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ONTARIO BLIND SPORTS ASSOCIATION SPOTLIGHT 

Ontario captures Gold and Bronze at the National Junior Goalball Championships

The Canadian Junior Goalball Championships were held at the W. Ross Macdonald School April 19-21.

Provinces competing at the tournament included British Columbia, Alberta, Team Western Canada (Sask. + B.C.), Ontario and New Brunswick. Pittsburgh V.I.P. was invited to play in the Men’s Division. Pittsburgh is ranked as the top Under 20 goalball team in the United States.

It was a battle for North American goalball bragging rights in the Championship game of the Men’s division of the Canadian Junior Goalball Championships.  In the end, the Ontario Junior Allblacks captured the Men’s Canadian Junior Goalball Championships with a 11-10 victory over Pittsburgh V.I.P.  It was the third year in a row that Ontario has won the tournament. The Ontario Junior Trilliums won the bronze medal in the women’s division with a 10-8 victory over New Brunswick.

Men’s Division

In what may be the greatest game ever played in the 8 year history of the tournament, The Junior AllBlacks were able to hold off a determined Pittsburgh team who were trying to avenge their loss in 2012. Justin Lowrey had 8 goals for Ontario and Kyle Brunet had three. Ontario led 6-5 at the half. Lowrey scored 2 goals in the last minute of play to break a 9-9 tie. Pittsburgh added a goal with 7 seconds left in the game to make the final score 11-10.

In the semi-finals,  Ontario defeated Alberta 5-2. Ontario finished the round-robin portion of the tournament with a 4 win and 1 loss record. Their loss to New Brunswick  (5-4) was their first tournament loss in three years. Members of the Ontario Team were: Justin Lowrey, Erik Miller, Kyle Brunet and Arvin Carandang. They are coached by Bob Mannen and Mike Breuls. The All-tournament Team consisted of Simon Richard (New Brunswick), Callahan Young (Pittsburgh) and Justin Lowrey (Ontario).

Ontario entered a second men’s team : Ontario White. They were beaten by New Brunswick in the quarter-finals. Team members were: T.J. Gill, Brice Parker, Palmer Douglas and Nathan Lamont. They were coached by Mr. Bill  Morgan and Drew Finucane.

In a great side story, Simon Braham (Ontario) was drafted by Team Alberta and was a key reason that the Alberta team won a bronze medal. Congratulations Simon.

Women’s Division

In the Women’s division, The Ontario Junior Trilliums held on to defeat New Brunswick 10-8 to win the bronze medal.  Emma Reinke led Ontario with 5 goals. Jill Havens and Meaghan Mahon had 2 goals each and Brooklyn Fraser added a single goal. Ontario lost earlier in the tournament to B.C. in the semi-finals 15-7.

Members of Team Ontario are Jill Havens, Meaghan Mahon, Emma Reinke, Brooklyn Fraser, Shaunelle Gregory and  Gen Hart. They are coached by Jen McMillan and Annette Lizabeth-Carmen.  Annette is a former Paralympic gold medalist in goalball and has represented Canada in two Paralympic games.

Team Western Canada defeated B.C.  7-6  to win the gold medal.

The All-Tournament team consisted of Ashley Andrews (British Columbia), Brenda Luke (Team Western

One final note. This was the 6^th time that OBSA have hosted the event at the WRMS. Special thanks to the following: Sue Blackford and her transportation committee. Sue has helped with every tournament and she will be missed next year. Traci MacPhee , Michelle Kaczmarek and Peggy Wellwood for looking after the food, Deb Jansen for organizing the game schedules, Bob Mannen, Mike Breuls, Bill Morgan, Drew Finucane, Jen McMillan and Annette Lizabeth-Carmen for coaching; Stan Kaczmarek, Shawn Armstrong, Traci MacPhee and Michelle Kaczmarek for refereeing.  Finally a big thank you to Walter Gretzky who was here for most of the weekend.

Mick Ferras

Ontario Goalball Coordinator

OBSA

A Message from the President - 2013 Senior Goalball Nationals

Congratulations to our Ontario Women's team for capturing the gold medal with a great team effort!

These athletes performed extremely well and this is a testament to the great leadership and coaching demonstrated by their coach and fearless leader, Jennifer McMillan!

Our men's team battled hard and were right there in every game with just a bounce or 2 making the difference in not quite making it to the podium!

Tremendous effort and great promise for the future!

It would appear coach Cliff Martin has this team on the right track and I believe that with his guidance and commitment they are positioned extremely well for future competitions!

Thank you to Jen and Cliff for all they give and I am looking forward to the Junior Nationals Apr-19-21 in Brantford where we will see the future of our senior program on display!

Glen Wade, OBSA President

Ontario ParaSport Games

Register for the upcoming ParaSport Games! OBSA is looking for anyone interested in Goalball or Athletics.

Participant Registration PSO Information.pdf

Ontario Blind Sports Association Recreational Goalball Tournament

OBSA will be running a recreational goalball tournament for all ages and ability levels on May 11th from 9am-5pm at W. Ross MacDonald School in Brantford, Ontario. For details, please click on the Microsoft document.

Goalball Recreational Tournament 2013.doc

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