By Dan Plouffe
Led by the Ottawa Titans 18-and-under boys’ hometown triumph March 29-30 at the Nepean Sportsplex, three local teams combined to win each colour of medal from March’s provincial water polo championships.
“Playing in front of your own crowd – it’s not very often that you play a game in front of a hundred people in the audience,” notes Titans coach Jerry Tesanovic. “I was a little concerned that some players might find it a little overwhelming, but we controlled the score from the get-go.”
The Titans won three of four games in the two-day competition, including a 10-8 victory in the final over Toronto’s Mavericks, who’d earlier dealt them their only loss, in round robin play.
“Victories like this can make the players realize all the work they’ve done so far this year is worthwhile,” Tesanovic adds. “They are more confident now leading into the final stretch before nationals, and of course we’re always happy to beat our biggest rival in the province.”
Tesanovic’s group received “great support” from current and past Titans players at the event, he details.
“It was inspirational for our younger kids,” highlights the coach who took up the game in the former Yugoslavia. “Some of our youngest ones were amazed by seeing that spectacle unravel in their own city.”
Amongst the spectators were members of the provincial silver medal-winning 16U Titans side, who claimed their prize the previous weekend in Kitchener-Waterloo. Milan Duhaime was named tournament MVP and Mihailo Krstic was also an all-star.
Also in April, the Titans senior men’s team qualified for the National Development Premier League’s final four. Both those squads will compete in national championships in May, as will the 18U Titans, who defended their provincial title from 2013.
Last year’s champion team was led by goalie Dusan Boskovic during his final season in the 18U ranks, but the Titans’ last line of defence didn’t suffer at all thanks to Yorek Hurrelmann’s most valuable goalie performance at this year’s event.
Also earning tournament all-star team awards for the 18U squad were Euan Scoffield (MVP), Victor Gomeluk and Filip Matic, who all have previous experience with Canadian youth national team programs.
“Most likely half the team will play on some national team,” Tesanovic underlines. “They’re eager and ready for summer.”
Medal & special visit for Capital Wave
April was a big month for the Capital Wave Water Polo Club as well. One major highlight was a March 28-29 visit by the Canadian senior women’s national team.
Developed largely by Wave head coach Celso Rojas, the original initiative – which organizers hope will spread to other clubs in the future – saw the Team Canada stars give clinics both in the pool and the classroom for Capital Wave players.
“The girls were terrific with the kids,” signals Capital Wave board member Brenda Heald. “They were very inspirational.”
The Wave club features several budding prospects of their own, including 16U provincial all-stars Sean Legg and Floranne Carroll.
For Carroll, the provincials weren’t just special because her Wave girls’ team took home a bronze medal in Kitchener-Waterloo – simply getting to play was a treat.
The daughter of two Canadian military members, Carroll moved to Belleville last year, where she swims on a competitive team but only gets to play water polo when she joins the Wave for competition.
“I always like to play,” smiles Carroll, whose team downed the Titans 6-4 in the bronze medal match. “I was happy. There are some things we could have done better, but the other teams were older.”
A message that Rojas frequently delivers, Carroll notes, is that the effort put forward is of greater importance than the result of the game, win or lose.
“We are a young club – only in our second year – and I am very proud of the accomplishments of our athletes,” Rojas says. “They work very hard and I can see it paying off both in and out of the pool. This is a great group of kids.”
Carroll, who started playing water polo in Victoria at age 11, has found her new club to be very welcoming.
“There’s more attention on the younger athletes than with different clubs,” indicates Carroll, who will train with the Wave more frequently next year once her family moves back to Gatineau. “Everyone’s really friendly, and they want to develop their athletes.”