HIGH ACHIEVERS WRAP: Warrior Classic soccer tournament could be training ground for future world-class players

By Martin Cleary

For 39 days, the world’s best soccer countries and their rabid and emotional fans experienced the highly magnetic and successful FIFA World Cup 26.

Spectacular goals, upsets, spectator celebrations and Spain’s extra time win over defending champion Argentina highlighted the once-every-four-year celebration of the beautiful game, which was embraced by soccer addicts and recognized by those outside the pitch.

But step back for a moment. Where were these highly-talented players 10 to 15 years ago? Most likely they were competing for their neighbourhood club teams or specialized academies as they progressed to their regional and national teams for international competition.

As the final weekend of the World Cup concluded, and an all-time legend likely made his last appearance, fans could begin to think about who would be the next generation of players, especially in the growing Canadian market.

Throughout the spring, summer and fall, there are thousands of soccer tournaments and showcases that take place across the country and key players are noticed by coaches and scouts and their names are noted.

There were at least two tournaments last weekend in Ottawa and you have to wonder if there was a player or two who showed international potential during the fourth annual West Ottawa Soccer Club Warrior Classic, which attracted 120 youth (U12-U18) teams.

The younger age groups were the most popular as 13 and 15 teams played in the respective boys’ U12 and U13 divisions, and 12 and 10 teams respectively in the girls’ U12 and U13 pools.

Future national team players could have been spread out across the western sector of Ottawa with games at Walter Baker Park in Kanata, Ben Franklin Park and Wesley Clover Fields.

The host Warriors were dominant in the top tier of U13 boys’ competition, winning three of their four matches by five goals. The Ottawa Internationals were unlucky to be drawn into the same pool, as they managed to tie West Ottawa 3-3 and win their two other matches, but missed out on the final by goal differential. The Warriors went on to crush the winners of the other pool, East Hamilton, 6-1 in their division championship game.

West Ottawa also reached the final in all of the three youngest girls’ divisions (U12, U13 and U14) plus the U12 boys’ event, but results of the big games were not posted on the tournament website.

Ottawa South United Force won the Warrior Classic girls’ U16 championship game by a 4-1 decision over Northumberland. The Force were undefeated in four games and only allowed one goal.

West Ottawa is one of the largest soccer clubs in the country with more than 7,500 members, 500+ teams, 300+ post-secondary school commitments and 18 pro players. The club’s history also includes four national championships.

2 OTTAWA BASKETBALL PLAYERS PLACE 4TH WITH CANADA AT FIBA U17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

Ottawa’s Portia Reisen and Casselman’s Grace Pongang of the Louis-Riel girls’ basketball academy helped Canada to a fourth-place finish at the FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup in Czechia.

Canada swept its group with wins over Italy, Egypt and New Zealand, and then downed Czech Republic 67-40 and China 69-68 to reach the medal round before falling to USA 86-60 in the semi-finals and 64-57 to Australia in the third-place match.

Pongang led Canada with 10 blocks and Reisen led the team in steals and was second in minutes played while averaging 10.6 points and 2.9 assists per game.

JULIE BROUSSEAU, ANTON SEMENYUK EARN TICKET TO PAN PACIFIC SWIM MEET

Julie Brousseau of the Nepean Kanata Barracudas and Anton Semenyuk of Natation Gatineau and High Performance Centre Ontario have been named to the Canadian team for the Pan Pacific swimming championships next month in California.

After solid performances at the recent Canadian swimming trials in Montreal, they were selected to the 44-member Olympic program team for the Pan Pacific championships Aug. 10-15 in Irvine. There are 22 men and 20 women on that national team.

There were no Ottawa and area swimmers named for the Para Pan Pacific championships in Walnut.

Preparing for her junior year at the University of Florida, Brousseau had a pair of bronze-medal performances in the freestyle discipline, covering 400 metres in four minutes, 11.74 seconds and the 800 metres in 8:46.32.

She also swam 4:44.34 for fourth place in the 400-metre individual medley, which was won by world record-holder Summer McIntosh in 4:27.35. In the 200-metre freestyle final, Brousseau was eighth in 1:59.42.

Read More: NCAA swimmer Julie Brousseau returns home for a quick ‘rest’ before Commonwealth Games, Pan Pacs

At 18, Semenyuk fared extremely well in both the men’s open and boys’ junior race standings.

Coached by Ryan Mallette, Semenyuk was the overall winner of the men’s 200-metre butterfly with an unmatched men’s and junior time of 1:57.84, which lowered his Canadian age-group record from 1:58.40.

In the 200-metre individual medley, he was fifth overall and second among juniors in 2:02.52. He also was ninth overall and ranked third as a junior in the 100-metre butterfly in 54.09.

Semenyuk’s race resume also showed he was second among juniors in the 100-metre freestyle in 50.38 seconds and fifth in the 50-metre butterfly in 25.09 seconds.

Three Ottawa swimmers from three different clubs were selected to represent Canada at the 2026 Junior Pan Pacific swimming championships Aug. 17-20 at the University of British Columbia Aquatic Centre in Vancouver.

Charles Colton of the Greater Ottawa Kingfish, Arthur Galiano of the Nepean Kanata Barracudas and Jordyn Richardson of the Ottawa Y Olympians caught the eye of the national team selection committee with their multiple-medal efforts as juniors at the trials.

Colton placed second in both the 400-metre individual medley and seventh overall in 4:27.52 and the 1,500-metre timed final in 15:52.54, which left him eighth in the entire field. He also was third in the 800-metre freestyle timed final, seventh in the 400-metre freestyle in 4:02.17 and eighth in the 200-metre backstroke in 2:05.78.

Galiano was a breaststroke specialist, finishing third among junior racers over 50 metres in 28.81 seconds and 100 metres in 1:02.79. He also was sixth in the 200-metre breaststroke in 2:19.23.

Richardson, who was born in 2011, raced in two senior finals, owning sixth place in the 50-metre butterfly in 27.58 seconds and tying for sixth in the 100-metre butterfly in 1:00.74. She ranked third in both races in the junior standings. She also was 10th in the 50-metre freestyle in 26.58 seconds among juniors, but elected not to race the 100-metre freestyle.

CODY NHANALA SCORES FIRST TWO RUGBY CAPS

Ottawa’s Cody Nhanala of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds earned his first two caps with the Canadian men’s rugby team, which produced one win, one draw and one loss at the Nations Cup in Edmonton and Winnipeg.

After not dressing for Canada’s opening 42-42 draw with Spain, Nhanala served as a finisher in the 38-14 loss to Portugal and the 23-19 win over Zimbabwe. He entered the Zimbabwe game at the 58th minute, when Lucas Rumball was forced out because of injury. Nhanala didn’t leave the bench for the Portugal game.

In women’s rugby news, University of Ottawa grad Claire Gallagher is a fly-half for Trailfinders, which lost the Premiership Women’s Rugby final 52-14 to Saracens in front of 8,099 fans. There were 11 Canadian players involved in the championship game, six for Saracens and five for Trailfinders.

Trailfinders pulled a major upset in the semifinals, when it defeated first-place and top-seeded Gloucester-Hartpury.

GABRIELA DABROWSKI PRAISED BY PRINCESS OF WALES KATE

Gabriela Dabrowski was a Wimbledon women’s doubles finalist with her Brazilian partner Luisa Stefani earlier this month, but the Ottawa player also had another memorable moment on that Saturday.

Before the final, Dabrowski and Stefani met Kate, the Princess of Wales. Kate praised Dabrowski and called her “an inspiration” for reaching the Wimbledon doubles final, after her breast cancer diagnosis in 2024.

Kate, who also confronted breast cancer in 2024, talked with Dabrowski about “doing the things you love doing and that bring you joy” during recovery.

Dabrowski delayed her cancer treatments to play in the 2024 Wimbledon championships (women’s doubles finalist with former partner Erin Routliffe), and the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics (bronze medal in mixed doubles with Felix Auger-Aliassime).

THOUGHTS FINAL

· Perth’s Amy Miller and horses Jagger HX and Gaiete d’Elle have been named to Canada’s five rider-horse show jumping team for the FEI world equestrian championships Aug. 11-23 in Aachen, Germany. Ian Millar of Perth heads the support team as chef d’equipe.

· Video coach Alex Darling of Chelsea, PQ, and the OHL’s Peterborough Petes is on the Canada White coaching staff for the 2016 U17 world challenge Nov. 1-7 in Oakville.

· In two years, the best sailors in the world will compete on the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games’ courses in California. This week, 23 Canadians tested their skills on the courses at the Long Beach and San Pedro Olympic classes regattas, which is the fifth and final Sailing Grand Slam stop. Ottawa’s Rebecca Heller was 27th in the women’s iQFoil class, which matched the number of entries in the field. In her 15 races, she had a pair of 22nd-place results.

· In the spring of 2027, Volleyball Canada will relocate its men’s senior and Next Gen programs to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre in Toronto. Gatineau, which has been the centre for the national men’s program since 2009, will play host to its final training session in early September.

· The Steve Stevens masters tennis championships will return to Ottawa for the first time in 10 years from Aug. 23-29. Five tennis centres will be used – Tennis Centre West Ottawa (men’s and women’s 30 and 25, and men’s 40), Rideau Sports Centre (men’s and women’s 50 and 55), Ottawa Tennis Club (men’s and women’s 60 and 65), Rockcliffe Lawn Tennis Club (men’s and women’s 70 and 75) and Ottawa New Edinburgh Club (men’s and women’s 80 and 85).

· Gatineau’s Fee Ann Landry, who is coached by Guylaine Blouin, has been named as one of five women to Skate Canada’s national team for 2026-27. Landry was seventh in women’s singles at the 2026 Canadian championships and 11th at Four Continents with personal-best scores in short program, free skating and total score.

· Gatineau’s Ann-Sophie Bourgault of the Royal Ottawa Golf Club is tied for 18th place, after the first day of the 112th Canadian women’s amateur golf championship, which was suspended at 3:51 p.m. Tuesday at the Toronto Golf Club because of dangerous weather. Bourgault was even par through her first three holes. Elise Lee of Irvine, California, and Shauna Liu of Maple, ON, share the lead at three-under par through seven holes each.

· Athletics Canada named two Ottawa athletes to its national team for the World Athletics U20 championships Aug. 5-9 at the iconic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon – William Batley, Ottawa, CANI Athletics, men’s 200 metres; and Zachary Jeggo, Embrun, Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club, men’s 400 metres. Sprinter Ange-Mathis Kramo of Ottawa was named an alternate for the men’s 200 metres.

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