-1 women.

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Cutts brothers take final shot at 2012 OlympicsBy Dan Plouffe

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Between Kanata & Stittsville at 44 Iber Rd.661133--883366--99114499 -- wwwwww..oollyymmppiiaaggyymmnnaassttiiccss..ccaa

Jamie and Adam Cutts are after the singleOlympic berth available for the Pan American re-gion at their Olympic qualifier March 9-11 in Brazil.

PHOTO PROVIDED

An ever-increasing amount of Ottawaplayers are now going on to compete inuniversity or college soccer, and if everthere was evidence of the rising interest inOttawa talent, it was the number of re-cruiters willing to make the trip up to thenation’s capital in the middle of winter forlocal showcase events.

Organized in conjunction with Louis-Riel high school, Parmar Sports Training’sEastern Canadian Showcase brought over60 mostly high school-aged boys from Ot-tawa, Gatineau and Halifax to the Louis-Riel Dome in February.

“Anything we can do to help soccer inthe region, in the province, in the country,we love to do it,” notes Louis-Riel soccer

coach Joé Fournier, who welcomed theMontreal Impact for the two-day event.“Their scout was really impressed with thepool of talent from Ottawa. It’s great for theregion.”

On top of soccer workouts, there werealso sessions on various topics includingwhat it takes to be a pro, inspirational sto-ries, and how to get scholarships – the mostimportant message from that one being thatit’s not all about what you do on the pitch.

“When you go to university, you needthe marks to get in,” highlights Fournier,who will hold another event for girls laterthis spring. “They won’t even look at you,even if you’re the greatest player.”

On top of full games and 4-on-4 play,the showcase tested players’ physical abil-ities such as vertical jumps and 20- and 40-yard sprints and then printed out the statsfor coaches.

Former U.S. national team captainDavid D’Errico acted as technical director

for the combine while also showingoff some cutting-edge technology. Hiscompany developed tactical softwarethat allows users to take video of play-ers, share it around the world, andcompare movements to the games’greats.

“How do players here compare toplayers across the world?” D’Erricosays, noting that they may be the bestplayers in Ottawa, but if they areplaced on the same screen as young-sters from across the planet, they maystill be a step behind. “Now we cansay this is what we want from play-ers.”

MMOORREE EEYYEESS OONN OOTTTTAAWWAA

Ottawa South United held a sim-ilar event for over 120 boys and girlsat the Coliseum Soccer Dome aroundFamily Day – a key event to help highschool players develop relationships

with collegecoaches, sayslead organizerCraig Stead.

“When theytravel to these( o u t - o f - t o w nevents, thecoaches are onthe sidelines, butthere’s no interac-tion between thecollege coach andour players,”notes Stead, ex-plaining playersget a better feelfor whether theyfit with a coach’sstyle at a combine. “Itis a fantastic opportu-nity for them to startthat relationship andbe comfortable in thepressure environmentand understand whatit’s going to take as astudent-athlete at uni-versity or college.”

HHEEAADDEEDD TTOO RRIICCEE

The graduatingOttawa soccer playerwho may have landedthe region’s most im-pressive scholarship isLauren Hughes, who’sheaded to Rice Uni-

versity. First seen by Rice’s coach at the2010 Super-Y League finals in Florida,Hughes catapulted to the forefront whenshe led the tournament in scoring andhelped her Ottawa Fury to its historic firstUnited Soccer Leagues title.

After speaking to the coach and findingout it’s a good academic school – rankedtop-20 in the U.S., Hughes notes – the St.Peter Catholic High School student choseto become a Rice Owl.

“In Houston, it’s so nice. There’s nosnow. It’s awesome,” Hughes smiles.“Even the buildings are so different be-cause they don’t have to be built for thecold. There’s trees everywhere and theyhave hammocks on campus outside.”

Hughes is also looking forward to the“Harry Potter-style” residential college sys-

tem, although she continues to debate whatshe’ll study – psychology, sociology, for-eign affairs, law and justice are all possi-bilities, as is a double-major.

Short term, Hughes is looking forwardto her final high school soccer season in thespring at St. Peter – where she is a studentcouncil co-president – and training along-side university-age players with the FuryW-League squad before heading off toTexas in August.

“When you actually sign your nationalletter of intent, it’s like, ‘Wow, this is set,’”recalls Hughes, who is anxious for herNCAA career to begin five months fromnow. “It’s kind of like you’ve been workingfor this since you were very young and fi-nally you get to see the results. It’s reallyexciting.”

COMMUNITY CLUBSShowcases reflect rise in local talent

By Dan Plouffe

PHOTO: DAN PLOUFFE

Players listen attentively to a Halifax coach’s tale of beating cancer and playing pro soccer.

Lauren Hughes won a Super-Y League titleunder Jimmy Zito with the Ottawa Fury.

Ottawa SouthUnited welcomedover 120 boys’and girls’ playersto the ColiseumSoccer Dome lastmonth for a

Showcase event that allowed them to be seen byscouts from many top colleges and universitiesacross North America, along with the MLS Van-couver Whitecaps. OSU invited targeted schoolsthat have strong academic programs as well ascompetitive soccer programs to come to Ottawaand have a look at local talent.

“In the past, a lot of players have traveled to theU.S. for similar events, so the biggest thing for usis to bring the coaches to us so our kids get ex-posed in their backyard and it doesn’t cost them anarm and a leg,” explains Craig Stead, a ForceAcademy coach and organizer of the Showcase.

Another major advantage of hosting the eventinstead of traveling to one is that it creates an inti-mate setting where players and parents can beginto build a relationship with coaches, as opposed tobeing at arm’s length when watching a game.

OSU also held three seminars during the event.Run by Academy coach and former U.S. scholar-ship player Craig Stead, the first session outlinedwhat is involved in obtaining a scholarship. Thesecond was directed by the Whitecaps to shareopportunities available in their residency program.

“The fact that we have scouts here from Van-couver Whitecaps shows how far we’ve come injust a few years,” highlights OSU President, BillMichalopulos.

And the final seminar about what it takes to bea university player was led by Mel Mahler, thehead coach at NCAA Div. 1 St. Bonaventure Uni-versity near Buffalo.

“We’re not just looking for good players, we’relooking for good kids,” says Mahler, noting that

he’s after good students who work diligently to-wards their degree, who possess a blue collarwork ethic on the field, and who are good citizens.

And as he put the Showcase attendees throughthe same drills as his university athletes, Mahlerwas also on the lookout for players who listen, un-derstand and execute, and demonstrate athleti-cism, strength, stamina and quickness.

With several players from the nation’s capitaldressing for his Bonnies in recent years – includ-ing Force Academy grad Adam Scott, currently asenior – Mahler was eager to discover the nextgeneration of Ottawa talent from the participatingU14-U17 age groups.

“You keep going back to where you have suc-cess and I’ve had absolutely wonderful experi-ences with the kids I’ve had,” notes Mahler, whosaluted OSU for their development programs. “Wefirst noticed OSU in 2008 at the Disney CollegeShowcase and every year I make it a point toscout their games when I’m at the Showcase.They provide a very competitive environment forkids to grow not just as players, but as people. Andthat’s the most important thing.”

Over 20 OSU players moved on to the nextlevel in 2011 alone. OSU will host a similar eventprior to the Aug. 3-6 Showcase of ChampionsTournament in Ottawa, presented in partnershipwith the Dallas Texans Soccer Club and Nike.

Visit forceacademy.ca for more information.

The Force Academy ZoneUniversity & Pro Scouts atUniversity & Pro Scouts atOSU Force Academy CombineOSU Force Academy Combine

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FILE PHOTO

EDITORIAL

902 Pinecrest Rd. Ottawa, K2B 6B3

Dan Plouffe Editor613-261-5838 Editor@SportsOttawa.com

Larry RingDirector of Business Development613-293-1730Larry@SportsOttawa.com

The Ottawa Sportspage is printed the firstTuesday of every month by OttawaSports Media, the locally-owned and op-erated publishers of SportsOttawa.comand the Ottawa Sportspage.

Name: Marial ShayokSport: BasketballClub: Ottawa GuardsmenSchool: St. Patrick’s CHSGrade: 11About: Marial Shayok came up big

in his team's biggest game, scoring 22points in his St. Patrick's Irish's nail-bitervictory over the St. Peter Knights to ad-vance to the OFSAA 'AAAA' basketballchampionships March 5-7 in Ottawa.

Name: Alexandra JoySport: Nordic Skiing/PaddlingClub: Rideau Canoe ClubSchool: Brookfield HSGrade: 12About: A multi-sport star, canoe-

kayak world junior competitor AlexandraJoy plans to pass up a volleyball scholar-ship offer to stay in Ottawa and train withher home Rideau Canoe club next year.Joy also won an OFSAA nordic skiinggold in her last year of high school.

SPORTSOTTAWA.COM FEBRUARY STARS OF THE WEEK

CCRROOSSSSWWOORRDD:: IINN WWHHIICCHH SSPPOORRTT WWIILLLL YYOOUU FFIINNDD TTHHEESSEE TTEERRMMSS??

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Crossword puzzleby Cheryl Walker

Visit SportsOttawa.com

and click on Ottawa Sportspageto find answer key.

He says one characteristic his squaddisplays constantly is that they stick to-gether when times are tough – perhaps alesson they’ve learned in their upbringing.

“When they go back home, they’re theparent. They are the ones making deci-sions,” says Cadieux, who is assisted byformer Carleton Raven Jean-EmmanuelJean-Marie. “A lot of them are from singlemom families, so they’re the eldest brothertaking care of younger kids.

“It’s a lot of responsibility, and the factthat they do this through all their strugglesis quite impressive.”

SSPPOORRTT CCAANN OOPPEENN DDOOOORRSS

With several graduates from lastyear’s Deslauriers team now at universityand college prep schools in different partsof the world, it’s an example of the type ofpaths basketball can lead to, which pro-vides an incentive for students to succeed

in the classroom, Cadieux mentions.Basketball dreams are also a source of

academic motivation for many on Jean-Guy Morin’s ‘AAA/AAAA’ city finalistLouis-Riel Rebelles – who were also com-peting in Ottawa, seeded 15th – as numer-ous players have taken on part-time jobsso they can save up for post-secondarystudies next year.

Louis-Riel also faces a bit of a differ-ent reality than some others in the city,notes Morin, who was taken aback to learnthat a west-end school asks its athletes topay $1,500 a year to play.

“I said, ‘How can you do that? Myguys can’t pay 200,’” Morin recalls. “Allmy kids come from modest neighbour-hoods. Half the team have one parent withthree or four kids. They don’t have themoney.”

But succeeding with a group that hasthe deck somewhat stacked against it andthat needs to work a bit harder makes it thatmuch more special when they achievetheir goals.

“You really develop a bond with thosekids,” Morin explains. “I’m extremelyproud of this group.”

TTIIGGEERRSS RROOAARR BBAACCKK TTOO OOFFSSAAAA

For the ‘AA’-champion St. MatthewTigers, their city final victory had a com-munity theme to it too as the Orleansschool wrote another chapter in its proudbasketball tradition by overcoming the re-silient Immaculata Saints.

“Since Grade 7 I’ve been wanting togo to OFSAA so badly,” says Tigers leaderMack Wakefield, who was denied a trip toprovincials last season and was on the jun-ior team when his team won ‘AAA’OFSAA at home. “In my final year, it’s

perfect and it was clutch that we got there.”St. Matt’s win also had a bit of a foot-

ball feel to it, as four of their five starterscan be found on the gridiron in the fall.Ben Rozman knocked down many keythree-pointers in the final, and Mike Blackdisplayed the same effortless agility andathleticism on the court that makes him astar receiver.

“Mike was on fire. Those pull-ups – Idon’t know where they came from, but Iwas pretty happy to see them,” says Tigerscoach Jason Wren, whose squad wasseeded 12th of 18 in St. Catharines. “Ben’sbeen injured and I’ve been telling him not toshoot for three weeks. I’m glad he didn’tlisten to me.

“I’m ecstatic.”Seeded 14th at OFSAA, ‘AAA/AAAA’

semi-finalist Earl of March represents Ot-tawa at the ‘AAA’ finals in Windsor.

TRUE CHAMPS continued from front page

Name: Sabrina RoySport: VolleyballClub: Maverick Volleyball ClubSchool: ESP Gisèle-LalondeGrade: 11About: A key member of Gisèle-

Lalonde's defending OFSAA-championsenior girls' volleyball team, Sabrina Roylists last year's title as her favourite vol-leyball moment. She’ll be after a repeat atthe March 5-7 'AA' provincials.

PHOTOS: DAN PLOUFFE

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HIGH SCHOOLS

Both in Grade 10, Quinlan Walker andTheresa El-Lati are two of the youngercompetitors heading to the OFSAA

wrestling championships, but there’s nodoubt the national capital gold medalistshave found a love for their sport that anyothers would be hard-pressed to match.

El-Lati started wrestling in Grade 8 atSamuel-Genest andsoon enough shetransformed from akid without much in-terest in, well, any-thing, into adedicated high-per-formance athlete.

“I wanted to dosomething with mylife, to be honest,” re-

counts El-Lati, who had a relatively easytime winning the 58-kilogram division atthe city finals in February. “I was 14 yearsold and I didn’t really have anything in mylife to do, and I didn’t exercise much be-cause I was asthmatic before and theywouldn’t let me.

“I never really had anything in my lifethat I loved a lot. Now it’s my passion. I re-ally love wrestling.”

Samuel-Genest and Tsunami Academyclub coach Derek Kossatz calls El-Lati his“biggest success story” because of thechange the sport brought to his athlete.

“I trained, I lost weight, I got stronger,and that was the year I pulled off a lot ofthings that no one expected me to,” notesthe fourth-place finisher from last year’scadet national championships who alsoloves the team bond that exists in the sport.“It’s a good feeling to know you kind ofprove people wrong.”

For Walker, his love for the sport wasalso instantaneous, although that’s hard tobelieve considering the first time he was onthe mats he separated his shoulder.

“I wasn’t the best at it at first, but I stillgot that thrill of fighting with a single personand deciding who’s better,” explains theCanterbury High School student. “I’venever shied away from a challenge, and get-ting hurt just challenged me more.”

Walker has achieved some standout re-sults recently, including a club provincialtitle with his National Capital WrestlingClub. And he wound up in a terrific strugglewith NCWC teammate Mohamed Zeined-dine, a Grade 12 student at St. Patrick’s, inthe 77 kg high school city final.

“We’d never actually wrestled full-out,”highlights Walker, who trains with Zeined-dine at least twice a week and embraced hisclubmate after earning a narrow victory. “Itwas pure excitement to win. It’s unbeliev-able. I’m so happy.”

The star attraction of the national capitalchampionships was El-Lati’s Samuel-Gen-est teammate Alejandra Paguaga. The city fi-nals provided another venue for thedefending OFSAA champion to toss aroundopponents like ragdolls as she easily won thegirls’ 54 kg division. Coming off a fifth-placecadet world championships finish, the March5-7 OFSAA provincials in Peterborough aredefinitely the Grade 11 student’s to lose.South Carleton were the overall team cham-pions at the Feb. 22 event at St. Pat’s, fol-lowed by Brookfield and Lester B. Pearson.

Grade 10s matchup well against older wrestlersBy Dan Plouffe

There’s no denying the trend when it happensyear after year, and this season when the first fourchoices of OFSAA berths went to Gisèle-Lalondeand Samuel-Genest (‘AA’), and De La Salle andLouis-Riel (‘AAA’), it became even more clearthat French schools rule when it comes to girls’volleyball in the city.

It doesn’t boil down to a French vs Englishthing at all in the view of those involved, it’s morethat the climate exists for continued success at theschools that happen to be French.

“There’s very good coaches at all thoseschools,” notes Marcel Martin, who leads the de-fending-champion Gisèle-Lalonde into OFSAAas favourites. “We all have a background that canmake the girls try to play their best, and we’re allvery dedicated.”

It also helps that with senior schools that runfrom Grade 7-12, players can play together on ascholastic team for two more years before hittinghigh school age.

“That makes a big difference,” says Samuel-Genest’s Eric Germain, who has twice-a-weekpractices with his Grade 7 girls. “I also think it’sa bit of a culture thing. At the French schools, wereally push volleyball and we don’t push basket-ball as much. If you look at city finals, in bas-ketball, it’s mostly English schools, and if youlook at volleyball, it’s mostly French schools.”

Louis-Riel coach François St-Denis explainsthat volleyball can be a good sport for schoolswith smaller student populations because teamsdon’t require many more than six players, unlikesome other sports.

“Right now the quality of female volleyball

in Ottawa is amazing,” St-Denis adds. “Everyleague game is close. That says a lot about theteams and the excellent programs, and it preparesthe girls really well for tough teams at OFSAA.They don’t panic if they’re in a bit of a tight spotbecause they’re used to it.”

SSPPOORRTTSS--ÉÉTTUUDDEESS FFUUEELLSS EEXXCCEELLLLEENNCCEE

De La Salle’s Yan Leroux believes that thesports-études programs at Louis-Riel and Franco-Cité have pushed everyone to reach for higherlevels, including his squad that begins practicingin the spring for the next winter’s season.

“It’s a religion at our school,” smiles Leroux,who leads the program with his brother, Yves.“And we’re crazy coaches. We love that sport.It’s a passion.”

And the last piece of the puzzle to the Frenchschools’ success, they say, is that the Maverick

Volleyball Club is largely based in the east end,where there is a greater Francophone population.

“I guess they help a lot with their develop-ment,” says Louis-Riel player KarinaCzechowski, who simply loves the social dy-namic volleyball provides. “In a team, you justmeet so many great people. I’ve made so manyfriends and I just keep playing with them.”

With Glebe claiming a ‘AAAA’ play-inberth over Franco-Cité, the national capital willhave strong chances of top finishes at all theOFSAA provincial finals.

“The biggest sport at our school is volley-ball. We’ve had good teams since the opening ofthe school,” notes Gisèle-Lalonde player SabrinaRoy, whose squad lost just one player from itsOntario-champion team from last year. “It’sgoing to be a good year, I have a feeling.”

Visit SportsOttawa.com for updates.

French schools dominate girls" volleyball league Thomas Duffy1996-2012

Lisgar's Ben Wilkinson-Zan won thesenior boys' race and Glebe's ColinFoley took silver, while five other na-tional capital athletes cracked the top-10.

Brookfield's Alexandra Joy earned thesenior girls' title, while Earl of March'sKiera Niemi took the junior girls' title,followed by Nepean's Phoebe Berkerley,whose provincial silver medal perform-ance to match her city result was em-blematic of the national capitalassociation's dominance.

The Nepean team of Ben Taylor, Jor-dan McTaggart, Chris Weller and

Patrick van Walraven earned redemptionagainst Huntsville by winning the seniorboys' relay on their home course aftertheir rivals turned the trick in Ottawa lastyear.

Colonel By won junior girls' relaybronze as did the Glebe junior boys.Glebe finished third in both junior andsenior combined standings.

NC rules OFSAA nordic

Up-and-coming Ottawa freestyle skiing star Thomas Duffy waskilled in a car accident on Feb. 22. The 16-year-old Gisèle-Lalondehigh school student and his father, David, were traveling to a provin-cials course in Barrie when their van struck another head-on nearPerth on Hwy. 7.

Thomas, named the city's top freestyle skier for 2011 at the Ot-tawa Sports Awards banquet less than a month earlier, began skiingwhen he was 21 months old and was last year's Ontario junior mogulschampion. David was president and coach of Camp Fortune'sfreestyle team. He was 47.

Samuel-Genest’s Theresa El-Lati is a young athlete hoping to make somenoise in her Grade 10 season at the OFSAA wrestling championships.

The De La Salle Cavalierswere one of four Frenchschools to earn the mosthighly-coveted OFSAAberths to the ‘AA’ and‘AAA’ championships.

PHOTO: DAN PLOUFFE

By Dan Plouffe

A provincial club cham-pion with the NationalCapital Wrestling Club,Grade 10 Canterbury stu-dent Quinlan Walker isnow after an OFSAA highschool title.

PHOTO: DAN PLOUFFE

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“Knees! Knees!” The previously sedate crowd shouted

as Matar Lo and Ben Dupuis held eachother in the clinch. Seconds later, Dupuiswas sent face-first into the mat by a headkick and a flurry of punches by Lo. Thefighter from the Ottawa Academy of Mar-tial Arts earned a TKO as the fight wasstopped.

The enthusiastic home crowd atThrowdown Gatineau was nearly deafen-ing as they stood and cheered for both menafter one of the most exciting bouts of thenight.

Even in normally mild-mannered Ot-tawa, the popular sport of Mixed MartialArts and its component styles are experi-encing explosive growth. Nowhere was thetransformation more evident than at theCasino du Lac-Leamy on Feb. 25. Organ-izers built a boxing ring in the centre of anelegant ballroom normally reserved forwedding receptions and conventions.

The event featured amateur Muay Thaifighters from across Ottawa matched upagainst out-of-town opponents on a 14-fight card that attracted a crowd of nearly800.

“The fact that it’s such a good turnoutis great, because you didn’t have that in [theOttawa area] for a while,” said enthusedOAMA product Corrine Nehme. “It’s re-ally nice to see that people are encouragingthe sport and that it’s going to keep ongoing.”

Nehme celebrated her second win overToronto’s Tiffany Cass at Throwdown.

“I expected her to come out with a bitmore, just because she’s the one who askedfor the rematch,” Nehme described.

The OAMA fighter was the aggressorthroughout. After bloodying Cass’s nose inthe second round, she teed up a number ofstraight lefts in the third on her way to aunanimous decision.

“That was my game plan. You getpoints for ring generalship,” explainedNehme, who is headed to Thailand to trainfor five-and-a-half weeks and may look toturn pro next year.

Cass said she found fighting in the ring

in front of so many fans quite a bit differentthan training.

“The adrenaline really screws withyour head a bit. Sometimes the game plangoes out the window, noted the Krudar ath-lete who nonetheless enjoyed her time inthe ring. “There’s nothing else like it. It’s areally big rush.”

It’s that excitement, combined with thefamily atmosphere at the gym, that hasmany athletes pursuing Muay Thai andother martial arts like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

“Everyone really helps you out, and ifyou slack off, they yell at you,” laughed

O A M A ’ sRegan Gow-ing, a formerkickboxer.

For manyof the ath-

letes, Muay Thaibecomes a defining part of their life. Gow-ing tries to be at the gym five days a week.That kind of dedication is typical.

“They’re in my classes every day,” af-firmed instructor (Kru) Devin Henry, him-self a Muay Thai champion and MMAcompetitor. “I see them do what I tell them.I see the fire, the animal in their eyes. Theycome in here and they work hard, and I’mso happy.”

Although OAMA fighters dominatedthe event, winning eight of their 12 boutsand drawing one, several acknowledgedhard work ahead.

“It felt good to win, but I could havedone better,” Frank Koffii said.

His split decision victory over N-1’sJoel Cunningham came as a surprise, andhe was disappointed in his second-everfight.

“You have to get used to it,” theOAMA heavyweight winced, referring toperforming in front of so many fans. “It’sdifferent – more nerves, more pressure. Ineed to get the jitters out.”

Throwdown promoter Nick Castigliasaid the goal is to get local amateurs out infront of a supportive and enthusiasticcrowd.

“To put on a good show – it’s every-thing,” Castiglia added. “So many of thefights were exciting. You saw the heart ofsome of the fighters, and that’s what makesthe biggest difference. That’s what madethe most of the fights.”

It was a performance the Gee-Gees would want tobottle up and throw at any of their opponents at the eastregional tournament March 9-10 in Ottawa and theCanadian Interuniversity Sport women’s basketball na-tional championships March 17-19 in Calgary.

“That’s exactly what we need – five more of themlike this one,” smiled University of Ottawa head coachAndy Sparks, whose squad could do no wrong in an89-40 Ontario University Athletics final against theWindsor Lancers that bordered on perfection. “Our firstgoal was to get there, and our second goal was to dosomething special, so we’ll see what happens.”

The Gee-Gees won the opening tip-off to KellieRing, who dashed to the bucket and made the openingstatement with a score under 10 seconds in. The OUAEast rookie of the year continued her dominancethroughout the match and earned player of the gamehonours thanks to a team-high 14 points, matched byfellow Ottawa native Jenna Gilbert, who went 4-for-5from three-point land in the first half as the Gee-Geesbuilt a 46-16 halftime lead. It was a display that demon-strated the extensive arsenal of weapons U of O car-ries, as Ottawa’s Bess Lennox scored 13, while Teddi

Firmi and Tatiana Hanlan also hit double-digits.“I feel blessed to play with such a great group of

players,” said Ring, who won her fourth consecutiveprovincial crown after three OFSAA high school titleswith the Louis-Riel Rebelles. “It’s so awesome.”

The player who waited longest for an OUA titlewith the Gee-Gees was fifth-year centre Hannah Sun-

ley-Paisley, who grabbed 11 points but was only 2-for-8 shooting.

“This is the third time I played Windsor in theOUA finals and I lost by 30 in both other finals, so it’snice to almost make up that difference in this game,”chuckled Sunley-Paisley, noting her squad that wel-comed many new faces this season is still improving

and will probably never reach its full potential. “It’s so great to know that my team can just dom-

inate with me on the bench,” Sunley-Paisley added. “Idefinitely did not have my best game, and to beat thereigning national champions by 50, it makes me feellike we can go all the way.”

RRAAVVEENNSS && TTHHUUNNDDEERR OONN TTOOPP TTOOOO

Saturday, March 3 was a big day all-around for Ot-tawa basketball, as the Carleton Ravens won the OUAmen’s championship and the Algonquin Thunder cap-tured the Ontario colleges women’s crown.

The Ravens continued their dominant, undefeatedromp towards the CIS nationals March 9-11 in Halifaxwith an 82-39 drubbing of Ryerson, while the Thunderwon their second consecutive provincial title with a 62-57 double-overtime victory over Seneca to earn a tripto Lethbridge for the March 15-17 Canadian champi-onships, where they finished second last year.

UNIVERSITIES

GGs hint at potential for national prize in OUA win

Ottawa becoming a Muay Thai town

By Dan Plouffe

By Ian Ewing

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Carleton University students approved a $12.50 perterm hike in their athletic fees to build a $2-million,11,000 square-foot fitness centre with new equip-ment. Expected to be ready by spring 2013, the newfacility will be double the size of the current space.

Carleton to get new fitness centre

Experience wins for Beaver boxer

Ken Duck was the most senior competitor on a Fridaynight fight card on Feb. 24 at St. Anthony’s Hall, but thatdidn’t keep the 38-year-old Beaver Boxing Club memberfrom recording a victory by unanimous decision at theeight-match event that featured many local amateurs.

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PHOTO:IGOR MILASIN

OAMA’s Fred Stonehouse (right) knocked down Armin Eshtabi of Ronin MMA in the third round en route to a victory.

PHOTO: DAN PLOUFFE

Hannah Sunley-Paisley (centre)celebreated her first OUA title inher final year with the Gee-Gees.

Several months after their junior and senior foot-ball teams captured city championships in the sameseason, the St. Peter Knights were feted at City Hallduring a reception hosted by Cumberland Ward Coun-cillor Stephen Blais.

“Everyone had a really great time,” said Blais, aformer Orleans Bengals coach who got the idea for theevent while watching the finals in the fall. “The visionof the Stanley Cup going to the White House kind ofpopped into my head. I thought that would be prettycool if we could bring them to City Hall and get themayor to say a few words and recognize a substantialaccomplish for the program.”

Orleans resident Marcel Bellefeuille, a former

Gee-Gees and Hamilton Tiger-Cats head coach, gavea “fantastic” and “inspiring” speech to the group ofover 150.

Visit SportsOttawa.com for more.

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11

Ottawa native Callum Crawford suited up in theNational Lacrosse League all-star game on Feb. 25 inBuffalo.

The 27-year-old Minnesota Swarm player whoplayed for Gloucester growing up was tied for fourthin league scoring with 46 points in eight games.

Ottawa Orienteering Club athletes will occupyseven of 25 positions in the Canada’s high-perfor-mance program for 2012, as Alexander Bergstrom,Emily and Molly Kemp, Laura and Jeff Teutsch, JonTorrance and Robbie Anderson made the grade.

Some of Canada's top musicians including Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy will teamup for a charity hockey game against retired Ottawa Senators Brad Marsh, JasonYork and Shaun Van Allen on March 30 at the Nepean Sportsplex. The Juno Cupwill support MusiCounts, a Canadian music education charity.

One year before Ottawa hosts the world championships itself,Canada will face USA in a women’s hockey exhibition on March31 in the lead-up to the 2012 worlds in Burlington, VT.

Despite setting what was at the time a new women’s hockey at-tendance record during a 2010 exhibition match at ScotiabankPlace, the contest will take place at the smaller J. Benson CartageCentre at Lansdowne Park.

Ottawa native Stefanie McKeough, recently chosen as confer-ence defensive player of the year for her NCAA Wisconsin Badgers,was named to Canada’s selection camp roster. The 21-year-old de-fender dressed for Team Canada at November’s Four Nations Cup.

Ottawa’s Erica Howe, a Clarkson Golden Knight, was also ho-noured as her NCAA conference’s goalie of the year recently, while teammate Jamie Lee Rattray is a finalist forthe Patty Kazmaier Award as college hockey’s top player.

SPORTSPAGE SNAPSHOTSSSPPKK FFOOOOTTBBAALLLL HHOONNOOUURREEDD AATT CCIITTYY HHAALLLL

CCAANNAADDAA VVSS UUSSAA WWOOMMEENN’’SS HHOOCCKKEEYY EEXXHHIIBBIITTIIOONN

The Nepean Ravens downed host Whitby 5-4 to capturethe Belle U19 'AA' Ontario ringette championship, winningfive of their eight contests by one goal at the March 1-4 tour-nament. Jennifer Gabel scored the tournament-winning goal aspart of her 28 total points, while Lauren McGonigal registered16 goals to lead undefeated Nepean.

The U16 Ravens lost just once at the event, earning a per-fect record before falling to London 6-4 in their division final,while the Ottawa Ice claimed the U14 McCarthy crown with apair of playoff round upset victories.

West Ottawa will host the 'A' provincial championships lo-cally from March 15-18.

LLOOCCAALL TTEEAAMMSS SSHHIINNEE AATT ''AAAA'' RRIINNGGEETTTTEE PPRROOVVIINNCCIIAALLSS

TTAABBLLEE TTEENNNNIISS PPLLAAYYEERRSS EEAARRNN OOLLYYMMPPIICC QQUUAALLIIFFIIEERR BBEERRTTHHSSSixteen-year-old Hongtao Chen proved that a hiatus from his stud-

ies at Glebe Collegiate Institute was worthwhile as he claimed one ofCanada's berth in the continental Olympic qualifier at the Canadiantable tennis team trials last month in Markham.

Pierre-Luc Hinse, who also trains out of the national team's cen-tre in Ottawa, also earned a berth in April's qualifier, where three tick-ets to London will be available. Sara Yuen earned one of Canada'sspots on the women's side and will attempt to join Ottawa's Mo Zhang,who qualified for London thanks to her Pan Am Games gold medal.

OOTTTTAAWWAA’’SS CCRRAAWWFFOORRDD AANN NNLLLL AALLLL--SSTTAARR

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JJUUNNOO CCUUPP TTOO SSUUPPPPOORRTT MMUUSSIICC EEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN CCHHAARRIITTYY

“Canada needs to adopt a bold, brash effort to-wards the improved physical fitness of our children,”says Anne Merklinger, the newly appointed CEO ofOwn The Podium (OTP).

Merklinger was speaking at the March 2-3Where Sporting Excellence and Community Meetconference organized by Commonwealth GamesCanada at the RA Centre. Her message was clear –medals matter and OTP sees two routes to moremedals: an improvement in physical literacy and im-provement in alignment, or cooperation, betweensports organizations and the private sector.

“The lack of physical education in schools is ahuge problem,” she notes. “Only 10% of children aregetting enough physical activity.”

A retired well-known Canadian curler from Ot-tawa, Merklinger sees a clear trickle-down effectfrom Olympic medals.

“Our children need people to emulate and inspirethem,” adds the mother of two high-performance

swimmers. “Excellence in sport develops leaders andcivic pride. It is OK to want to be excellent.”

Merklinger was one of a number of prominentspeakers at the conference, which included CTV’sCarolyn Waldo, CBC’s Scott Russell, the Ottawa Cit-izen’s Martin Cleary, Canada’s Minister of State forSport Bal Gosal, and numerous other national andlocal sport administrators. The conference was at-tended by at least 100 participants from sports organ-izations across Canada.22002222 CCOOMMMMOONNWWEEAALLTTHH GGAAMMEESS IINN OOTTTTAAWWAA??

Commonwealth Games Canada CEO BrianMacPherson used the event to highlight that the or-ganization intends to bid for the right to host the 2022Commonwealth Games.

Still waiting for an agreement from the federalgovernment on funding, MacPherson says that Ot-tawa could be one of the sites considered for theGames.

“Ottawa would be a perfect fit,” adds the formerCanadian Paralympic Committee COO. “It has facil-ities but could use a few new facilities as part of theGames legacy.”

By Anne Duggan

Sport 4 Change web site launchWith an influential group of Canadian sport ad-

ministrators gathered, the Sports Matters Groupthink-tank used the Where Excellence and Commu-nity Sport Meet conference as a platform for the official launch of an intriguing new web site,Sport4Change.ca . The portal tells first-person storiesof how sport can have a positive impact on society.

“Whether they’re fighting poverty, helping new-comers integrate into Canada, or providing directionfor youth in crisis, this page is home to their stories,”the site outlines. “People, communities, even nationscan be changed forever – and for good – by sport.”

Own The Podium CEOAnne Merklinger.

PHOTO: DAN PLOUFFE

Imagine standing at the top of a mountain. You’reabout to fly down an icy track to the bottom of that hill atwell over 100 km/h. The possibility exists that you maynot make it down in one piece.

There are TV cameras, people lining both sides ofthe track screaming and yelling to encourage you. Yourip off your winter coat and stand in the freezing coldwearing just a skinsuit and your helmet. Your job is topush a sled as hard and as fast as you possibly can. Theall-out physical exertion will be for just over five seconds.

Imagine the energy your body feels.Former Ottawa Gee-Gees linebacker James Mc-

Naughton was used to adrenaline running high in his orig-inal sporting pursuit, but football couldn’t prepare him forwhat he experiences as a national team bobsledder.

“It’s not even comparable. Getting up to the line justbefore a race is the biggest rush I’ve ever had,” describesthe 24-year-old. “It’s friggin awesome. You get up topand everyone’s cheering for you. You’re right in the zone.You’re just trying to rip the push bar off the sled, go as fastas you can and hopefully get in.”

“It’s a little different from my track days,” concursCody Sorensen, a former OFSAA champion hurdler atGlebe Collegiate Institute. “When you’re running, youwant to be relaxed because the more tense you are, theslower you are. But in bobsleigh, you need to have thathype going to push that sled, otherwise it’s not movinganywhere. There’s four big guys with testosterone flow-ing, yelling and hitting each other.

“It definitely gets you going.”McNaughton and Sorensen are unique breeds –

they are Ottawa bobsledders. With no track closer than

Lake Placid to the nation’s capital, neither was exposedto the sport until they attended Bobsleigh Canada re-cruitment camps at York University. Suddenly after theirvarsity sport careers were complete, they had a new sportlike no other.

McNaughton is newer to the game than Sorensen,who now pushes for Canada’s top four-mar team piloted

by Lyndon Rush. Both competed at the Feb. 25-26 worldchampionships in Lake Placid, and there was one com-mon opinion they shared – neither liked the morningstarts. For McNaughton and his young Canada-2 crew,the early heats proved disastrous as they were disqualifiedfor being two pounds overweight after the first run.

“We just didn’t have the experience to know howmuch weight we’d lose,” recounts McNaughton, whosecrew was originally psyched up to achieve a 5.02 push-start – which would have been third-best – before thescales ruined the party. “We were doing fine in the nightraces because you have all day to be nervous, sweat and

lose weight and go to the washroom and eat less becauseyou’re stressed out, but we didn’t have that advantageand we didn’t factor it in and I guess it killed us.”

Sorensen’s Canada-1 crew gladly would have takentheir counterparts’ first heat start as they handicappedthemselves with a sub-par run that put them back in 11thplace. They reduced the gap to the podium and moved upin each of the three subsequent runs, but seventh was thebest they could muster following the harmful start.

“It’s tough when you’re training all week at 3 p.m.and suddenly your race is at 9 a.m. – it kind of throwsyour schedule off. But at this level, that shouldn’t be anissue really,” says the Guelph University grad, noting hehad to feel disappointed in the result two years outsidethe Sochi Olympics, where their goal is to win a medal.

“It goes to show that we’ve got some work to do ifwe want to be a player at the Games. We’re still a newteam and some of us have only been doing it for two orthree years and in the sport of bobsleigh, it can take longerbefore it becomes kind of second nature.

“We definitely have some work to do, but I think thisseason was a good learning experience. We kind of knowwhere our shortfalls are, so we’ll make a plan for the nexttwo years to have it all together.”

FFAAMMIILLYY FFAANNSS MMAAKKEE TTRRIIPP TTOO LLAAKKEE PPLLAACCIIDD

Sorensen had a good gang of family and friendsmake the trip down to Lake Placid for what may well bethe only time they get to see him compete in a worldchampionships three hours away from home.

Sorensen plans to stay in Ottawa, where “it’s betterfor my soul,” he explains, for a few months before mov-ing back to the national team’s home base in Calgarycome mid-summer or early fall.

“It’s a pretty unique experience,” the bright 25-year-old laughs. “One day you’re at the world championships,everyone’s screaming and yelling at you to push a sled asfast as you can, and then the next day you’re back homeand your dad’s telling you to take out the trash.”

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Cody Sorensen (left) push-starts Canada-1’s sled at the bobsleigh world championships in Lake Placid.

PHOTO: CHERYL WALKER

James James McNaughtonMcNaughton

CodyCodySorensenSorensen