Ottawa Sportspage

HeartbeatThe Heartbeat of Ottawa Sports SportsOttawa.com Vol. 12Sept. 2012

dream debuT fOr dagenaiS

excellenT engliSH adVenTure

paralympic cOacH inSider

OVercOming Olympic anguiSH

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p. 8

p. 3

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LONDON – There they were at Olympic Stadium in London, the Ottawa pair of Jason Dunkerley and guide Josh Karanja, setting the pace not only for the best T11 men’s 5,000-metre competitors in the world, but also for 80,000 fans, who rose out of their seats and did the wave in sync with the leaders.

Possibly competing at his final Games, Dunkerley was en route to achieving something he’d never be-fore done in an illustrious career that included three medals from the three previous Paralympics.

In the best shape of his life at age 35, Dunkerley set his second person-al-best of the 2012 Paralympics, and for the first time, won two medals from the same Games – an accom-plishment that should go down as one of the finest moments in Ottawa sports history.

“It was a big thrill for us,” smiled the newly-crowned silver medalist, who lost the lead near the final lap and came in 12 seconds behind Chile’s Cristian Valenzuela in 15:34.07, but over 20 seconds ahead of third place.

“For me personally, as I get older, the Paralympics are getting harder and harder and the world’s getting faster,” Dunkerley continued. “I’m here racing guys that are younger when I’m 35, but I’m still getting bet-ter. I think there’s still a long way we can go, and that’s why I’m excited.”

Dunkerley and Karanja left noth-ing to chance in their 5k race. The Ottawa Lions club members figured their ability to run 74-second laps was their biggest asset, so that’s what they were set on doing.

“It didn’t matter who was behind us or in front of us, we were going to hit our times and that’s what we did,” explained Karanja, who loved every moment of competing at his first Paralympic Games. “It was

awesome. This is as good as it gets. I don’t think I’ll ever have 80,000 people cheer-ing for me ever again.”

‘True canadianS’

It was almost unfathomable to believe Dunker-ley and Karanja had only been training together for just over a year, brought to-gether by Ottawa coach Ian Clark. The pair were perfectly in sync, running stride for stride, side by side, for the duration of their races – more so than any of their competitors.

The image of Northern Ire-land-born Dunkerley and Kenya-born Karanja proudly parading around the maple leaf flag on two occasions after their medal victories impressed Cana-dian minister of sport Bal Gosal.

“Those guys are true Canadians,” Gosal said, expressing the pride he felt himself, as an immigrant from India, to be wearing the maple leaf in London. “They’ve worked hard, they trained hard, and now they’re representing Canada. It’s an amazing feeling.”

rOad TO THe pOdium

Dunkerley credits his new team as a large part of the reason why he was able to run faster than he ever has at an age when most athletes are slowing down. It started with a very difficult decision to split with his former Toronto-based guide Greg Dailey, with whom he’d won a 1,500 m medal in each of his first three

Paralympics.Dunkerley believed a local guide

who available for workouts full-time would be a major key to his success in London.

“I think he was ready to kind of depart from where he was. He kind of said, ‘OK, I got one more shot at it, so let’s try a different approach,” recounted Clark, who focused on maximizing Dunkerley’s aerobic ca-pacity in training instead of focusing on speed. “It’s all about getting in the distance as you age and you move to a different event.”

Dunkerley called Karanja “a real role model” who taught him how to work hard, and was very pleased to stand on the podium and have his guide receive a medal for the first time thanks to a policy change in ad-vance of London 2012.

“I’m just so thrilled for Josh,” ad-ded Dunkerley, whose team is com-mitted to continue working together at least until the 2013 world cham-pionships, where the 5k will be their main focus. “He’s put so much work

in. It’s been a missing part of our sport. It’s long overdue.”

inSpiraTiOn frOm #1 fan

The last piece of the puzzle was family support, highlighted Dunker-ley, who visited relatives in Northern Ireland once his races were done. That starts with his wife, Colleen, who’s also been a major source of inspiration as she’s battled juvenile diabetes and now kidney disease.

“She’s undergone a lot of hard-ships through that, with losing her eyesight, now with her kidneys,” Dunkerley explained. “But she never complains about it. She just goes about life and takes it as it comes. Her whole attitude is to be strong to help other people feel more at ease with it.

“I know what she’s going through, and it helps on those days when you’re feeling down or feeling like you don’t want to be out there working.

“She’s my #1 fan, and she’s in-credibly inspirational.”

Team Canada wheelchair rugby player Patrice Dagenais came away with a sil-ver medal from his first Paralympics.

The Carleton Ravens toured England prior to their OUA women’s soccer sea-son and now want to reap the rewards.

Coach Ian Clark provides an inside view- point of Jason Dunkerley & Josh Karanja’s run to the medals from start to finish.

Despite the DQ after placing third, Seyi Smith and the 4x100 m relay team put Canadian sprinting back on the map.

Jason Dunkerley & Josh Karanja set the pace for the T11 men’s 5,000 m field, eventually finishing second in 15:34.07 in front of a packed Olympic Stadium in London.

35-year-old Jason Dunkerley races to 2 lifetime bests & 1st career double podium performance at Paralympics

DUNKERLEY continued on p.10

A slam Dunk silver

Jason Dunkerley (left) and guide Josh Karanja finished over 20 seconds ahead of the third-place finishers to claim the silver medal in the T11 men’s 5,000 m – their second medal of the London 2012 Paralympics.

photos: ian ewing

By Dan Plouffe

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N OTTAWA AT THE PARALYMPICSTOny walby

jOSH caSSidy

racHael burrOwS

leaH rObinSOn Sean yOung

jOn dunkerley

jOdy ScHlOSS curTiS THOm

daVid blair

andrew Heffernan brandOn king canadian wOmen’S gOalball Team

See SportsOttawa.com for full stories on each of these local athletes’ experiences at the 2012 Paralympic Games from

o u r team in London.

read mOre Online

photo: matthew murnaghan / cpc photo: ian ewing

photo: ian ewing

photo: ian ewing

photo: ian ewing

photo: ian ewing photo: dan plouffe

photo: dan plouffe

photo: dan plouffe

photo: dan plouffe

Takahashi Dojo’s Tony Walby celebrated a victory by ippon in his opening men’s 100+ kg judo contest before injuries hit him in his next two matchups, both losses. The 39-year-old first-time Paralympian said the best part of the experience was having his baby daughter in the stands. He doesn’t expect to be in Rio 2016 as an athlete, but would like to help build the national team for judokas with visual impairments and could see himself returning to the Games as a coach.

It was a hard-luck Games for wheelchair racing medal contender Josh Cassidy, who was still recovering from an illness that put him on antibiotics just before the Paralympics. The Ottawa Lion’s top result was a fifth in the 800 m – a race where he got bumped onto the track infield due to a crash in front of him.

Having changed their training to support the

Canadian 4x100 m relay effort that wound up sixth,

Jon Dunkerley and guide Sean Young didn’t get their desired result in

the T11 400 m to reflect their years of work

together, but the bright Lions pair’s exceptional-

ly strong partnership and friendship emerged even

stronger in the face of the disappointment. .

A “terrible heart-break” is what Lions T37 400 m runner Leah Robinson called her

elimination in the heats of her event for athletes with cerebral palsy. Robinson went out too hard in the first 275 m and struggled to the finish.

Ottawa Lions wheelchair racer Rachael Burrows could hardly have been more pleased with her Paralympic debut as she reached T34 100 and 200 m finals.

The pinnacle of a 15-year recovery from a spinal cord injury, Jody Schloss and horse Inspector Rebus placed 12th in Para- lympic equestrian.

Lions wheelchair racer Curtis Thom earned a surprise sixth-place result in the T34 100 m, but was also sur- prised to miss the 400 m and 4x400 m finals.

The true global community in the Athletes Village was what impressed guide Andrew Heffernan most as he made his Paralympic debut with Lion Brandon King in T12 sprint events.

They finished their Games with a ‘B’ final win, but missing a medal was a big letdown for rower David Blair & the 2011 LTA coxed four world silver medalists Canadian crew.

The emotions were like night and day for the Ottawa-based Canadian women’s goalball team as they beat the U.S. with a last-second goal one game to finish atop their preliminary pool and then were elimin-ated by Finland with an overtime marker the next day in quarter-finals.

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I am sitting in an East Lon-don pub with a pint of lager, suf-fering from a bit of a hangover. This hangover is of a different sort however; unrelated to alco-hol, this one comes the morning after the Closing Ceremonies, a finale that marks the end of the most successful 11 days in Paralympics history.

Sipping my lager, I am con-tent and proud as I reflect on the London 2012 performances of Jason Dunkerley, the Ottawa middle distance runner I coach – first, a bronze in the 1,500 metres, and a then a few days later, a silver medal in the 5,000 (in both events, Jason is classi-fied in the T11 category for ath-letes who have no vision).

As I think of my coaching relationship with Jason, and Josh Karanja, his indispensable guide runner, I know that we really began preparing for this success 20 months ago.

This preparation addresses the critical components of thoughtful planning around training and racing, nutrition, injury prevention and rest. But at its core, the approach relies upon the tireless dedication of Jason and Josh – toughing-out the hard but necessary practices that I dish out to them in Ottawa over several months, day-in, day-out; good weather and bad.

As I begin to coach Jason in 2011, I am aware of his running ability, background and age. I decide to discuss with him the possibility of a new approach to his training; he is receptive. We agree to focus the next 18 months on increasing his max-imum aerobic capacity through greater mileage and long, tough track repeats and hill work, while simultaneously maintain-ing his speed and improving his running efficiency.

Jason buys in to this ap-proach, as does Josh, and the pair become increasingly suc-cessful running and racing part-ners. The plan pays dividends as Jason continues to improve his times over both the 1,500 and the 5,000 events; his 5k time improves immensely.

paralympic buzz

As the Games near and as we taper the training, I know the two are mentally and physically ready. Race results and time tri-als in Ottawa have proven that. We discuss the opposition and

agree upon our final strategies and tactics for both races. We have consensus: the goal is to win gold in both races. Inside, the three of us know this will be a tough achievement. In sport, as in life, one has to take risks. We do not take our opponents for granted.

Prior to leaving Ottawa, we learn of the Paralympic “buzz” in London – all 2.5 million tick-ets sold out for all events and the public is demanding more.

Our arrival in London demonstrates why Great Britain has been so successful in host-ing these Olympic and Para-lympic Games. Superb athletic facilities, transportation (the Tube; “mind the gap, please”), 24/7 print, television and elec-tronic coverage and the ever-present, friendly and helpful vo-lunteers dressed in purple. But most importantly, the British, a sophisticated sporting people, have embraced the Games with their hearts and minds.

race Time

I take my seat in the Olympic Stadium for Jason’s 1,500 m semi-final. I am astonished that 80,000 screaming Brits are in attendance (for a semi!). I look around. I am moved and a little choked up by the fact Jason and Josh will soon take to this vast international, and potentially intimidating, stage. I am proud of these guys.

The race goes mostly ac-cording to plan – Jason and Josh make it through comfort-ably in second place, although not before they are jostled and interfered with, almost going down twice.

Post-race, the three of us are pleased and I think a little relieved. We all agree that Jason must get a faster start in the fi-nal to avoid the “trouble” and be free to run the race he needs to medal. We rehearse some fast starts at a track outside of Lon-

don, concentrating on settling back into pace.

Three days later, before an-other packed and thunderous stadium, Jason and Josh get off to a flawless start, acceler-ating to arrive at the first curve in second place, just as we had discussed, and settling down to 62 seconds for the first 400 m.

Led by the Brazilian and Kenyan runners, the race is surprisingly fast. Jason cannot hear Josh’s words or the runner around him as he normally does due to the deafening crowd noise, but a hard, intelligent race allows them to pull through and capture a bronze medal.

applauded by 80,000

I am pleased and proud. They have executed brilliantly and seem very happy. Though I am unable to talk to them, I see them 20 minutes later on the medal stand, the entire stadium applauding their efforts as I hurriedly take pictures and clap and scream, along with my sis-ter and Mom who have joined me in the stands.

Cut to the 5,000 metres fi-nal, four days later. The three of us had agreed back in Ottawa that Jason and Josh would run at a pace of 74 seconds per lap for the majority of the race, a strategy they brilliantly adhere to in the race.

The result is a silver – Jason’s second medal of the Games, a feat he hadn’t accom-plished in three previous Para-lympics.

Again, I take pictures with great pride when Jason and Josh graciously accept their well-deserved silver medal.

A few hours later, we all proceed to a Mexican restaur-ant to enjoy a beer or two and to share some laughs. The long season is finally over, our Para-lympic experience a success.

We are all content, relaxed and in need of some rest.

Everyone gets to play! with Girls ’n Women and SportIt’s great to be a girl. Sisters, mothers and daughters, and friends playing to-gether is what Girls ’n Women and Sport (GWS) is all about. A unit of City of Ottawa Parks, Recreation, and Culture, GWS is mandated to provide fun, safe, and nurturing sport and physical activity opportunities for girls and women in female-only programs.

Starting as young as age 3, girls can join preschool FUNdamental Movements programs – a great start to an active life that emphasizes running, throwing, jumping, catching, balance, and more. Are you ready for the next step? Learn to Train programs will help you consolidate your skills and start applying them in a specific sport environment.

For adults we offer leagues and programs to suit the needs of the brand new participant as well as the more seasoned athlete. Volleyball, basketball, indoor soccer, and ball hockey leagues are waiting for you to join, whether as a team or as an individual. What sets us apart? Our “Everyone gets to play” philosophy and our leagues have referees!

GWS loves to encourage female leadership in sport – that’s why we aim to mentor and train female coaches for all of our development programs.

GWS commits to going the extra mile to make your experience one that in-spires sport and physical activity participation for life.

Get your questions answered by our courteous and friendly office staff who can give you extra information about programs plus help you register. Visit our websites ottawa.ca/sports or citywidesportsottawa.ca or call us at 613-580-2854.

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Coach’s perspective: an inside account of Dunkerley’s run to two Paralympic medals

By Coach Ian Clark

photo provided

Coach Ian Clark was proud to see his athletes – Jason Dunkerley (left) and Josh Karanja – come away with London 2012 silver and bronze medals.

OTTAWA AT THE PARALYMPICS

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With the joy of winning the 2012 W-League Championship still in our thoughts, the long weekend has come and gone and it is already time to focus on the start of another year of soccer for the Ottawa Fury.

The Club has unveiled the 2013 coaching staff that sees many familiar faces returning and some highly qualifi ed additions. All our coaches have the same commitment to help talented players in Ottawa develop their game to the maximum. With NASL professional soccer coming soon to Lansdowne Park, the Fury, now more than ever, strive to provide the highest quality programs for all ages through their Prospects (8-12), Youth (13-16) and Professional Development academy programs.

Heading up an array of talented Fury coaches are Steve Hill, Dom Oliveri, Jimmy Zito and David Bellemare. Hill is the Club’s Boys Academy Technical Director while Oliveri serves as the TD of the Girls Academy. Jimmy Zito, the Club’s full time Staff Coach was Ottawa’s 2011 Coach of the Year. David Bellemare, the Club’s goalkeeper coach, has an incredible record of developing keepers for representative honours and varsity scholarships.

In 2011, the Fury’s Boys program was ranked #1 in North America among all USL Super Y-League clubs and once again has qualifi ed all four of its teams to the North American Championship Finals to be held later this year in Florida. For the past six years the Fury Youth Academy ( boys and girls combined) has been ranked in the Top 10 in North America.

The Club fi rmly believes that ‘our success is measured by the success of our players’ and while our teams have proven successfulin match play for many years, it is the more than 80 NCAA scholar-ships and the players who moved onto play for their national teams or signed professional contracts that best illustrate our success.

OTTAWA FURY 2013 COACHING STAFFProspects Boys Academy TBA Prospects Girls Academy Kwame Telemaque

Fury U13 Boys Jimmy Zito Fury U13 Girls Kwame Telemaque

Fury U14 Boys Steve Hill Fury U14 Girls Nic Horne

Fury U15 Boys Jimmy Zito Fury U15 Girls Audra Sherman

Fury U16 Boys Jason Da Costa Fury U16 Girls Andrew Gilchrist

Fury PDA Men Christian Hoefl er Fury PDA Women Jimmy Zito

The Ottawa Fury also boasts impressive grassroots skill development programs. Open to all the First Touch (4-7) and School of Excellence (8-12) Programs for both Boys and Girls. The First Touch Program, led by Jasmine Phillips, introduces youngest players to the game of soccer in a fun-fi lled environment.. The School of Excellence Program led by Jimmy Zito, looks to develop a player’s basic skills and further develop their passion for the game.

FURYNEWS

OTTAWAFURY.COMFor More Information on Tryouts and Fury’s Skill Development Programs visit

It was maybe Canada’s most heartbreaking moment of the 2012 Olympics – the improbable bronze medal victory of the men’s 4x100-metre relay team suddenly taken away due to one step on the lane line.

And make no mistake, Ottawa’s Seyi Smith felt the full weight of the heartbreak, but a month after the team’s disqualification in London, the 25-year-old former Brookfield High School student views the race as a sign of great things to come.

“Some people say we fired a warning shot, that we can now vie for the medals,” he notes. “Still, it would have been nice to have the hardware.”

A delay in displaying the correct results meant the team thought they had won bronze for the first moments after the race. The eventual DSQ des-ignation was an abrupt and painful end to a full-swing celebration with hugs and maple leaf flags.

“My memory of how we felt for those 10 minutes that we thought we had won bronze, it is now becoming hazy,” says Smith.

Prior to the Games, Smith said his team’s main objective in London was to bring back the pride in Canada’s

sprinters that exis-ted when Ottawa’s G l e n r o y G i l b e r t , now the n a t i o n a l r e l a y c o a c h , and com-pany won 4 x 1 0 0 gold at the 1996 A t l a n t a Games.

“ T h e important goal of m a k i n g C a n a d a proud: I think we got that,” Smith highlights, noting It’s now up to the team to return to the Olympic stage and re-win that medal.

unexpecTed perfOrmance

Chemistry, says the Calgary-based former Ottawa Lion, is the answer to the puzzle of how four athletes who

have never run under 10 seconds somehow managed to finish third against a field full of sub-10-second sprinters.

“The simple explanation is that we are perfect together,” Smith says, adding that the four Canadian runners also have max-

imum top speeds com-parable to the world’s very best sprint-ers.

T h e team, which also included 21-year-old Ottawa Gee-Gees sprinter Segun Ma-kinde as an a l t e r n a t e , may have been de-feated by a few centi-metres of white line, but Smith believes he’s come away from the ex-perience a vic-tor. He learned much from his first Olympics, he notes, and he’ll bring that knowledge with him each time he trains for Rio 2016.

“My goals for the next quadrant are to make the re-lay team and to

qualify as an individual in the 100 metres,” Smith states.

THe pOwer Of uSain bOlT

Smith is proud that the Canadian team was not cowed by the size of the venue or the volume of the crowd’s roars. In fact, it helped them to focus, he believes.

Also assisting them to be ready and focused was the great Usain Bolt.

“We had just arrived in the sta-dium and the officials were rushing us while we were putting on our shoes,” Smith recounts. “We were definitely feeling the stress.

“Then Usain Bolt held up his hand and said, ‘We need five minutes.’ And they listened to him like they would

listen to nobody else.”Other athletes with Ottawa

connections who competed at the Olympics included: Courtnay Pilypaitis (basketball, fifth), Michael Tayler (canoe slalom, 20th), Sher-raine Schalm (epee fencing, 17th), Melanie McCann (modern pentath-lon, 11th), Nicolas Tritton (judo, 17th), Mo Zhang (table tennis, 33rd), Andre Ho (table tennis, 65th singles, ninth team), Pierre-Luc Hinse (table tennis, 33rd singles, ninth team), Eu-gene Wang (table tennis, ninth team), Cristy Nurse (rowing, alternate due to injury, silver), Morgan Jarvis (rowing, 14th), Melissa Bishop (athletics 800 m, 30th), and Sultana Frizell (athlet-ics hammer throw, 26th).

Relay goal achieved despite DQBy Anne Duggan Patrice Dagenais (right)

found himself on a wheelchair rugby provincial team not long after taking up the sport. He first dressed for the senior national team in 2009 and will make his Paralympic debut in London.

OTTAWA AT THE OLYMPICS

Seyi Smith and the Canadian men’s 4x100 m relay team momentarily thought they’d won bronze before they were disqualified for a small lane violation at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

file photo

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Relay goal achieved despite DQFOR

COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY, PROFESSIONAL SOCCER

For information, [email protected]

www.soccerinmotion.com

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JUNIOR LEAGUESYoungest OYSL group poised for top

The Ottawa South United Force U14 girls are in very unfamiliar territory. Not only are they playing their first season in the province’s top soccer league, they’re also very near the top.

It’s already an unprecedented level for an Ottawa team that young to reach, and the 8-4-1 squad has a chance to cement their name in the record books if they become the first club from the region to win an Ontario Youth Soccer League division title. With three games left to play, OSU is three points back of Woodbridge, who have just one match left.

“It’s true – there are not too many teams at that level that have done this,” highlights coach

Widdgin Bernard. “But this group is very de-termined to finish on top.”

The bulk of the Force girls have been train-ing together for a remarkable six years, which has been a big help as the squad made the jump to Level 1 following an undefeated U13 season against regional opponents.

“The girls know each other and they want this really bad,” adds Bernard, whose lineup boasts three key offensive weapons – Andrianna Dmuchalsky, Julia Rosenthal and Alexis Mar-tel-Lamothe. “They train hard, they work out together, and they work well together as a unit. They’re a great, great team.”

You’ll have to forgive Ott-awa South United Force Black U15 boys’ coach Russell Shaw if he’s been haunted by flash-backs leading up to his team’s final Ontario Youth Soccer League match of the season.

The scenario is all too similar for him as his squad prepares to face second-place Woodbridge on the road Sunday, Sept. 16. Last sea-son, his U17 boys’ squad had the chance to clinch the cap-ital’s first-ever OYSL division crown with a win in their last game, but they came up short and had to settle for second.

“It’s been a terrific sea-son,” Shaw says of the 12-1-4 campaign his boys have pro-duced. “We hope to keep it going. We don’t want it to fall off the wheels like it did for us last year.”

Besides of course being

a totally different roster, this OSU group does have a tiny bit of a cushion atop the standings – a loss against Woodbridge would still force their rivals to collect two more points from their final two games.

And for a squad that was unsure of its makeup at the start of the year – several members delayed trials with the Van-couver Whitecaps academy

until after their season, while others have been over to Liver-pool and returned – the players have shown their dedication to the pursuit of a title.

“It’s the way we ap-proach the game,” says OYSL co-leading soccer Yousef Aldaqqaq. “Last year was a learning experience for us, and it was good preparation for this season now. We’re transition-ing into it well.”

Shaw believes a change in attitude, and a belief that they can be champions, has pushed the team to new heights after finishing 7-4-5 in 2011.

“Last year we were just competing, and now we’re try-ing to boss the league – keep the ball and play,” Shaw highlights. “They do really want to make something happen this year.”

OSU U15 boys need one win to clinch OYSL

There are a handful of other local OYSL teams still in the chase for division championships, while several others have key remaining games to stave off relegation.

At 6-2-4, the Capital United U16 girls sit in second place, six points back of di-vision-leading Glen Shields. Both squads have four games

remaining in their seasons.Just a win away from

Ajax, the 8-2-3 OSU U17 boys will face their first-place foes in the last game of the year.

Capital United (8-3-4) and OSU (7-4-4) have both put together solid U17 girls’ seasons as well.

—Text & photos: Dan Plouffe

TiTleS wiTHin reacH fOr mOre OTTawa OySl TeamS

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West Ottawa Soccer ScoopWest Ottawa Warriors U13 Girls raise $1,737 for School Box charity

We are the West Ottawa Warriors, and we’ve got a strong desire to make this world a better place.

As a team, we want to help oth-

ers who have less than we do. We are proud of our commitment to True Sport, a national movement that believes in the power of sport to transform communities and helps to create safe and welcoming environments for all.

As a True Sport team, we work hard on and off the field to promote the values of respect, fairness, personal excellence, giving back, being inclusive, and staying healthy.

One of our goals this season was to fun-draise for School Box, a Canadian charity that helps to build schools and provide supplies to children in Central America. In support of School Box and to show our team spirit and our commitment to our global community, we decided to train and run 5 km at our last prac-tice to raise money for School Box.

“The power of sport extends beyond the field of play to teach children valuable life les-sons that will help them become contributing citizens of the world,” Head coach Dina Bell-Laroche noted. “From my perspective, our School Box project was another tangible way for our athletes to set a goal, inspire others to contribute, and develop leadership skills. I was amazed at the energy these girls had and the inspiration they felt when they saw the impact their contribution would make to chil-dren and youth a continent away. Running for a purpose became another way to get fit, push themselves, help others, and bond as a team.”

On Aug. 28, the team put all of its training to good use and ran the 5 km … the athletes

exceeded our goal of raising $1,000. In the end, School Box received $1,737!

Parents who were on hand to support their girls and cheer them on were amazed at the difference this experience made to the team.

“Watching the girls put their energy into supporting the School Box program was very encouraging, as they embraced it as part of their team’s identity throughout the summer,” highlighted parent John Carson. “It allowed them to realize that their team spirit and de-termination can be applied to help others, just as it can help them achieve their goals on the field. As parents, we’re grateful our daughter had this experience and we wish School Box continued success.”

Tom Affleck, the President of School Box, kicked off the run by sharing a few words about the impact that the team’s efforts would have on the lives of children in Nicaragua.

“I wanted to thank Dina and the girls for a truly inspiring and successful fundraising run,” he added. “What a great event! $1,737 is an awesome total. We are proud to be partnered with True Sport and the West Ottawa U13 girls to ‘Make Education Possible’ for kids in Nicaragua.”

The President of West Ottawa Soccer Club was very proud of the team as well.

“Sometimes it takes a spark to ignite an en-tire group and this dedicated group of young women has done just that!” Brian Mason said. “I know that other coaches and teams were motivated by what this amazing group of girls was able to accomplish and I look forward to exploring how our Club can become more in-volved next year. Well done Warriors!”

We believe this run is a great way to show the soccer community, and the world, that we care about others, and how sport can be used as a tool for change. We hope that other teams will be inspired to do the same.

The East Region Cup soccer finals are all set to go for Sunday, Sept. 16 at South Gower fields. Eight championships will be up for grabs in total as teams from under-13 to under-16 go head-to-head in the fi-nal round of the knockout-format competition that began back in June.

Gloucester and Nepean have the chance to come away with the most titles as they each send four squads to the final, while Ottawa South United and Cumberland each send two entries. Here’s a breakdown of the matchups in each category:

bOyS’ u13

In a matchup of the first- and second-place teams from ERSL league play, Capital United takes on the Gloucester Hornets in the ER Cup final. The first two rounds of Cup play were cakewalks for both squads as they smashed their op-ponents by a combined 45-2 total. Both squads were put to the test in the semis though, as Gloucester re-quired penalty kicks to outlast the West Ottawa Level 4s and Capital United edged Cumberland 4-3. Capital United took the ERSL di-

vision crown by three points on the strength of an early-season 8-5 win, although the teams tied in their later regular season meeting.

girlS’ u13

The ER Cup final could have been the rubber match between the two squads that dominated the girls’ U13 ERSL ranks all season long, but the West Ottawa U13 Level 3s did not participate in Cup play. Instead, it will be the Nepean Hotspurs trying to upset the OSU Force in the final.

Nepean finished third in the division with a .500 mark – well behind OSU and West Ottawa, who both won 13 of 14 league matches and lost only to one another by a three-goal margin. Add to that the unlikely event that both OSU and West Ottawa ended up with +56 totals in goal differen-tial and it could have been a match for the ages. But the Hotspurs have played OSU tough this year, falling by just one and two goals in their regular season meetings against a team that received multiple-goal

performances in 10 of 14 games from star Gabri-ela Mendoza-Saud, who scored 39 in total in league and Cup play.

bOyS’ u14

It’ll be a classic east-end duel as the Cumber-land Cobras battle the Gloucester Hornets for the U14 boys’ Cup crown. Cumberland would be the expected favourite in the contest based on their 11-2-2 ERSL record and easy 13-point division title over the next best challenger. But it’s the Hornets who have been dominant in Cup play, blasting through to the final with a pair of 8-0 victories. The Cobras, meanwhile, downed Level 4 opponents just 2-0 and 2-1 in their previous Cup matches, although their 1-2 scoring punch of Christ Sangala and Mikaël Conde will be tough to contain.

girlS’ u14

Cumberland has the chance to claim titles on both the boys’ and girls’ sides in the U14 age group as the Cobra ladies get set to take on Seaway Valley in their Cup final. Seaway Valley rides into the game on a major high from their semi-final victory when

COMMUNITY CLUBSER Cup final matches intriguing

file photo

they knocked off West Ottawa, who’d earned a perfect 14-0 record in ERSL league play and won the division title by a whopping 14 points. Cumberland has enjoyed a strong run in Cup play, earning comfortable 4-1, 2-0 and 6-1 victories leading up to the final, where they’ll have multiple scoring weapons available such as Sydney Switzer, Ver-onique Landriault, Nadjema Soro and Madisen Foley-O’Brien.

bOyS’ u15

The Nepean Hotspurs are one game away from doubling up their ERSL league and ER Cup titles, and they’ll have an excellent opportunity to do it against the Cataraqui Clippers. Nepean was virtually unstoppable this season,

posting a 10-1-3 record in league play and outscoring Cup opponents by a combined 20-3 mark in their three pre-vious victories. Vuk Stefanovic led the team in combined scoring this season, while three different goalkeepers recor-ded shutouts for the squad that averaged only one goal against per game. Catara-qui took out second-place Gloucester in the Cup opening round on penalties and will look to make up for a 6-8 season.

girlS’ u15

The top two teams from the ERSL girls’ U15 ranks will meet again in the Cup final as the Nepean Hotspurs and Gloucester Hornets face off.

Champs last year, the Gloucester Hornets U16 girls will vie for a repeat ER Cup title on Sept. 16 in Kemptville.

ER CUP FINALS continued on p.11

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8 indiVidualS reacH Track yOuTH naTiOnalS pOdium

Two Ottawa wrestlers recently competed at world championships – Augusta Eve of the National Capital Wrestling Club placed fifth in the 40 kg division at the cadet worlds, while Western Mustang and NCWC grad Ilya Abelev placed 11th at the ju-nior worlds.

The Myers Riders kept their impressive record of reaching Ontario Varsity Football League title games intact as both the Varsity and Bantam-level squads competed for the big prize on Aug. 18. But the final step again proved to be the most difficult. The Varsity team reboun-ded from a 1-3 start to post playoff victories over Metro Toronto and Toronto, but lost to the London Jr. Mustangs 45-28 in the final. The 9-1 Bantam Riders also met their match in the championship, falling 31-3 to Brampton. Mean-while, the third-year Ottawa Invaders made their first-ever appearance in the Northern Foot-ball Conference championship game but were shutout 52-0 by the Toronto Titans.

Ottawa athletes claimed eight individual medals at August’s Canadian Legion youth track-and-field cham-

pionships in Charlottetown, PEI. It was a breakthrough event for the C.A.N.I. (Constant and Never-ending Improvement) club as the young Ottawa-based group earned more individual medals than the deep-rooted Ottawa Lions Track-and-Field club. St. Paul High School sprinting sensation Shermar Paul was responsible for two of those, earning gold in the U16 200 m and bronze in the 300 m, while Tony N’Zoigba captured U16 high jump silver and Jacob Plunkett won U16 110 m hurdles bronze. Lions medalists included Zachary Kerr in the U18 pole vault (gold), Charifa Labarang in the U18 100 m (bronze), and U16 800 m runner Erinn Stenman-Fahey (bronze). Representing Team Ontario, Lia Codrington won U16 steeplechase bronze. The Lions were U18 girls’ 4x100 m relay national champs

(featuring Alexandra Telford, Victoria McIntyre, Shelani Fernando and Lab-arang), while C.A.N.I. won the U18 boys’ 4x100 with Jonelle Halog, Akhil Edirisinghe, Shermar and Plunkett.

Ottawa natives Isabel Ménard and Jam-ie-Lee Rattray wore the maple leaf in an un-der-22 women’s hockey exhibition series against the U.S. Canada dropped all three games in Calgary between Aug. 16-19, falling 4-1, 4-2 and 4-3. Seeing powerplay time with senior national team star Marie-Philip Poulin, Rattray scored an assist in the final game.

Four months made a world of difference for Samantha Klus of the Bytown Storm triathlon club. The Bell High School senior began her season with an eye-open-ing experience at the North American junior championships in Mexico, when she placed 13th out of 16 racers. Originally the second alternate for Canada, Klus got to race at August’s Pan American junior championships in Edmonton and made the most of it by placing 16th out of 54 competitors, and third amongst 14 Canadians.

Young Royals Futuro teams shine at home tourneysThe Ottawa Royals soccer

club hosted its Kickin’ in the Capital tournaments on Aug. 11-12 (boys) and Sept. 8-9 (girls), earning several titles at their home tournament.

On the boys’ side, the Royals Futuro Red downed Capital United 1-0 for the U10 red crown, and it was the same teams with the same result in the U11 red category as well. The Royals Phantoms topped OSU by a 1-0 count to win U9 blue division and the hosts were also runners-up in U18.

The Gloucester Hornets

bested the Ottawa Royals Blue 4-3 in the U10 white A championship and also were on top of the U11 11v11 cat-egory. Gloucester cruised to a U12 red win, and beat the Internationals 2-0 to earn the U13 white division victory.

St. Anthony Sevilla topped OSU 1-0 in the U11 white final, while OSU claimed U11 blue, placed second in U10 white B and outlasted Nepean City Storm 1-0 in the U15 red final.

The Ottawa Internationals were finalists in U10 blue A, U16-17, U17 and U14 white,

won the U10 blue B event and also knocked off the Royals in U12 blue B.

The Nepean Hotspurs downed OSU 2-1 in U12 blue A and were also finalists in U13 red, while the Hotspurs Gunners lived up to their nickname in a 5-4 U16 final victory.

In the girls’ tournament, winners included OSU (U13 white, U12 white), Nepean (U9 red), Cumberland (U14-15 red), Gloucester (U10 blue) and West Ottawa (U11 red, U15 blue, U16 white and U17-18 red.)

Summer Camp! Register Now!

Between Kanata & Stittsville at 44 Iber Rd.613-836-9149 - www.olympiagymnastics.ca

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OSU Force Academy ZoneWith the

creation of its Centre of Ex-cellence, the Ottawa South United Force A c a d e m y begins an ex-

citing new initiative this fall to help players realize their potential and find a route into the College / University level and the profes-sional game in Europe or anywhere else in the world.

Run exclusively by OSU head coach Paul Harris in three phases over nine months of the year, the COE provides additional training opportunities for the most serious and com-mitted players who want more time to train.

Players have the opportunity to work daily on their technical ability while also learning and practicing superior study and living habits, nutritional knowledge, community respect, responsibility and a sense of family amongst teammates.

The COE is based on a proven European soccer philosophy, while OSU partners Nike Soccer and Dallas Texans have also provided advice and consultancy on their own personal philosophy, training methods, techniques and equipment to harness the best that England and North America have to offer.

Harris, who has spent the last 20 years involved in youth development as a player through the Crewe Youth Academy (UK) and as an Academy Coach with Everton FC of the English Premier League, will lead train-ing sessions focused on improved technical skills, decision-making, and physical and mental strength.

Harris arrived in the nation’s capital early

in the summer, and has observed that a major challenge for young, aspiring players is that they fall well short of the 10,000 prac-tice hours required to become an expert in a given field.

“The biggest problem is the amount of training they do,” states the UEFA ‘A’-li-cenced coach, noting that practicing for an hour-and-a-half 2-3 times a week may leave players up to 8,500 hours short of what’s needed when they complete their youth ca-reers. “How are you supposed to to reach your maximum potential when you’re that many hours short?”

The COE helps address some of the shortcomings Canadian soccer players tend to have compared to their counterparts elsewhere in the world. In perfecting players’ skills and technique in a challenging, fun, and positive learning environment, it will inspire creativity, flair, excitement and enter-tainment.

The goal is to provide the right combina-tion of learning through hard work and fun to develop the necessary skills that are re-quired to achieve a greater knowledge of the dynamic game of soccer, and to help players carry on their careers at the highest levels.

“We are very proud to continue to play a leading role in creating better player develop-ment opportunities for players in our region,” says OSU President Bill Michalopoulos, not-ing the COE is open to OSU players as well as those from other clubs. “The new Centre of Excellence is positive for OSU, but it’s also important, I think, for soccer as a whole in Ottawa and in Ontario.”

For more information on the COE, visit: h t t p : / / w w w . f o r c e a c a d e m y . c a /CENTREOFEXCELLENCE.php

OSU Force Academy pushes the bar with new Centre of Excellence

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ClassesbeginDec. 8

The Carleton Ravens women’s soccer team has progressed well in recent years but they haven’t quite matched the level of the very best in Ontario, which includes their Rideau Canal neighbours, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.

But this year’s squad is hoping that a unique pre-season trip to Liverpool, England will pay dividends when they face the likes of the reign-ing national champions (Queen’s) on Sept. 16 and bronze medalists (Gee-Gees) on Sept. 15.

The Ravens spent 10 days in mid-August overseas, playing four games against various levels of English teams, training daily, watching men’s and women’s pro matches, and of course, checking out all the top Beatles attractions.

“It was an amazing experience,” says third-year player Andrea Way, a former Gloucester Hornet who’s carved herself a solid university career after attending opening tryouts. “It was so much fun. We all kind of came together as a team and got to know each other really well.”

A big highlight in Way’s mind was seeing the crowd roar for a Manchester United vs Ever-ton premier league game, won by the home side, Everton. And simply soaking up the experience of being in a place where her sport is worshiped.

“Over there, football was everywhere,” explains the striker who’s also dressed for the Fury, Royals and St. Anthony’s clubs over the years. “It was really exciting because we love football, but you don’t see that as much here.”

There was a fair bit of respect for Canadian women’s soccer in England, the players no-ticed. Arriving on the last day of the Olympics may have had something to do with that, Team Canada having earned a well-deserved bronze medal from the football tournament.

“It was pretty neat because the Olympics had just ended and Canada did so well,” remarks

fourth-year midfielder Alex Druggett. “A lot of people recognized Canadian women’s soccer as being pretty good over there. A few people mentioned that Canada beat Great Britain in the (quarters). It was nice. It made us pretty proud.”

cOacH’S cOnnecTiOn creaTeS cHance

The trip came about due to coach Alex

McNutt’s Liverpool roots. The fourth-year head coach had the idea in mind for several years, but it took awhile before fundraising efforts were able to pay the tab. He’d like to continue the initiative since he believes it helps build the program, make them a better, closer team and provides inspiration to his troops.

“Players do different things, make different decisions, and when you get exposed to that, all of a sudden you’re learning new things,” McNutt adds. “It was better than expected. It was fantastic. Everything clicked into place.”

In winning three of four matches, the Ravens were in fine form at the time, but have had trouble rediscovering that level early in their season. Carleton has two wins, a loss and a tie.

“That’s a good sign that we’re not play well and still on top in games,” maintains McNutt, who feels he has his best squad in four years this season. “There’s no reason why we can’t do really well this season. I don’t think they’ve shown yet what they can do.”

The Ravens would love to put in their best effort and come out on top of the powerful Gee-Gees, who are ranked second in Canada and carry an enormous win streak against Carleton.

“Those ones are pretty personal,” notes Druggett, who’s played for the Ottawa Interna-tionals and Ottawa South United. “A lot of our friends are on Ottawa U and girls we play against (in club matches). Especially for me because I’m in my fourth year now, you don’t have much time left to beat them, so I really want to this year.”

Everton, Man U & Beatles all part of Ravens’ UK tripBy Dan Plouffe

UnIvERSITIES

The Carleton Ravens don’t go easy on each other in practice, especially as they try to recapture the form they displayed in a pre-season trip to England.

photo: dan plouffe

Born in a family of paddlers, it almost seemed like destiny that Ian Mortimer would become a paddler himself. But nothing could pre-dict the love and hard work that he would put into the sport during a ca-reer that included seven years on the Canadian senior national team.

His brother, Angus, is a fellow canoe-kayak national team member, his mother is a masters paddler and his sister, Lucy, is a coach. “Coach” will be Mortimer’s new title as well, as the two-time World Cup gold medallist and 15-time Canadian champion announced his retirement from the national team after a suc-cessful national championships in August.

It’s difficult for the Rideau Ca-noe Club veteran to pick out a ca-reer highlight – winning the Black Trophy (the Stanley Cup of pad-dling) twice was significant but overall Mortimer’s “best memories have been when the team is doing well as a group,” he says.

Racing at the 2009 worlds in Dartmouth, N.S. is also a special memory.

“I love racing in Canada,” notes Mortimer, who competed in the K-4 event alongside Ottawa’s Rhys Hill

as well as Chris Pellini and Brady Reardon. “It was awesome racing at home, huge crowd and I was liter-ally racing with my best friends in the canoe.”

wOunded warriOr

The hours of training have also produced a fair share of injuries for Mortimer. In 2006, he severely in-

jured his shoulder and underwent major surgery, which took him out of competing for 2007. Then, start-ing in 2010, Mortimer has been ex-periencing serious problems with his hip, which will send him to the surgeon’s table this fall.

“I have to retire. I can’t keep paddling,” explains Mortimer, who’s now accepted the reality that his

high-perform-ance career is over. “I have no bitter feelings. You get to a cer-tain point and you work hard for so long. For the past years, my body hasn’t allowed me to train where I need and can be and that was frustrating.”

Despite the beating his body has taken, Mor-timer believes it’s worth it.

“If I was 12 and you told me what would happen, I would say ‘yes’ in an instant, no hes-itation,” says the athlete who made his inter-national debut at the 2001 junior world champi-onships. “I got to race at such a high level. I am very thankful for everything. I became friends

ELITEInjuries lead Morty to retirement

By Leah Larocque

file photo

Doc Hockey CornerTo recap my

previous article, Malcolm Gladwell explained that it takes approx-imately 10,000 hours to become an expert in any

given field. Furthermore, he says that opportunity is

one of the primary influential factors needed to acquire the skillsets to be an expert and ultimately perform successfully at the highest level. However, it is critical to be on the path or already have 10,000 hours established so that when the opportunity arises, one is able to take full advantage of the situation.

Let’s look at one example from Gladwell: out of the 75 richest people in history, 20% of them come from the U.S. in the mid 1900s. Their age and the opportunity of being born when they could take advantage of the be-ginning of the industrial revolution were hugely important, he notes.

When applying this same principle to sports, Gladwell suggests that opportunity has a lot to do with the time of year that a player is born, and age deadlines. Being born at the beginning of the year offers the advant-age of additional maturity, being physically larger and better coordination.

These attributes attune the player to per-form at a higher level and they are more readily selected to high-caliber teams. The athletes who made the cut to be on compet-itive teams at an early age are positioned to have more practice time, more game time, better coaching, and play in more pressure situations, which allows them to develop their confidence to be the “go-to player.”

10,000-hOuR maRk kEy TO dRaFTIn Gladwell’s book Outliers: The Story of

Success, he demonstrates a play-by-play of a Memorial Cup final junior game by repla-cing player names with their birthdates. By taking this approach, he was able to show that the majority of players’ birthdates range from January 1st to the end of April, and it was confirmed these players experienced the most ice time, preferred coaching, and were placed strategically in critical game time situations. The maturity factor appears to be the primary reasons for their success.

Accomplishing this landmark of 10,000 hours will allow these hockey players to have the required skills when their draft time ar-rives, and they then tend to be selected in the early rounds.

This is apparent in the longer road NCAA players take to get their chance in the NHL rather than Major Junior Leagues, where there are much more players age eligible and who are drafted directly into the NHL.

As mentioned in the last article, the Beatles, Bill Gates and now our Memorial Cup hockey players all achieved their 10,000 hours faster and with better practice quality hours than most, allowing them to excel.

vaRiETy & pROpER pROGRamSGet your hours in from multiple sports

working on different coordination patterns, different muscle strengths, and different mental processes. Preparation/Training, Pre-vention, and Quick Recovery is all part of the 10,000 hour requirement.

It is important for each player to realize that their dream is all about taking advantage of opportunities, positioning oneself to be ex-posed to the positive experiences, and prac-ticing the correct methods to improve.

Determine your strengths and use them in advantageous ways on the ice. Identify your weakness and practice and work extraordin-arily hard to become a master of this skillset. For example, if you realize your skating or stickhandling is deficient, it is time to check out who has the teaching abilities to help you improve.

Many times it is entirely the training path you take, the people you meet, coaches and trainers that influence you, and the amount of training (physical, mental, psychological and spiritual) and opportunity that ultimately decides your future. However, when the op-portunity surfaces, be prepared with the right mindset and go for it!

EXpLOSivE pOWER TRaiNiNGFor those who are dedicated to the sport

of hockey, Doc Hockey has established a training program called Explosive Power. It is a customized training program to develop your body to allow you to have a explosive acceleration and increase your balance and fluidity when skating.

Prevention, Recovery, Performance. Doc Hockey provides consultation regard-

ing personal training for explosive power, quick recovery from injuries and prevention of injuries. Please feel free to contact me via the information below.

Where opportunity and experts meet! --By Dr. Shayne Baylis, Doc Hockey

doc hockey

@doc_hockey

visit dochockey.ca or call 613-371-4774.

pREvENTiON - pERFORmaNCE - RECOvERy

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with the best people all over the world.“You’re going to get injured and

worn down no matter what. I would do it all again.”

Retiring in Nova Scotia was mean-ingful to Mortimer as he got to spend the week with teammates he has been racing with since 1995.

“It was nice retiring and sharing the experience at the same time (with the guys), and my family there,” smiles the captain of Rideau’s recently-crowned war canoe national champs. “A great bookend to my career.”

Mortimer says he will forever be connected to the sport. He continues to be seen daily at the club.

“You can retire from the national team but you can’t retire from the

sport,” Mortimer notes.

ScHOOl, cOacHing & cHariTy nexT

Mortimer organizes a fun charity race called “Yak for a Stack,” which has featured all of the top-5 kayak fin-ishers from this summer’s Olympic Games. He plans to continue that event, finish his Masters of Canadian Studies at Carleton University, and coach.

His advice to young paddlers is simple and honest.

“Work really, really hard and never be shy to work harder than everyone else around you,” Mortimer explains. “Find a sport that you love and work really hard. Love it, embrace it. Em-brace the training, live every moment.”

Advice Mortimer has lived by.

Ian Mortimer (right) received his Ottawa Sports Awards trophy as male athlete of the year for 2009 from former Rideau Canoe Club commodore Mike Scott.

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902 Pinecrest Rd. Ottawa, K2B 6B3

Dan [email protected]

Larry RingDirector of Business [email protected]

The Ottawa Sportspage is printed the first Tuesday of every month by Ott-awa Sports Media, the locally-owned and operated publishers of the Ottawa Sportspage and SportsOttawa.com.

Paralympics show there is no normal, while revealing loads of extraordinary

To say that Andrew Stewart-Jones has landed on the RADAR is an un-derstatement.

The former national-level cross-country skier from the Nak-kertok Nordic club recently switched to a new sport, registering surprising results at races, and with Rowing Canada’s series of evaluating tests.

Rowing Athlete Development and Ranking (RADAR) is the five-test system that the Canadian rowing world uses to rank their athletes.

After moving to Peterborough and Trent University only four

months ago, Stewart-Jones’ test res-ults rank him at a remarkable level of fitness and technique.

“I did really well with the 6 km distance,” Stewart-Jones says about what he called a “painful” race against the clock. “I set a new Ca-nadian record of 18 minutes and 20 seconds, beating the results of all of the guys on the Canadian silver medal team.”

The 22-year-old also received one of the top national times for his 2 km test, which is the official Olympic race distance.

“The hardest part of the testing process was being consistent over

all the tests and all five days,” high-lights the athlete who placed fourth in single sculls at August’s Royal Ca-nadian Henley Regatta in St. Cathar-ines, Ont.

TranSiTiOn frOm SkiS TO bOaTS

At first glance, there seems to be little in common between Nordic ski-ing and rowing. One is a winter sport involving snow, ice, hills and for-ward-facing speed, while the other is a summer sport based on backwards movement across flatwater.

Stewart-Jones argues that his two decades on skis was excellent prepar-ation for his new athletic pursuit.

“Skiing taught me the importance of technique,” he explains. “I know how to analyze it and I know how to pick it up. I watched videos for skiing and now I watch them for rowing. I know exactly what I have to do.”

In rowing, Stewart-Jones has also found a comfortable home for his frame. Where once his 6’4”, 220-lb. body and size 14 feet pushed the limits of his ski equipment, his size is now an advantage.

Rowing Canada recently put out the call for athletes over 6’3” with a willingness to sacrifice, and Stew-art-Jones fits the bill.

“He is the same height as Mi-

chael Phelps but his wing span is actually an inch longer at 6’8”,” ob-serves Kevin Jones, Stewart-Jones’ father and a coach with the Nakker-tok ski team.

Stewart-Jones expects to spend the winter months training and learn-ing more about rowing at Trent. He will also be pursuing a career in busi-ness, a stream he chose as a venue for his competitiveness.

“I was definitely frustrated with skiing,” Stewart-Jones notes. “So, I made the switch with no expecta-tions.

“I have realized that with rowing, anything is possible.”

When you first start watching para-sport, one frequent piece of advice is not to focus on the disability, but rather enjoy the sporting achievements in front of you.

Rick Hansen believes that media cov-erage of the Paralympics has evolved in a positive way, from the patronizing “in-spirational” stories of overcoming a dis-ability into more traditional sports cover-age, where there is an appreciation and understanding of what really constitutes a world-class performance.

In attending my first Paralympic Games, it’s hard not to be inspired by these athletes. But he’s right, it’s not be-cause someone without legs manages to swim, it’s that these champions are lay-ing it in the line in just the same fashion as inspirational Olympians do.

Seeing the Paralympics up close has made me realize that there really isn’t a

so-called “normal.” And that people with supposed disabilities can achieve just as much as able-bodied people can.

And not just on the sports field – I worked alongside reporters at the Para-lympics who were blind, had no arms, needed walking aids, were in wheel-chairs. A London newspaper mentioned there was a photographer shooting the Games who is legally blind, but once he’s behind the viewfinder, he’s able to do his job just as well as anyone else.

The reporter with very little vision I sat beside at the Opening Ceremonies had a magnified screen so he could type his story. The man with no arms needed help getting his tea, but he could sip at it like anyone else by tipping the cup with his mouth. There were people ready to assist those who needed it.

Society seems to be evolving to prop-

erly integrate members who were once marginalized. Of course, there’s still work to be done, and this particular experience came in the birthplace of the Paralympics, but I believe our world is moving forward.

And of course there’s that spectacu-lar sporting show that England embraced full-heartedly.

Sold-out crowds packing the stands for every athletics session – unbeliev-able! The goalball venue was mostly full for preliminary round games too.

So many memories – from the roar GB’s hero David Weir received each time he went for one of his four gold medals, to Canadian swimming legend Benoit Huot’s pure, unrepressed joy and thankfulness when he won his gold medal.

No question what is my favourite memory though – watching my buddy from West End Wolverines house league

hockey guide Jason Dunkerley to two medals.

Josh and I of course go way back, and I’ve got to know Jason pretty well in recent years too, and let me tell you, there couldn’t be two more deserving people.

Jason’s got to be the most humble man you’ll ever meet for someone who’s achieved so much. And seeing Josh’s face light up like a kid in a candy shop when he stepped up on the podium and looked up towards 80,000 people saluting him... Wow. There are no words.

A big thank you to Sportspage writer/photographer extraordinaire Ian Ewing for accompanying me on this London adventure, to LOCOG for having us out, to the fabulous, generous Games volun-teers, and to the wonderful people at the Canadian Paralympic Committee for their top-notch assistance from start to finish.

Can you name Canada’s London 2012 Paralympic medalists?OTTAWA SPORTSPAGE CROSSWORD

By Anne Duggan

Can you name Canada's Paralympic medalists?Dan Plouffe

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Across1 3-time T53 wheelchair racing

silver medalist Brent _______ 4 S10 50 m freestyle swimming

silver medalist Nathan ______ 6 Canada won a bronze medal in

this mixed pairs team competition sport. _______

8 S7 50 m butterfly silver medalist swimmer Brianna _______

9 Ottawa's silver & bronze medalist, T11 middle distance runner Jason ________

11 Bronze medalist archer Norbert ______

13 Owner of two S10 swimming gold, one silver and one bronze medals Summer _______

14 S13 gold and 2-time silver medalist swimmer Valerie ______

15 2-time T35 runner with cerebral palsy bronze medalist Virginia ________

Down2 T52 gold and silver medalist

wheelchair racer Michelle ________

3 Cycling road race gold medalist in visually-impaired category Robbi ______

5 S10 400 m freestyle silver medalist swimmer Aurelie ______

7 Canada won the gold medal in this team sport, wheelchair __________

10 S11 silver and bronze medalist swimmer Amber ______

11 Cycling time trial bronze medalist in limb impairments category Marie-Claude ______

12 Canada won the silver medal in this team sport, wheelchair ________

16 S10 gold, silver and bronze medalist swimmer & Closing Ceremonies flag bearer Benoit ____


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Thinking back to high school when he first started running, Dunker-ley can’t believe that he’s managed to win medals from four consecutive Paralympic Games – a total of three silver and two bronze.

“I was so far away from ever even considering it,” reflected the athlete born with a congenital eye condition called Leber’s Amaurosis. “It’s so dif-ferent than any other competition. It’s about trying to get it right on one day out of every four years.

“It’s all about getting to the start-ing line feeling healthy and strong and confident and dealing with a crowd like this and the effects of everything that goes with it.

“It’s been a privilege to be able to have been involved in this sport. I’m very proud that we’re here and we ran well.”

DUNKERLEY: ‘Very proud’ of Lon- don performance, and unexpected four career Para-lympic appearancescontinued from Front

Former cross-country skier making big waves in new pursuit of rowing

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Coming home has resulted in a ticket to the Rugby Sevens World Cup for Canadian national team member Julianne Zussman.

The Ottawa native and her team not only qualified to compete with the very best next June in Russia, they did it without allowing a single point against them at the NACRA re-gional qualifying tournament, held Aug. 25-26 at Twin Elm Rugby Park in Richmond.

Canada’s record in dispatching of Jamaica Cayman Islands, Mexico and Trinidad & To-bago is a “testament to our professionalism,” Zussman says. “While putting big points on the board, we maintained a high level of play.”

Playing at Twin Elm – a field she knows well from her time with the Ottawa Irish club as well as her high school days at Ashbury College – in front of many friends and family was a career highlight.

“It was incredible to have them all there cheering,” smiles the 25-year-old who played her first matches in Ottawa since moving to Langford, B.C., the national team’s home base.

Qualifying for the 2013 Rugby Sevens World Cup may be especially memorable, Zussman adds, since it will likely be the last one ever, with the sevens game set to make its Olympic debut in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

“The Olympics are taking over as the highest level in our sport,” highlights the na-tional team member of five years.

Zussman, who is hoping to be a member of the Canadian team come the Rio Games, says the national rugby program is very solid, enabling her squad to compete at the level of the world’s best rugby countries such as Great Britain.

“It’s strong and it’s growing,” she notes. “And I can only see it getting bigger after the Olympics.”

Dominant NACRA win for ZussmanBy Anne Duggan

photo provided

Julianne Zussman and the Canadian women’s rugby 7s team did not allow a point against at August’s World Cup qualifier in Ottawa.

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The Hotspurs are the clear favourites, having earned an undefeated 12-0-2 record in league play, including a pair of three-goal victories over the Hornets. Nepean has been masterful since July 5 – the last time they failed to win an East Region match by at least three goals. Hornets leading scorer Alyssa Baker is due for a Cup goal, having registered all 15 of her markers in league play for her 7-2-4 squad.

bOyS’ u16

Both the Nepean Hotspurs and Gloucester Hornets are

thankful to be in the ER Cup finals, having survived semi-fi-nal penalty kicks against OSU Power and Nepean City. It’s a bit of an unexpected trip to the final for Nepean, who went 5-7 in league play but earned three wins in the ER Cup. The Hornets, meanwhile, won the division crown via tiebreaker over the Ottawa Internationals, earning an 8-3-1 record in the ERSL. Stewart Bennett has caught fire in recent matches to lead Gloucester’s offens-ive attack along with Mathieu Goupil and Xavier Pereira.

girlS’ u16

The OSU Force have a

shot at an East Region double as they take on the Glengarry club that finished closest to them in ERSL league play. One of just two losses for OSU this season came against Glengarry as they cruised to a league title with a 12-1-2 record. Backed by goalkeeper Kathleen Mc-Cormick, the Force have not yet allowed a goal in Cup play, while Glengarry has allowed just one. OSU’s top gunner Darby Perry will hope to open up the goal-scoring gates in the final.

U17/U18 WRAP

The U17/18 Cup finals were played back on Aug.

19, with West Ottawa pre-vailing on the boys’ side and Gloucester earning the girls’ crown. West Ottawa U18 boys’ leading scorer Ali Er-can got the lone goal in his ERSL-champion team’s 1-0 victory over Cumberland, while the Gloucester U17 girls followed up their ERSL title with a penalty-kicks Cup vic-tory over Belleville following a scoreless contest.

Three other teams earned undefeated records in ERSL play this season – the Cum-berland U16 Level 4 boys, the West Ottawa U17 Level 3 boys and the Gloucester U21 women.

COMMUnITY CLUbS

ER CUP FINALS from p. 6

TYkES CLAIM PIECE Of NEPEAN LACROSSE HISTORY

photo provided photo provided

They’re only seven and eight years old, but the Nepean Knights Tyke team are already making history. For the first time, Nepean won a provincial title in their age group, claiming the ‘B’ division crown in Durham.

COBRAS CROSS PATHS wITH CANADIAN HEROES

(From left) Team Canada’s Erin MacLeod, Melissa Tancredi and Diana Matheson.

Read more on SportsOttawa.com

Young Cumberland United Soccer Club players got to visit with their Olympic heroes when three members of bronze medal-winning Team Canada came to the Cobras club- house on Sept. 10 for Q & A and photo & autograph sessions.

Several members of the Ottawa Swans Australian Rules Football club travelled to Dublin, Ohio in August to play against the United States in the 49th Parallel Cup. From left, Jay Goldhawk (men’s developmental team member), women’s team members Cather-ine Geci, Holly Costanza, Emma Dickinson, Lisa Dalla Rosa, Brier Dodge, Ricki-Lee Pitman and supporter Charles Bernard hold up a Swans jersey following the Northern Lights women’s team’s game. The men’s development team and Northern Lights fell to the U.S., while the women’s development team came home with a win. Every three years, the Northern Lights and men’s Northwind team attend the International Cup in Australia, which was last held in 2011.

photo provided

AUSSIE RULES OTTAwANS TAkE ON USA

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LONDON – Patrice Dagenais brought home his first Paralympic medal on the final day of competition, only hours before attending a spec-tacular Closing Ceremonies featuring Coldplay, Rihanna, and Jay-Z. For “Pico”, as he’s known to his teammates, it was the culmination of a lifelong dream to compete at the highest levels of sport.

“I’m finally at the top,” the 27-year-old wheelchair rugby player said of competing at the Paralympic Games.

Dagenais’s Canadian wheelchair rugby team fell to an unbeaten Australian juggernaut 66-51 in the gold medal match on Sunday, Sept. 9. Canada was outclassed from the start against the tournament favourites, falling behind 18-11 after the first quarter.

But the most memorable match for the Cana-dian players and Paralympic fans alike was the semi-final one day earlier against the U.S. when they assured themselves of a medal. Canada ex-ploded out of the gate to take a dominant 16-9 lead after eight minutes before hanging on for a

heart-stopping 50-49 victory. The U.S. tied the game in the final minute, but a crucial turnover allowed the Canadians to run the clock out and score with 0.5 seconds remaining for the win and the berth in the gold medal game.

“It was a bit scary,” Dagenais admitted after his squad beat the U.S. in a match for the first time in eight years, dating back to the 2004 Athens Games. “But we had the momentum all throughout the game, and we were confident we could beat them. It was just a matter of execut-ing.”

The Paralympic rookie received significant court time throughout the tournament, includ-ing over eight minutes in the final, as Canadian coach Kevin Orr sought to blunt the Australian attack with different looks. Although nothing Canada tried helped much, it was a vote of con-fidence for Dagenais in his debut on the sport’s biggest stage.

praiSe frOm SpOrT’S VeTeranS“To be a rookie, and play this many minutes

– ice-cold,” stated veteran teammate Mike Whitehead. “He’s got ice in his veins. He de-serves every minute he plays – he’s worked really hard.”

Garett Hickling, the second eldest player on the team and Canada’s Opening Ceremonies flag bearer, echoed that sentiment.

“They’ve definitely earned their spot,” he said of the young players on the team. “They’re very well composed.”

In fact, Dagenais had to earn his spot twice. The Embrun native was cut from his first stint with the national team in 2009, but took his dis-appointment and returned to the Ottawa Stingers, his local club, with redemption in mind. In 2011, he made it back to the top level.

“You can tell that it was actually a good thing that happened to him,” Whitehead observed.

“Because he went out and worked harder, and he’s a phenomenal player. His stamina, his speed, and he’s a really, really bright guy. He’s a special athlete.”

lifT frOm enTHralled paralympic crOwd

The squad had also lost to Australia in their opening game of the tournament, 64-52. Al-though they hoped to maintain their intensity and momentum from the U.S. game into the final, the powerful Australian squad proved too much, in spite of a crowd estimated at 12,000 fans, most of whom were cheering for Canada.

“I’ve never played in front of a crowd like this,” marvelled Dagenais, a former Jr. C hockey player who lost use of his legs after a construc-tion accident at age 18. “It motivates me. I had a lot of energy out there.”

And after a taste of playing in that atmo-sphere, and at that level, the La Cité Collegiale business marketing grad is hungry for more.

“Obviously we wanted gold, but we got silver, and we’re happy,” Dagenais reflected, smiling down at the medal around his neck. “I loved this. There’s no way I’m quitting this sport right now!”

Dagenais savours silver in Paralympic debutBy Ian Ewing

photos: dan plouffe

Canada’s wheelchair rugby team celebrated a heart-stopping one-point win in the semis – the first time they beat the U.S. in 8 years.

Patrice Dagenais played significant minutes throughout the tournament to help Canada win silver in his Paralympic Games debut.

Out of almost 2,500 athletes, Ottawa competitors were front-and-centre at the 2012 Ontario Summer Games, earning a ton of medals across the board in 28 sports from Aug. 16-19 in Toronto.

Leading the parade to the podium was GO Kingfish swimmer Montana Champagne, who captured eight medals in total – one gold, one silver and six bronze – in the University of Toronto pool.

Swimmers Josée Barrette (3 gold, 1 silver), Trae Parsons (3 gold, 2 sil-ver, 1 bronze), Ryan Telford (2 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze), Sam McLean (2 silver, 2 bronze) and Scott Quirie (2 silver, 3 bronze) all collected four or more medals as well.

Victor Turcanu from the Ottawa River Canoe Club also managed to snag four medals in canoe-kayak sprint – gold in the men’s K-2 1,000 metres, gold in the men’s K-1 1,000 m, bronze in the men’s K-1 3,000 m and bronze in the men’s K-4 1,000 m alongside David Burbidge, Chris

Tabri and Jared Schmidt – who were fresh off a silver medal victory at the Canadian cham-pionships in the midget age group.

The Ontario Summer Games take place one year before the Canada Games – both events that offer de-veloping youth athletes an opportunity to test them-selves in a multi-sport environment to prepare themselves for bigger stages such as the Olympics.

2012 medalists from the na-tion’s capital included:

men’S baSkeTball

BRONZE – Frederick Njikam, Fraser Curry, Eric Saumure, Brent

Ashfield, Jonathan Asedri, Souber Aden Akli, Steve Nkusi, Adam Con-stanzo, Ali-Hanad Yusuf, Emile Ant-oun, Eric Ilunga, Corey Johnson

canOe-kayak SprinT

Jacqueline Houston, Victor Turc-anu, Katie Acelvari, Allison Keller, August Sibthorpe, Lochlin Farquhar-son, Scott Braddon, Alec Bradford,

David Burbidge, Chris Tabri, Jared Schmidt, Tom Huff, Zach Porter

fencing

SILVER – Ar-thur Sharf (Men’s Cadet Sabre), GOLD – Alastair Keyes (Men’s Cadet Foil), BRONZE – Jenny Zhao (Women’s Ca-det Foil), GOLD – Alastair Keyes, Aiden Heffernan (Team Fencing),

BRONZE – Geoffrey Devaney, Patrick Fournier, Phillip Williams (Team Fencing)

men’S field HOckey

BRONZE – Connor Baird, Marek Chopra, Rohan Chopra, Adam Graham, Curtis James, Liam Man-ning, Chad Mosley, Braedon Mul-doon, Vittorio Peloso, Syed Asem

Quadiri, Brennan Roach, Joel Ryan, Dylan Singh, Ian Venables, coaches Sandeesh Singh, Sandeep Chopra

men’S rugby

SILVER – Mason Dingwall, Myles Anderson, Christian St–Louis, Cameron Thomas, Fraser Hill, Mason Fatoric, John Shaw, Kevin Vuckovic

SkeeT SHOOTing

GOLD – Zach Andruchow (12 Gauge Team)

Swimming

Josée Barrette, Miles Ruttan, Trae Parsons, Ryan Telford, Montana Champagne, Chuchu Yang, Sam McLean, Alyson Lascelles, Scott Quirie, Sarah Asselin, Abigail Gart-land, Matthew Hayward, Nic Ferland

men’S TriaTHlOn

SILVER - Alec Jarvis*Ontario’s East region were silver

medal winners in both men’s and wo-men’s ball hockey as well.

Ottawa swimmers rack up medals at Ontario Summer Games

file photo

Bytown Storm triathlete Alec Jarvis was a silver medalist at the 2012 Ontario Summer Games in Toronto.

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