Monday, December 6, 2010

At The Half


8 & 2. Good? Bad? It is all a matter of perspective, I suppose. There are lots of teams that would be thrilled to be 8 & 2 at this point in their season. I am not. Not at all. We lost 2 matches in the 5th set. Both winnable matches, but both against teams that, as they proved, are good enough that when you don't bring your best when it matters, you lose. Sure, injuries were a factor for our team all fall. At one point or another 4 of our 5 4th year guys were out, but we are deep and talented and regardless of who was on the floor, those were winnable. We just needed to play better when it mattered most.

That isn't rocket science. A coach suggesting that their team needs to play better to win. Imagine that? But seriously, confidence under pressure is the difference between winning and losing. The old adage, 'if you think you can't you won't', is so true. Internal dialogue, including positive, aggressive, affirmative thoughts is a big part of it. A great performance consultant, J.P. Pawliw-Fry once told me, "Athletes need to stop and think about what they are thinking about". They need to check their internal dialogue and thought process when in the heat of battle. What's in your head at that time can be the difference between winning and losing. No room for doubt. No excuses. Just step up and get it done.

That is what we have on our agenda. As we muddle our way through exams and start our second half preparation, we will focus on our weaknesses. We will ask players to step out of their comfort zone in the name of growing their game.

Our goals are high, and while 8 & 2 isn't where we want to be, finishing first is still attainable. We are optimistic and at the same time we know that we need to take care of all the details. In sport, anything can happen. That's part of what makes it fun and challenging. We look forward to that challenge.

Hope you can join us in the second half. It is an exciting team to watch and we appreciate the support the Gaels fans and family bring both at home and on the road.

Happy Holidays to All,

Go Gaels Go!

Friday, December 3, 2010

quote of the week

Hi All.

So we were taking the men's bball team through a 'character development' workout on the force treadmill this afternoon. One of the boys had his head in a bucket after the second set while his team mates went about completing set 3. When he was asked if he could get on the treadmill he stated "it's better than not doing it." Quote of the week, month or even year. Love it. You can not put a price on what that did for the team, the player and for my level of respect for that guy.

Women's Basketball -- Game Report

Hi Folks,

A quick note this time around.  We managed a win last night against our cross-town rivals RMC, 65-43.  We were a little “cold” from the outside to start the game, but did manage to convert a number of transition points to lead 18-12 after the first quarter.  A sloppier second quarter only increased the margin by 1, 32-25 by half time.  A sharper third quarter, 21-6 put the game out of reach.  Brittany Moore led all scorers with 17 points, including 3 for 5 from behind the arc.  Liz Boag continued her stellar play with 14 points (2 for 4 from the 3-point line).  Lisa Minutillo added 11 points, while Sydney Kernahan grabbed 12 boards and Jill Wheat grabbed 11 rebounds.

The first question I get asked at work is not what the score was – I’m asked if we had any more injuries?  Fortunately, the answer is no – no more injuries, thank goodness.  Christine Wallace (injured in the McGill game) underwent ACL knee surgery earlier this week and was up and about yesterday.  Meaghan MacDougall injured her knee against Western and is now scheduled for ACL surgery as well.  Both are looking to be back, fully healed in June.

Rachael Urosevic has been out for just over a month with a stress fracture in her foot.  We are hoping that the doctor will give her clearance to begin playing again post Christmas.  Jordan Tomas has also been out for over a month with pain in her feet.  We are hoping for the same prognosis.

Gemma Bullard suffered a concussion in our game against Guelph and is progressing.  She has begun light exercise and hopes to be at full capacity after Christmas as well.

As an update on our “Shoot for the Cure” Breast Cancer Fundraising initiative – we were able to raise over $1,500.00.  Bob Urosevic joined our challenge group and donated $1 per point as well to push us over the $1,500 mark.  Thanks to everyone for their support – both with the team and with this fundraising effort.

Reminder: ID/Training Camp is this Sunday (Dec. 5) from 9-11am and 1-3pm.  Interested players in Grades 10-12 are welcome – just drop me a quick note so I can prepare for the numbers.

Up Next on the Road:

Wed-Fri. Dec. 29-31 @ Concordia Tournament in Montreal

First Game: Wed. Dec. 29 vs Bishop’s 4:00pm

All the best.

Dave.


Gaels snap six game losing skid with 65-43 win over RMC

KINGSTON, Ont. (December 2, 2010) - The Queen's Gaels women's basketball team snapped a six game losing streak with a 65-43 win over cross town rival Royal Military College (RMC) on Thursday evening at RMC.

Queen's Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., was the game's leading scorer recording 17 points with nine of those coming on three pointers. Kingston's Liz Boag chipped in 14 points while Lisa Minutillo of Brantford, Ont., tallied 11.

Sydney Kernahan of Calgary, was the games top rebounder posting 12 boards. Jill Wheat of Marwayne, Alta., also broke double digits in rebounds with 11. Wheat currently sits 18th in the nation with 63 total rebounds.

Carley Lewis of Halifax, Ont., and Sandy Edminson of Carleton Place, Ont., were RMC's top scorers sinking 12 points each. Stephanie Stone of Kingston notched a double-double for the Palidins with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The win puts the Gaels record at 2-7 which ties them with the Ryerson Rams for fifth place in the OUA East heading into the December exam break. RMC holds a 1-8 record and is tied with Laurentian for last place with two points.

Queen's will be back on the court from December 29-31 in the exhibition Concordia Invitational Tournament in Montreal. Their next regular season match is set for Jan. 7 against the Laurentian Lady Vees in North Bay.

NOTES: The Gaels last win came against the Waterloo Warriors back on Nov. 6. Queen's captured that game 66-44... Minutillo's 11 points equalled a career high; she also scored 11 against Waterloo on Nov. 6.

 

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,
 
Life did not get any easier on the Queen’s basketball front.  We faced the #1 ranked team in the nation (Windsor) on Friday and the #5 ranked team (Western) on Saturday.   Both resulted in losses:  19 to Windsor (77-58) and 1 to Western (65-64). (Q’s sports info reports below)
 
We started fairly well against Windsor – only trailing by 2 at the end of the first quarter.  The second quarter, however, we were steamrolled and went into the half down 16.  That climbed over 20 in the third, before battling back in the fourth.  Brittany Moore finished with 16 points, while Liz Boag added 14.  Hanna Koposhynska hit double digits with 11 rebounds to go along with her 6 points.
 
Western was a different story.  We trailed by 2 after the first, but had a strong second quarter to lead by 5 at the half.  That lead was cut to 3 by the end of the third.  Western had a small run that returned them the lead, eventually by as much as 5.  We battled hard, fouled at the end, but could only get back within 1. Moore, again led the team in scoring with 21 points, and again, Boag was on her heels with 16.  Paige Robinson added 10 points, while Jill Wheat grabbed 14 rebounds to go with her 5 points.
 
The Windsor game was our “Shoot for the Cure” game designed to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research.  While I do not have the final figures of the money we raised, I am very pleased to announce the number of people & companies that accepted my challenge of donating $1 for every point scored in the game (which ended up being 135).  Many thanks to:
 
Kathy Jackson – School of Kinesiology & Health Studies
Sherwood Smith – benefactor of the Catherine Gertrude Milliken-Smith Award
Lenore & Ron Porter (offered to match $1 for each Windsor point and $2 for each Q’s point – thank you)
Peggy Reid & Sandy Boag (Peggy won the 50/50 draw and donated her winnings as well – thanks very much)
Mila Koposhynska’s employer: Zayouna Law Firm (Toronto)
Alison Robinson (her donation will be matched by her employer Pfizer Animal Health)
Katie Guthrie & Marcel Beaudin (Katie played last year, of course)
 
Thanks very much to all – I will have the final figures in my next newsletter.
 
Reminder: Sunday, December 5 – ID/Training Camp
On-court 9-11am & 1-3pm.  Contact me if you are interested in participating.
 
Up Next on the Road:
Thursday, December 2 @ RMC 6pm
 
Have a great week!
 
Dave.
 
No. 1 Windsor tops Queen's 77-58
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 26, 2010) – Jessica Clemencon of St. Rambert, France tallied a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds pacing the No. 1 Windsor Lancers to a 77-58 win over the Queen's Gaels.
 
The Lancers improve to 6-1 on the season and have outscored their opponents by double digits in each of their six wins.
 
Queen's Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., had 16 points in the loss, which was above her season average of 13.8 ppg. Hanna Koposhynska of Toronto had a team-high 11 rebounds while Kingston's Liz Boag had 14 points off the bench, going 3 for 6 from three point range.
 
The Lancers had four players score in double figures, and were benefitted by 45% field goal shooting. Bojana Kovacevic of Windsor was the Lancers second leading scorer with 14 points.
 
Windsor held Queen's to 10 points in the second quarter and 11 points in the third quarter, building a sizable lead going into the final frame.
 
No. 4 Western sneaks past Queen's 65-64
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 27, 2010) – The Queen's Gaels couldn't put the finishing touches on a monster upset as the No. 4 Western Mustang snuck away with a narrow 65-64 win in OUA women's basketball on Saturday.
 
Queen's have now lost six straight and their record sits at 1-7 holding a fifth place tie in the OUA East with Ryerson and RMC. Western is tied with Windsor for top position in the OUA West with 14 points and a 7-1 record.
 
In the dying seconds of the game, the Gaels were down by three points and nearly pulled even with Western at the buzzer. Under immense pressure, Queen's guard Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., three point attempt was blocked. Sydney Kernahan of Calgary got the rebound and made her two point shoot from the key, but failed to draw the foul which ended the game.
 
Western took the early advantage 20-18 in the first quarter, but Queen's taking the lead in early in the second quarter. They controlled the game until they lost the lead with 4:27 remaining in the fourth quarter at 56-54.
 
Moore was the game's top scorer with 21 points and was the only player in the game to break the 20 point barrier. She was 8 for 17 from the floor in 31 minutes of play. Kingston's Liz Boag had 16 points while Jill Wheat was game's top rebounder with 14. Kernahan tallied 10 rebounds in the loss.
 
Western's Jenny Vaughan of Dundas, Ont., led the Mustangs with 19 points and was 4 of 6 at the free throw line.
 
Jacklyn Selfe of Burlington, Ont., posted 17 points in the win including the final six points for the Mustangs.
 
Queen's dominated three point play with the Gaels sinking 8 of 18 for 44.4% while Western shot just 17.6% at 3 for 17.
 
The Gaels will close the 2010 calendar year with a rare Thursday evening game against cross town rival Royal Military College on Dec. 2. Tipoff is 6:00pm at RMC.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Basketball-M - Coach's Report - November 24th, 2010

This weekend marks the final two games of the OUA East and West Interlock schedule and we will finish with the tough task of facing two very talented and deep squads in Windsor and Western this Friday and Saturday night respectively. Windsor currently sits tied atop the west divsion with a record of 5-1 while Western has suffered from some inconsistency and has a record of 3-3.

At this point our focus has very much shifted internally as the players continue to battle hard to have the opportunity to win games. With a record of 1-5 through our first six games we have shown the ability to compete by being in 4 very competitive games and have also shown the ability to falter in losing two lopsided contests to very good teams in WLU and Lakehead. For the most part we have continued to improve defensively and have been able to hang around in games due to our defensive efforts. This is not to say that we are happy with our defense as we have unfortunately shown a consistency for having a poor defensive quarter in each game and in most cases that has coincided with us losing an opportunity to win.

Ultimately, our biggest hurdle remains the ability to score consistently and from a variety of sources. 4th guard Dan Bannister has been tremendous in this area averaging 20.33 PPG to this point in the season placing him in 4th place amongst OUA scoring. Other veteran guards Tim Boyle and Chris Barrett have been steady for the most part at 10 and 8 PPG respectively, however, the depth of our scoring after that becomes inconsistent. At this point in order to get better in the immediate future we must be extremely efficient at converting easy basket opportunities. For example, this past Saturday night at Lakehead we found ourselves down by 17 at the half against a very good team. However, in that first half we missed what I would consider 5 uncontested layups and went 1-6 from the free throw line. Those 15 points can mean all the difference in making an early blow out into a tight contest. The bottom line is that collectively we as a team must grasp the easy opportunities we create while also working to get more efficient at creating those opportunities. The later of these two falls primarily to the myself and the coaching staff as we continue to explore other ways in which we can generate more consistent offense.

As a team we have struggled in certain areas, however, there is no doubt that the players are competing night in and night out and are determined to improve as are we as coaches. This weekend we will approach each game separately and prepare in a way that will give us the best opportunity to win. Our hope is that we can take at least one win away from this weekend which will allow us to stay with the pack in the OUA east.

We have had two long weeks on the road and I think that all of us are really looking forward to returning to the friendly confines of the ARC. I hope that some of you are able to get out to see the games this weekend and support the players in their efforts.

Note: Many of you have been asking how Mitch Leger has been doing with his professional experience. Mitch is playing in the Pro B League in Hamburg, Germany and after taking a bit of time to adjust to the nuances of the European game (and officiating) Mitch has settled in well. He recently put together two spectacular back to back performances which saw him win player of the week honours in his conference. We wish Mitch continued success with this challenge. If you would like to follow Mitch the following link will provide you with up to date statistics:

http://www.eurobasket.com/player.asp?Cntry=GER&PlayerID=123029

Thanks for all of your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Duncan

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

getting into post-season training

Hi All.

Lots of my athletes are heading into post-season training. I like this time of year because I get to reconnect with those athletes who have been dedicated to practice time and not always around the weight room to chat and catch up. Football has been at it for a week and the rugby's are just starting with teaching sessions this week. The soccers will be next on the hit list. I know it sounds like old sage advice, but training camps really do arrive much, much faster than expected. This season, my programs have taken on a creative tact with the traditionals mixed in to make sure everyone gets stronger. I'm in the mood to not get overly extravagant with the exercises and equipment. In essence, the variations all circle around keeping the programs interesting and making sure that the athletes get stronger/fitter etc and avoid injury. There are so many gimics that can draw a program into a circus act and I will admit that it has happened to me on ocassion but I'm fighting it this season. The BOSU's will be minimal, but the squats, DB presses and RDL's will remain. Naturally, I can't avoid the keisers because they are completely awesome, but other toys will be kept in the background. Let's see how it goes.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,
 
This was another tough weekend, with a trip Friday to Hamilton to take on McMaster, followed by a flight the next morning to Thunder Bay to play Lakehead.  Despite both resulting in losses, (68-47 to Mac & 64-62 to Lakehead), they were completely different games.  Our performance against McMaster was dreadful, virtually in all aspects of the game.  Our inability to take care of the basketball (28 turnovers against a team that did not press us), and our inability to defend (especially in transition) really had me questioning our methods in practice to date.
 
Saturday, despite being a long (less than seamless) day of travel, and a very slow start to the game (trailing 19-8 after the first quarter), we settled down to play some decent basketball.  We outscored Lakehead in each of the next 3 quarters (20-16, 19-16, 15-13), but fell just short (literally) as a last second shot to tie, landed on the front rim.  Against Lakehead's pressure and variety of defenses, we turned the ball over 18 times -- not a great stat, but better than the previous few games.  We were 0 for 6 from the 3 point line in the first half, but went 4-6 in the second.  Rebounding improved from Friday to Saturday, but still requires much focus.
 
ID/Training Camp:  Just a reminder that we will be hosting an ID/Training Camp for players in Gr. 10-12 that may have an interest in playing for Q's down the road.  The on-court sessions will be held on Sunday, December 5th from 9-11am and 1-3pm.  In between the on-court sessions we will provide a tour of the new Athletics & Recreation Centre and answer questions about our program, academics and university life.  Please drop me a quick email if you would like to attend (no cost) so that I can prepare for the numbers.
 
Many of our readers know that we have a group of men and women come in to scrimmage against our team each week to help us prepare for the upcoming games.  They are affectionately known as our scrubs, one of whom, Iain Reid, is now an accomplished author, having recently released his new book called, "One Bird's Choice."  Here's a small review from Maclean's magazine:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/09/16/146096/3/   It would make a great Christmas gift!
 
This coming weekend marks the last of our home games for the fall.  Our Friday game against Windsor (ranked # 1 in Canada) is also our "Shoot for the Cure" game, where we try to raise awareness and funds for Breast Cancer Research.  Funds raised from this game and other initiatives will be combined with other universities and presented to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation at the CIS Women's Basketball Championship with the goal of raising $100,000.  This goal was met last year with just over $104,000 raised.  Please note that funds raised in Kingston will remain in the local chapter of the Breast Cancer Foundation.  Please come out and support our team and at the same time support our "Shoot for the Cure" event.  
 
A Challenge:  I will donate $1 for every point scored in the game (both teams) and I would like others to join me in this venture.  You can accept this challenge individually, as a small group,  or as a company.  In any case, contact me with your pledge and I will have your name (or company name) included in our game announcements throughout the evening.  Of course, tax receipts will be provided.
 
Up Next at Home:

Friday, November 26 vs Windsor   6pm (Shoot for the Cure game)
Sat., November 27 vs Western       6pm
 
Up Next on the Road:

Thursday, December 2 @ RMC      6pm
 
Have a great week!
 
Dave.

 
Marauders hand Gaels third straight defeat
HAMILTON (November 19, 2010) � The Queen's Gaels women's basketball (1-4) team lost their third straight decision 68-47 to the McMaster Maruaders (2-3) Friday night in Hamilton.
 
Alyska Lukan of Barrie, Ont., led the Marauders in scoring, pouring in 15 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Jaklynn Nimec of Binbrook, Ont., and Taylor Chariot of Hamilton, also reached double-digits for McMaster, recording 11 and 10 points respectively.
 
Paige Robinson of Calgary, was the only Gael to reach double-digits in scoring on the night as she finished with 15 points. Liz Boag of Kingston, Ont., also had a solid game for Queen's, adding seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.
 
Queen's struggled to make shots on the night, shooting 30% from the floor and just 69% from the free throw line.
 
 
Gaels edged out by Lakehead
THUNDER BAY, Ont. (November 20, 2010) - Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., led all scorers with 19 points but it wasn't enough as the Queen's Gaels fell to the Lakehead Thunderwolves by a 64-62 score.
 
Moore scored from every part of the court in this game as she hit three field goals from inside the arc, three field goals from outside the arc, and four free throws to round out her scoring. She was also the Gaels leading rebounder with six, two of which came in the offensive end.
 
The Gaels couldn't contain Lindsay Druery of Smithville, Ont., as she led the Thunderwolves with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Gaels had difficulty hitting shots from the floor as they made 31% of their shots. Jill Wheat of Marwayne, Alta., and Meaghan MacDougall of Martintown, Ont., were the other double digit scorers for the Gaels with 13 and 10 points respectively.
 
  The Gaels will be in action on Friday night when they return home to take on the Windsor Lancers. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 pm. 

Women's Basketball - Game Report (Nov. 12-13)

Hi Folks,

Sorry for the delay in this posting -- I am referring to the November 12/13 weekend below. 

A rather disappointing weekend to report this time around.  After beating Guelph by 15 in our tournament October 30, we came out flatter than any team I have seen in the last 5 years.  We lost 69-59, but the score was not indicative of how poorly we played.  In fact, having shown no signs of life 5 minutes into the fourth quarter, we trailed by 24 points.  Over the next 5 ½ minutes we went on a 22-4 run to bring the game to 6, but ran out of time and fouled at the end to lose by 10.  One would think that we must have played good basketball in the 5 ½ minute span, but that was not actually the case.  It was very disappointing.
 
On a more positive note, we were able to start the game with 10 dressed players (instead of last week’s 8) as Meaghan MacDougall and Hanna Koposhynska returned to the line up.  However, we finished the game with only 9 healthy bodies as Gemma Bullard went down with a concussion and is out for an indeterminate amount of time.
 
Saturday we moved on to St. Catharines to play Brock, resulting in an 8 point loss, 75-67.  No question our intensity was much better in this game, but we had difficulty identifying and staying with the array of excellent 3-point shooters on the Badgers.  (see SID game report below)  Brock was also able to expose a number of our fundamental weaknesses that will become the focus of our practices going forward.
 
Injuries have certainly plagued this team, along with a number of other teams in the CIS.  As we look forward to this weekend’s match ups, McMaster has also been cursed with the injury bug.  Looks like it will be a battle of two hospital wards.  Lakehead, on the other hand, seems to have a full roster intact.  In both cases, we have our hands full.
 
Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 19 @ McMaster            6pm
Sat., November 20 @ Lakehead                6pm
 
Up Next at Home:
Friday, November 26 vs Windsor               6pm
Sat., November 27 vs Western                   6pm
 
Correction Notice:
Minor correction to my last post regarding the ID/Training Camp set for Sunday, December 5th.  On-court times are 9-11am and 1-3pm (previously reported as 1:30-3:30pm).  Drop me an email if you would like to attend.
 
Have a great week!
 
Dave.


Gaels fall to Gryphons on the road
GUELPH, Ont. (November 12, 2010) – The Queen's Gaels women's basketball team lost 69-59 Friday night to the Guelph Gryphons.
 
Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., led the Gaels in scoring with 20 points on the night.
 
Ali Dzikowski was the top scorer for Guelph as she dropped 21 points to lead the Gryphons to the win.
 
Queen's will be back in action tomorrow night when they take on the Brock Badgers at 6:00 pm in St. Catharines.
 
 
Robinson registers a career high 17 points in 75-67 loss to Badgers
ST. CATHARINES, Ont., (November 13, 2010) - Paige Robinson of Calgary recorded a career high 17 points but her effort wasn't enough as the Queen's Gaels lost 75-67 to the Brock Badgers in women's basketball on Saturday.
 
Robinson, a second year guard with Queen's, was 6-for-12 from the floor and was a perfect from the foul line. She also tallied six rebounds in the loss. Her previous career high was 12 points against Laurentian last January.
 
Hillary Woodside of Fall River, N.S., dropped 21 points in the win for the Badgers as three different players posted double digits to help Brock past Queen's. Whitney Gorges of Welland, Ont., had 18 points while Emily McKay of Toronto posted 10 points. Woodside and Gorges also had eight rebounds.
 
Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., was the only other Gaels to break double digits recording 16 points in 32 minutes of play.
 
Queen's Jill Wheat of Marwayne, Alta., had a game high nine rebounds in the loss.
 
The loss drops Queen's record to 1-3 and the Gaels sit in a four way tie for fourth place in the OUA East with Ryerson, York and RMC.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

life savers

Hi All.
I've worked with quite a few injured athletes this past couple of weeks and the sessions have been reminding me of the stresses I dealt with 5 years ago when I herniated 2 disks in my lower back. I fought the reality of the situation until a good friend of mine reinforced the need to go back to basics and essentially learn to move all over again. It took ages to get things right, but years later, I have very few symptoms and can manage things that I never thought I would be able to do again. The athletes who are facing the injuries that I have seen this past week are at that tricky spot where they need to face the reality of how to work through an injury. It takes more than just dealing with the pain. You need to figure out what else can be done to create improvement and you also need to work on the healthy components of your fitness and make them even better. I will hopefully help them see the light.
My life-saver lesson comes from a trail run that I did on Sunday. The route that I decided to take through Gould Lake was insane. It had rocks, roots, moss, drop offs and crazy ups and downs. On one of the easiest parts of the trail, I went over on my right ankle. The exercises that I have been doing in the weight room became my life savers. I reacted quickly enough to pull myself straight and not completely wreck my ankle. Phew! When I trained this morning, I didn't feel the same frustration that I sometimes do with the picky little exercises and movements. All of this goes back to the one conversation I had with a friend when I was in the midst of recovering from my back injury. I'm hoping that my relatively young and injury inexperienced athletes can get the point before it's too late.

Rodney.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,
 
We opened league play over the weekend with only 8 players dressed for the games and came away with a split.  We lost 63-53 to Laurier and beat Waterloo, 66-42.  (game reports below)
 
We opened the game very well with Laurier – at a rather hectic pace.  Our defense was solid, leading to a number of run-outs and scores in transition.  Laurier countered, however, by jamming all of our breakouts, cutters and screeners; effectively slowing the game down.  We struggled with the physicality of the game, ultimately throwing us off our rhythm.  This is an area of our game requiring specific work, but I am confident that our young team will learn to handle this style.
 
On Saturday, against Waterloo, we again opened the game very well, racking up 28 first quarter points.  Playing a very up-tempo style of game, with significant defensive pressure, allowed us to find our way to the hoop quickly and often.  However, the comfort of a 21 point first quarter lead, took the “edge” off our game, and really played mostly uninspired basketball the rest of the way.  Everyone in sport knows the difficulty in maintaining focus when the game is out of reach, but as a young team we need to develop these skills to avoid the huge swings in score that we have experienced so far this season – another work in progress.
 
Gemma Bullard was named Queen’s Athlete of the Week for her 30 point weekend performance.  Twenty-one of those points came against Waterloo, shooting 2-4 from the 3-pt. line, 6-9 from the floor and 3-3 from the foul line, while grabbing 5 boards.
 
Reminder: ID/Training Camp
We will be hosting our annual ID/Training Camp on Sunday, December 5, 2010.  We have on-court sessions planned from 9:00 to 11:00am and 1:30 to 3:30pm.  Facility tours and question/answer sessions will be held between the on-court sessions.  The camp is open to Grade 10, 11 & 12s (females) who may be interested in attending Queen’s in the future.  There is no cost to register, but please drop me an email if you plan to attend to help me prepare for the numbers.
 
Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 12 @ Guelph     6pm
Sat., November 13 @ Brock           6pm
 
Friday, November 19 @ McMaster            6pm
Sat., November 20 @ Lakehead                6pm
 
Have a great week!
 
Dave.
 
Gaels fall 63-53 to Golden Hawks in home opener
Caleb Homewood - Sports Information Student
11/5/2010 11:16:50 PM
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 5, 2010) – The Queen's Gaels let an early 16 point lead slip away as they suffered a 63-53 loss to the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in their regular season home opener in Kingston Friday night.
 
Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., led the Gaels with 18 points and six rebounds. Gemma Bullard of Guelph, Ont., also contributed nine points for the Gaels in the loss.
 
The Gaels dominated the Golden Hawks early in the game with an offensive performance from Moore. Queen's led by as much as 16 points midway through the second quarter. However, the Golden Hawks clawed back in the final minutes of the second quarter to shorten the Gaels lead to two with a score of 29-27.
 
The Gaels were held to nine points in the third quarter, and a string of turnovers allowed the Golden Hawks to build an eight point lead. Queen's attempted to make a comeback in the final quarter of the game, and a layup from Robinson brought the Gaels within four points. This was as close as Queen's would get, however, as the Laurier kept their lead for a final score of 63-53.
 
Renata Adamczyk of Greensville, Ont., was the leading scorer for the Golden Hawks with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
 
 
Bullard scores 21 in 66-42 win over Waterloo
Posted by: Caleb Homewood (Sports Information Student)
11/6/2010 11:14:35 PM
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 6, 2010) – Gemma Bullard of Guelph, Ont., tallied a career-high 21 points as the Queen's Gaels women's basketball team defeated the Waterloo Warriors 66-42 on Saturday.
 
Bullard playing in just her second career CIS regular season contest was 8-for-13 in seventeen minutes on the floor and contributed five rebounds in the win. Her previous high was nine points in the Gaels loss to Laurier on Friday.
 
Queen's Sydney Kernahan of Calgary recorded a double-double in the win tallying 10 points and 10 rebounds. Liz Boag of Kingston, Ont., and Lisa Minutillo of Brantford, Ont., each scored 11 points each for the Gaels.
 
Erin Tilley of Oakville, Ont., led the Warriors with 12 points and 11 rebounds and was the only Warrior to record a double-double.
 
Queen's established a 19 point lead at the end of the first quarter and rode that lead for the next three quarters. The Gaels would never allow Waterloo within 15 points for the remainder of the game.
 
Bullard dominated the Warriors posting 19 points in the first half alone.
 
The win brings the Gaels season record to an even 1-1. Queen's next game is against the Guelph Gryphons in Guelph next Friday November 12.

M-Basketball: Opening Weekend 1-1

Our first weekend of OUA West inter-lock play has come and gone and we find ourselves with a 1-1 record. Our goal going into the weekend was to compete hard in both games and come away with at least a split. We accomplished our second goal in getting the split, but fell short of competing up to our potential for two games.

On Friday night we faced a mature and talented WLU team that has played well so far this year including wins against two preseason top ten predicted teams. Laurier's top 7-8 players are big, strong and play with a high level of confidence that will make them tough to beat in the West this year. Starting games has been a challenge for us this year and that issue continued to hinder us as we went down 14-0 off the jump and despite battling back for the remainder of the corner it is extremely difficult to recover from that type of disadvantage so early in the game. The frustration of this is that Laurier did not fool us or make plays that we were not expecting, but rather on 12 of their first 14 points we made fundamental mistakes that can only be attributed to a lack of concentration and likely nerves. Throughout the game we struggled to find any type of offensive rhythm and were badly out rebounded on the night.

On Saturday night we had a chance to redeem ourselves and as coaches we tried to keep the message very simple. The message was just to compete hard for the entire game. I know that sounds simple, however, we have talked to the guys about the fact that it will continue to be difficult to improve our execution and make adjustments in both ends if they are not playing with a high level of concentration and effort. With that in mind the guys came within about 3 minutes of giving us a complete game at this point in the year. We started the game fairly well and played with good intensity and as a result found ourselves ahead 20-18 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was going well until the late stages when Waterloo moved to a zone and we struggled to get organized against it while at the same time allowing that frustration to influence our defensive mindset. In the last few minutes of the quarter Waterloo outscored us badly and went into the half up 14.

At halftime we reinforced that the effort was good and that this allowed us to worry about adjustments and execution. We changed a couple of defensive rotations and assignments and also clarified what exactly we wanted against the zone and headed back out to try and make it a game. The players responded tremendously, both by increasing their level of play and also executing our adjustments nearly flawlessly. In the 3rd we held them to only 7 points while scoring 22 to take a one point lead. In the fourth we continued to defend well only allowing 10 points for a total of 17 second half points and more impressively of those 17 points only two baskets were scored on what we would consider easy shots.

Our defensive effort in the second half showed that there is potential there to stay in ball games every night if we commit to it and also rebound well. I am not sure that the consistency is there yet, however, I do think that the team understands from the weekend that it will be pivotal in our success.

Our three senior guards were very solid on Saturday night as Dan Bannister led us in scoring with 20 points in only his second game since returning from a shoulder separation, Chris Barrett had 15 and handled the ball effectively for most of the game and Tim Boyle provided a sensational second half defensive effort while also recording 9 points and 6 rebounds as well as the game winning free throw. In addition to those players we had strong performances from a number of other players that all provided energy and toughness throughout the game.

We still have a lot of work to do to get to a point where we are going to be competitive with the top teams in the West and East division, however, the players seem committed to giving it their all and as a result we are going to continue to improve.

Thanks to all that attended this weekend. See you in a few weeks when we return home. I will try to post a preview of our games versus Guelph and McMaster later this week.

Sincerely,

Duncan

Monday, November 1, 2010

Women's Basketball - Tindall Tournament

Hi Folks,
 
Our fall exhibition schedule has come to a close with the completion of the Queen’s Tindall Tournament this past weekend with the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), Guelph U., Ottawa U. and Queen’s participating in a Round Robin.
 
Friday we opened with a disappointing loss to Ottawa 57-59 after squandering a 10 point lead heading into the fourth quarter.  We rebounded Saturday, defeating Guelph 70-55, and added another win on Sunday defeating UQAM 66-60.  (Game reports below)
 
Ottawa and UQAM finished with a record of 1-2, while Guelph & Q’s were 2-1.  By virtue of Q’s win over Guelph, we won the tournament.  Guelph finished second, UQAM third (beat Ottawa head to head), and Ottawa fourth.
 
Tournament All-Stars included:
 
Hanna Sunley-Paisley – Ottawa
Irline Noel – UQAM
Jasmine Douglas – Guelph
Jill Wheat – Queen’s
Brittany Moore – Tournament MVP – Queen’s
 
Our game against Ottawa was a battle between two hospital wards – we dressed 8 players and Ottawa only 7, due to injuries.  It turned out to be a back and forth type of affair with Ottawa outscoring us in both the first and fourth quarters.  Our third quarter was our best (18-6) which lifted a bit of a monkey off our backs as third quarters have often been a problem.
 
The Guelph game saw us shoot the ball very well from the 3-point line going 5-11,  with four players hitting at least one 3-pointer.  A strong fourth quarter helped close out this game (18-9).
 
Sunday was a very physical battle with UQAM.  Three-point shooting was a key factor once again, as we shot 38% from behind the arc.  Again four players hit a 3, but Brittany Moore did most of the damage hitting on 5 of her 7 attempts from downtown.  Jill Wheat had an excellent weekend, grabbing 25 rebounds and really anchoring our defense.
 
Our team is continuing to improve.  Handling the “runs” that teams take during the course of the game, while improving, still needs much work.  Learning to ride-out the momentum shifts is very important for our long-term success.
 
Up Next at Home:
Friday, November 5 vs Laurier 6pm
Sat., November 6 vs Waterloo 6pm
 
Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 12 @ Guelph 6pm
Sat., November 13 @ Brock 6pm
 
Have a great week!
 
Dave.
 

KINGSTON, Ont. (October 29, 2010) – The Queen's Gaels lost the opening game of the 2010 Tindall Women's Basketball Invitational 59-57 to the Ottawa Gee Gees.  In the late game, Guelph edged UQAM 71-61. 

 

Ottawa 59, Queen's 57

The Queen's Gaels surrendered a 12-point third-quarter lead to hand the Ottawa Gee Gees a 59-57 victory in the opening game of the Tindall Women's Basketball Invitational.

 

Gee Gee's Hannah Sunley Paisley of Toronto dropped 29 points as she single handily defeated the Gaels.  She also had 14 boards and shot 50% from the field including 9-for-12 from the free-throw line. 

 

Ottawa teammate Kizzy Clare of Montreal was the only other Gee Gee to break double digits with 10 points.

 

Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., was the Gaels top scorer posting 15 points in the loss in 32 minutes of play.  Gemma Bulllard of Guelph, Ont., had 12 points while Meaghan MacDougall of Martintown, Ont., and Paige Robinson of Calgary had 11 and 10 points respectively. 

 

Fifth year veteran, Jill Wheat of Marwayne, Alta., was Queen's top rebounder tallying 11 including nine defensive boards.

 

The game was filled with several offensive swings with Ottawa actually owning an 11 point lead early in the second quarter.  Ottawa took a two-point 26-24 advantage into the half but a miserable third quarter saw the Gee Gees muster just six points while Queen's tallied 18. 

 

Ottawa regained their composure in the fourth to explode four 27 and seal the 59-57 victory.

 

KINGSTON, Ont. (October 30, 2010) – Queen's used balanced scoring to beat the Guelph Gryphons 70-55 in the first game of Day Two of the Tindall Women's Basketball Invitational. Later in the day, UQAM used a huge third quarter to jump out to a 29 point lead, finally finishing with a 72-56 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees.

 

Queen's 70, Guelph 55

 

Brittany Moore of Hannon Ont. scored 16 points, helping the Gaels to a 15-point win over the University of Guelph 70-55. The win evens the Gaels at 1-1 in the Tindall Women's Basketball Invitational.

 

Queen's led 37-25 at the half thanks to the outside efforts of Moore and Gemma Bullard of Guelph, Ont., who went a combined 3-6 from downtown. Liz Boag of Kingston, Ont. had a big first half off of the bench with seven points.

 

The referees were quick on their whistles, blowing 25 first half fouls. This hurt the Gryphons the most, leaving three players on the bench in early foul trouble. Both teams had players foul out in the second half.

 

Guelph closed the gap to 6 points at the end of the third period, scoring 21 points on the Gaels. The Gryphons were led on the night by another dominating performance from Jasmine Douglas of Guelph, Ont., who finished with 11 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots. Eight of her 14 rebounds came on the offensive glass. Chelsea Kane of Ingersoll, Ont. had 16 points in the game.

 

The Gaels were able to regroup in the fourth, outscoring the Gryphons by nine points. Four players finished in double figures, including Boag and Paige Robinson of Calgary, both with 15 points. Moore led the Gaels with 16 points, while Sydney Kernahan of Calgary had eight rebounds.

 

 

KINGSTON, Ont. (October 31, 2010) – The Queen's Gaels beat UQAM 66-60 in the final game of the Tindall Women's Basketball invitational to claim the tournament championship. Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., led the Gaels with 25 points in the win. In the early match, Guelph held on to beat the Ottawa Gee Gees 63-61

 

Queen's 66, UQAM 60

 

The Queen's Gaels (2-1) won for the second straight day, handing them the tournament title. Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., scored 25 points, including 5-7 from three-point land, leading the Gaels to a 66-60 win over the UQAM Citadins.

 

The Gaels won the tournament title in a tiebreak due to their win on Saturday over Guelph.

 

The Gaels built a 15-point lead in the first half in part by Moore's 15 first half points, while holding UQAM to 20% shooting. Sydney Kernahan of Calgary provided hustle off the bench with six points, six rebounds, and a block. She finished with eight points and nine rebounds.

 

The Citadins had balanced scoring, with four players in double figures, however it wasn't enough to close the gap. UQAM outscored the Gaels by nine points in the second half. Karine Boudrias of Terrebonne, Que. led the Citadins with 13 points, while Irene Noel of Montreal had a double-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks.

 

Moore was named the Tournament MVP after averaging 18.7 points per game over three games. She shot 50% (18-36) from the field for the tournament. This includes an outstanding 11-19 (58%) from three point range.

 

Mens Hockey-Alumni Weekend

Alumni weekend was a success I feel and it was great seeing alot of the guys again. I want to Thank, Dave Descent and Murray/Donna Douglas for all the help in organizing this event. Team Red defeated my team gold in a defensive battle 8-7. There we alot of laughs and I think alot of fun had by all. On to the games, we adjusted real well to the top team in the CIS (My opinion) from the last weekend's loss. A few calls (got myself in trouble last year and learned my lesson) will not elaborate did not go our way lets say, and few mistakes and we were right there. I always get asked why we cannnot beat McGill? that blog is for another day as it is like comparing apples to oranges in terms of resources at the 2 schools and I am not making excuses it is just reality. Saturday was another installment on what is becoming a great rivalry between to great programs. Of our last 5 games, 4 have gone to overtime with both coming a way with 2 wins! My guys dug real deep and came up with a gutsy win.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Hills

Hi All.
I believe that a hill, an actual, up it goes hill, has a personality. The big one's, the one's that you see from afar, are absolute *%$holes. They want you to fail and they do everything they can to make it happen. They gloat and belittle you at every chance. That's why, when I'm running or cycling, I determine myself to kick it up every big hill. I don't want to let it get the better of me. When I know that a hill is coming, I start thinking about it's personality and push on to get there and run it down. When I win, the hill gets a little bit smaller. The more times I win, the smaller it gets. I have a hill near my house that my wife and I call the 'demoralizer.' It has a nonchalant, almost innocent look but once you get on it, wow, the legs and heart have to work to win. I've taken a few licks from that hill over the years but it's getting a bit smaller every time.
So, think about the hill, or hills, that you face, consider their personality, and beat it out of them. It can be actual hills, or it can be metaphorical hills like injury, fear, mid-terms, whatever, just don't let them get the better of you.

Rodney.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Men's Soccer - 3 more to go


I apologize for taking so long to write since my last post but this is the life of a university coach juggling a million things at one time. Regardless, I wanted to offer my thoughts on our home playoff game and the road ahead.

Someone once told me that a win is a win in the playoffs. It's about getting the job done, and we did just that on Wednesday. We didn't play our best game but we were able to limit the opposition's scoring chances, and capitalized on ours. Moving forward, this will be extremely important as we stack up against U of T on Saturday. I'm proud of these guys. I'm proud at their ability to execute our game plan, and their work ethic in practices and games. We have a group of individuals that truly believe in our team philosophy. For that, I couldn't be more proud of them.

Didn't want to write too much today, but I again wanted to thank all of our supporters near and far. Alumni, we appreciate your kind words. We know you are following us and trust me when I say we're working extremely hard to bring home a provincial championship.

If you're in the Toronto area on Saturday, come out and watch us take on U of T at 3:15 at Varsity Stadium. We welcome your support and look forward to hearing you from the stands.

Regards,

Chris

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

recipe - Korean Beef

Hi All.
I put this one together this morning at 6am before work, just to let it marinade for the day. Easy, quick and tasty way to cook red meat...
500g (medium size steak) beef sirloin - cut into strips
Marinade:
1/3 C of soy sauce (low sodium version)
3 T brown sugar
1 T sesame oil (buy it and it will last forever!)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)

Stir the sauce in a bowl, throw in the meat and let it sit for as long as you can manage (minimum is 20 minutes, which is fine bc you still have to cook rice.)

RICE - preference for jasmine rice, which tastes great and cooks in about 20-30 minutes. Make as many servings as you need and refer to the package for cooking info. Sometimes I cook the rice in organic beef stock - tasty!

VEG - pick whatever veg. you love and make it as a side dish

Before you cook the beef strips, pull them out of the sauce so that they can brown when they hit the HOT pan. Brown them up, then drop the heat to med-high, add the sauce and cook for a few minutes (medium) or a bit longer (well done.) Throw the meat and sauce on top of the rice, add the veg. side to the plate and go for it.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

So It Begins

We have closed the door on the pre-season and now enter the regular season schedule. The pre-season, while tough on us from a results perspective at times, was exactly what we needed. Only 2 matches against unranked teams and most against top 6 teams. What a great way to see where we are at, what we do well, and what weaknesses are exposed.



Now that we know all that, our job is to shore up those areas, refine and maintain what we do well, and keep high on our list what we need to do to be at the top of our game when it really matters.



The first order of business is balance. I don't mean something gymnastic, nor about tipping or teattering. I mean, finding a way to balance the demands of school and midterms, with the training, weights and competition schedule and still have time for good nutrition, enough sleep and even an occasional social outlet.



Time management and balance are such important skills at this time of the year. Staying healthy, not getting bogged down by deadlines and time-wasters,

and bringing energy to training day in and day out..... that is the athlete's challenge. Those who rise, will be successful. Those who procrastinate, who aren't focused, who don't keep their eye on the prize and see each action they take as a means to an end, will falter.



As a coach, I can provide direction. I can provide encouragement. I can hope and pray that the athletes I impact will figure it out to their advantage.... and when one doesn't, I can try to be there to help pick up the pieces..... but ownership is huge. The athletes need to own their own balance, their own discipline and their own decisions.



Ahhh, I love this time of the year. What would late October/early November be, without such challenges? Challenges are something to rise to, not to make barriers or excuses. Some will drown, some will tread water, and some will take the tide head on and swim upstream to success. After all, this is the time of immersion.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Women's Basketball -- Game Report

Hi Folks,
 
A trip to Quebec City provided us with 3 more tough games, lots of playing time for our young players, but no check marks in the win column. (See the game reports courtesy of Q’s SID below)  Injuries continue to be a concern, as Christine Wallace (knee) and Hanna Koposhynska (foot) were joined on the sideline by rookie post, Jordan Tomas (foot injury).   Jill Wheat played all three games with some excellent defense and rebounding, but had her wrist heavily taped (on her shooting hand) to prevent any further injury (sprained last weekend).  Lisa Minutillo hurt her wrist (shooting hand) late in the game on Sunday, when diving for a loose ball.  We will know more on the extent of the injury later today.
 
On a more positive note, fourth-year guard, Brittany Moore saw her first action since injuring her ankle in early September.  Struggling in her first game, the second outing was noticeably better, while her third game she managed 14 points, including 3 of 7 from behind the arc.  She was also selected to the Tournament All-Star team.
 
Overall, while discouraged somewhat by the losses, I am encouraged by aspects of our play.  We continue to play hard, regardless of the score.  Our rebounding improved significantly over the weekend, actually out-rebounding a significantly taller Laval squad.  Our turnovers, while still too high, are coming down, and our shooting percentage continued to improve over the weekend.
 
We have one more weekend of exhibition play, our Tindall Tournament, before diving into league play.  Ottawa U, Guelph and the University of Quebec at Montreal will not make life any easier for us --- gotta love a challenge!
 
Up Next at Home:
Tindall Tournament
Friday, October 29 vs Ottawa U.       6:00pm
Sat., October 30 vs Guelph               12:00n
Sunday, October 31 vs UQAM          2:00pm
 
League Play:
Friday, November 5 vs Laurier        6:00pm
Sat., November 6 vs Waterloo        6:00pm
 
Have a great week.
 
Dave.
 
 

QUEBEC (October 24, 2010) РBrittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., returned to the Gaels line-up as the Queen's Gaels were winless at the Laval Invitational women's basketball tournament over the weekend in Qu̩bec City.

Moore, who had been out of the Gaels lineup with injury, returned over the weekend, posting 14 points in an 89-63 loss to host Laval on Sunday. Moore was three for seven from behind the three-point arc. Jill Wheat of Marwayne, Alta, had 11 points and 10 rebound including seven offensive in the loss. Sydney Kernahan of Calgary had eight points.

On Friday, the Gaels lost 76-55 to Le Dynamo du Qu̩bec Рa senior team out of Montreal which is filled with former CIS players and two national team players. Liz Boag of Kingston was Queen's top player recording 10 points in 18 minutes on the floor. Gemma Bullard of Guelph, Ont., had nine points while Moore contributed five in her return to action.

Saturday saw the Gaels in tough falling 70-56 to St.FX. Queen's opened that game with slim 28-27 lead at the half, but fell after a disastrous third quarter which saw Queen's score only six points. Bullard and Meaghan MacDougall of Martintown, Ont., led the Gaels in scoring with nine points each. Moore had seven in the loss.

Queen's will conclude the exhibition season next weekend hosting the Tindall women's basketball invitational at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC). Ottawa, Guelph, UQAM and Queen's will compete.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

hitting the trail

Hi All.
Just got home from a trail run. I was excited to give it a go after being sick and it went really well. The beauty of trail running is that time just seems to disappear. In my effort to not overdo it in the wake of 2 weeks off, I decided to walk at 10 minutes in for about 1 minute. So I glanced at the timex when I thought I was 10 in and I was at 20??!! That's what I love about trail running. If you are able to focus, it can be an awesome sport. If you like tunes in your ears and tend to watch the world go by when you run, don't do it on a trail:) I also love the gear. Just bought the new salomon xt wings - wicked shoes. If you ever saw the amount of gear my wife and I have collected over the years, you would think you were standing in a trailhead store.
That's makes me think of today's words of advice...never regret spending money on good gear:)
R.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Women's rugby

Hi All.
A friend of mine coaches a high school girls rugby team. He recently went to bat for the team regarding unfair scheduling of the only playing field that the school has. Football had traditionally gotten the field and everyone else had to figure something else out. Long story short, the girls now get to practice on the field, as they should.
I thought about those girls when I saw the women's rugby team on the front page of the journal yesterday. It's great to see such a dedicated bunch of women get the credit they deserve. I'm just about to forward the journal link to my friend and perhaps he will pass it on to his team. It might serve as a bit of inspiration that they otherwise would never see.

Good job ladies.

Rodney.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Women's Basketball -- Game Report

Hi Folks,
 
We just returned from St. John’s, Nfld, having played three very tough games with Memorial University (MUN).  It was a “1, 2, 3” weekend in the sense that we played 1 good quarter in the first game in a losing effort (54-44), 2 good quarters in the second game (losing 67-59) and 3 good quarters in the third game (winning 68-60).
 
The first game was a sloppy affair, as we had difficulty finding the hoop (26% shooting) and adjusting to Memorial’s match-up zone.  Memorial jumped out to a 16-6 first quarter lead.  Our “1” good quarter came in the second as we outscored  MUN 18-9.  Sydney Kernahan (Calgary, AB) was named Player of the Game for Q’s as she scored 11 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.  Equally important was the work she did on defense to limit MUN’s 6-2 and 6-1 post players.  Meaghan MacDougall (Martintown, ON) also had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals.
 
Game 2 was played in Pacentia, Nfld (about 100km west of St. John’s) at a brand new Laval High School.  The first half proved to be our best “2” quarters, as we jumped out to an 18-11 first quarter lead.  The second quarter was pretty even, but we managed to stretch the lead to 9 and go into half time with a 35-26 lead.  The wheels fell off in the third as we were outscored 18-7 and outscored again in the fourth, 23-17.  Succumbing to the varying types of pressure applied and poor execution, led to the huge momentum shift.  On a more positive note, some adjustments made to our offense (at a team meeting) were well executed during the game despite not having an opportunity to test them in practice.  No one hit double digits in this game with Meaghan MacDougall, Rachael Urosevic (Waterloo, ON), and Lisa Minutillo (Brantford, ON) all dropping 9 points.
 
Game 3 was played in downtown St. John’s to a packed house.  Again, we got off to a great start, applying significant pressure to MUN’s backcourt, opening a 23-16 first quarter lead.  We continued to execute well and stretched the lead to 15 by half, 45-30.  I really have to re-evaluate my half time speech, as the third quarter was nothing short of a disaster.   We were outscored 20-4 and relinquished our lead.  The start of the fourth quarter saw the slide balloon to a 7 point deficit, before a 3-pointer by Liz Boag (Kingston, ON), followed by a defense stop and a Gemma Bullard (Guelph, ON) attack resulting in a two-shot foul turned the tide.  Over the next four minutes, what had been a 22 point slide, was turned into a 15 point run for us to finish with an 8 point win, 68-60.  Rachael Urosevic led the way with 13 points, including four 3-pointers.  Paige Robinson (Calgary, AB) and Liz Boag each added 11.
 
Overall, it was a very successful weekend.  I thought we improved each game against a very tough, aggressive team.  We only had 10 (mostly) healthy bodies for each game – 7 rookies, 2 second years and 1 fifth year.  The games really helped us mature as a team.  In addition, we had time for a cultural excursion to Signal Hill and be exposed to some outstanding hospitality, especially at Laval High School in Placentia.
 
Up Next on the Road:
Laval Tournament – Quebec City
Friday, October 22                6:30pm vs Montreal Sr. Women
Saturday, October 23           2:00pm vs St. Francis Xavier U.
Sunday, October 24              1:00pm vs Laval U.
 
Up Next at Home:
Tindall Tournament – Queen’s University
Friday, October 29                6:00pm vs Ottawa U.
Saturday, October 30           12:00n vs Guelph U.
Sunday, October 31              2:00pm vs University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM)
 
Have a great week.
 
Dave.

Illness

Hi All.
I hate being sick! It slows everything down and sucks the wind out of your sails, no matter how hard you try to remain positive. I was down for almost 2 weeks and now that I'm back in the land of the living, I can't wait to start training and working again. Trouble is, and this is the lesson for today, it is SO easy to overdo everything when the sickness chains disappear that you can lead yourself right back to square one in no time. So, I will do my best to fight the urge to blast back at full speed and see if I can be smart about it. If there is another 2 week gap in my posts, you will know that I overdid it:)

Rodney.

Mens Hockey- Week 2 Better, but still work in progress!

This weekend the results were there but we will still need to be alot better in the coming weeks. Friday night, was a character win for our team. I can tell you being on the opposite end of what happened last week I feel for Darren Lowe Coach of Toronto. We were down 5-3 with less then 5 mins to go. We ended up scoring 3 goals in 2:17 to win the game. Our goaltending what I expected to be our strength has been shaky to start the season. Steele Defazio hopefully gained some confidence this weekend by only allowing two goals all weekend. Saturday night I feel was a tale of 2 tired hockey teams. Despite the thoughts of the opposing Coach, I dont feel we were outplayed and dont feel we played in our end all game long. Hard to play in your end of game and still manage 38 shots, and win 3-2 is it not? We will be real tested the next 2 weekends with 4 games vs. Mcgill and Carleton. I feel they are the 2 great teams and it is going to take our best efforts to compete with them. I can assure you we will be prepared.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

On to semi-finals with Rugby-W

The women's rugby team has taken another step towards the goal of advancing to the OUA women's final. With a victory against the University of Toronto for the second weekend in a row (the regular season finale was also against U of T) the Gaels have stepped into the semi-finals for the second year in a row.

The Gaels opponents will be the Waterloo Warriors who are the second-best team in the Shiels Division this season. The Warriors have two new coaches who have plenty of experience and will be prepared for a full 80 minutes of play next weekend.

For our side, our athletes are well-rested and ready to play, even after a long OUA season. We had an excellent mental/physical recovery session today in the classroom and on field and, with the work we'll do this week, we'll be counting down the hours until we kickoff next weekend.

Gametime is 12noon on Kingston Field and our men's team will be taking on Brock at 2pm. We'd love support from our Kingston fan base and anyone else who can make the trip!

All the best,
Beth

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Mens Hockey-First weekend to forget!!!!

Well as excited as I was for the first weekend to come, I am so glad it is over. We took a bad time to fall apart at the wheel. Everything we worked on in the pre-season was thrown out the window. But this week we have addressed alot of things and it was not alot of fun around our team. I really look forward to seeing how we respond this week I truley beleive in these guys and now it is time they start beleiving in themselves.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Women's Basketball Update

Hi Folks,

Time for another update.  As we head into Thanksgiving, the team is somewhat besieged with injury and/or illness, but we are managing through it.  The weekend off should provide a much-needed rest, allowing further recovery.  We then have a couple of days to prepare for our trip to Newfoundland to take on Memorial University in a 3-game series (October 15-17).  Always a very strong team, this will give our players another good taste of CIS basketball.  This will be the first time to "The Rock" for most of our team and we are planning a couple of cultural excursions during our visit.

For prospective Queen's players, we have set the date for our annual ID/Training Camp.  Set aside Sunday, December 5th for a visit to the Q's campus.  We have on-court sessions planned from 9:00 to 11:00am and again from 1:00 to 3:00pm.  This is a great opportunity to showcase your talents, meet and work with the Q's coaches, and see the campus.  Tours of our new Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) will be conducted between the on-court sessions.  I would encourage those in Grades 10 through 12, who are interested in Q's to attend.  There is no cost for the training sessions.  If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

Although it took me longer than planned, I now have photos from the 100th Anniversary Banquet available on-line.  I threw in a great photo taken after the Alumni basketball game as well.  The following address will get you there: 

http://picasaweb.google.com/dcwilson59/100thAnniversaryBanquet?authkey=Gv1sRgCIb99c2O9u2E4QE #

As Queen’s University celebrates its 100th Anniversary of Women’s Basketball we are launching a new fundraising campaign to help broaden our number of supporters. In light of our 100 years of tradition and success of women’s basketball, we would like to attract:
·         100 or more donors;
·         Donating $100 or more
With an overall goal of topping the $10,000 mark

On-line donating is very easy – please visit:  www.givetoqueens.ca/womensbasketball
While the campaign is called “100 for 100”, any amount is welcome and greatly appreciated – and, of course, you will be provided with an official tax receipt.
 
For more information about this campaign visit:
 
http://www.queensbasketball.net/women/1004100.html

That's about it for now.  Have yourself a great Thanksgiving!

Dave.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Men's Basketball - Queen's versus Laval

We had our first game against CIS competition this past Saturday night as we hosted a strong and mature Laval team. As mentioned, this year is one of change for us as evidenced by 7 new faces in our 12-man game roster. Therefore, this game was an opportunity to see our relatively untested team go head to head with a group that should make the top ten in preseason rankings.

Heading into the game our biggest concern was whether we would be able to physically hold our own at this point in the season. We realized that there would be breakdowns on both ends of the floor as the new and old players continue to get to know our systems and each other. However, the questions of whether we would be able to rebound and defend well enough physically were the more pressing points of interest.

With a starting lineup that included Dan Bannister, Tim Boyle, Bernard Burgesson, Matt Baker and Greg Black (the latter two both being first year players) we started the game very well. The starting group showed good poise and physicality from the outset as we were able to hang in the game early while working out the expected jitters of our first game. Dan Bannister and Tim Boyle provided some early scoring and both showed flashes of their all-around improved offensvie ability throughout the night. In the defensive end we rebounded the ball extremely well and for the most part limited their second chance points.

Despite scoring early we began to find it more difficult to score as the game progressed. After the opening few minutes Laval quickly made the decision to move to switching every single screen on the floor. In doing this they took away a lot of the reads and looks that our players have become accustomed to seeing in practice over the past month. This is where our youth hurt us a bit at this point in the year. In the past with a more senior group this method would likely have been less successful, however, with so many new players we had a difficult time adjusting. Nonetheless, we defended and rebounded well as group and shot the ball well from the perimetre in the first half and as a result led by two going into the half.

We knew that we would see a much more aggressive and determined group of Laval players in the second half and we were right. Laval came out of the half very hard and played much more physical in both ends of the floor. At the same time our guys did not answer back as they are capable of doing and the result was a 27-10 drubbing by the end of the third quarter. In that ten minute time frame our guys got a clear indication of just how quickly a game can turn around if you are not completely focussed and determined to compete. During that run we struggled to score without question, however, the lesson that was of greater importance to our players is that when things are not going well in the offensive end we have to be able to dig down and defend our basket even harder. On this night that was not the case as our frustrations on offense directly translated to a lack of discipline and concentration in the defensive end.

Despite the loss there were a great deal of positives that can be taken from this game as we move ahead. I think without question we now know that we can compete physically in the defensive end and on the boards in both ends (rookie Greg Black finished with 5 offensive rebounds) and in fact Rob and I both feel that this group will eventually be capable of being the best defensive group we have had at Queen's (hopefully sooner than later). In addition, several of our rookies showed flashes of the potential to contribute in different ways to our growth as a program. No question, there is a great deal of work to be done and progress is crucial throughout this preseason so that we can be prepared to compete when the OUA season begins in November.

For anyone interested we host Bishop's in the ARC at 6 PM this Friday night. It should provide another unique challenge as we will see a much quicker, pressure oriented team this week. The following week we are off the Saskatchewan for a very tough tournament and the week after that we will close out our exhibition schedule at the McGill Invitational.

I hope this post finds everyone doing well and in good health.

Duncan

Strength and Conditioning - technologically challenged

Hi All.
Many of my athletes will know that I was SO pleased with myself when I got the i-pod sound system for the program last season. I had finally stepped into the world of downloadable tunes. Granted, the first songs I put on there were from CD's, but, baby steps. Last week, I even took the amazing step of getting internet at home. I even downloaded an episode of Jamie Oliver that I hadn't seen. Finally, I am not embarassing my technologically advanced little brother with questions about VCR's and CD players (although I do still use a VCR.)
This should bring to light the fact that blogging is quite a leap for me. I'm really not that old, honestly, but I never bothered myself with computers and all that junk, I just played sports.
Also, keep in mind that if you can't make fun of yourself, you're too serious - that's the lesson for today:)

Cheers. Rodney.

Season Finally Starts!

After playing the last of our exhibition schedule this weekend I, along with the team are excited to get going with the regular season. This season is going to be a true test as every night we will be playing a tough opponent. Of all years, (6th now!) the league has not been tighter top to bottom. The job the Coach's are doing recruiting top end talent is incredible. I feel we have improved in alot of areas from last season. The first 4 games of exhibition that we won we got better each night. This weekend I feel the better teams won in Robert Morris and Mercyhurst. The Mercyhurst game though I will say the score was not indicative of the way we played, the shots were only 33-30. It wont be a easy start for us as Ottawa U is vastly improved and Concordia has always given us tough games. Lastly, the Mens Hockey team along with The School of Business have teamed up this month with Breast Cancer awareness Month. The team in warm up will be wearing pink t-shirts that state "Mens Hockey wears Pink". It is a great cause and we are honored t support it.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Proud of the boys...


While we didn't get the result we wanted against Carleton on Wednesday, I'm proud of the way we played. We executed our game plan extremely well but gave one up on a set piece. That being said, those who were in attendance would agree that we had our chances on more than one occasion to tie that game - or to take the lead before Carleton's goal.

It was one of those games where nothing seemed to go our way in the attacking third. The quality of the final pass wasn't there when we needed it to be; every save was parried 2 inches too far from our players trying to capitalize on rebounds; and crosses were just short or long of our runs into the box.

We competed hard, and this team continues to improve day-by-day, and game-by-game. There is no time to dwell on the loss. We need to bounce back versus RMC on Saturday to continue our quest for a first-round bye.

Come support your Gaels as they take on the Paladins on Saturday at 3:15 at RMC. We're very appreciative of the support we've received thus far, and hope it continues for the remainder of the season.

Chris

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

immune system

Hi All.

It's getting to be cold season again! Lots of my athletes, friends and family are coming down with the first good head cold of the season. If you want to avoid these nasty little bugs, here are a few hints:
> SLEEP - try to get to bed and sleep for as close to 8 hours as you can as often as possible. If you have trouble sleeping, exercise!

> EAT - get your fruits and veggies. They provide the mirconutrients that keep your immune system 'topped up'.

> HYDRATE - keep the water coming to maintain a top notch immune system.

> Multivitamin and vitamin C - best brands are Shaklee and Usana. Take the recommended amount to keep your system at it's best.

> Wash your hands - obvious, but we skip it all the time.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Starting to turn the corner...


In past games, this team has showed only short glimpses - 10 minutes or so - of how well they could play when playing to their potential. We hadn't played a good full 90 all season. This weekend was a different story. Those short glimpses turned into long stretches and I would say we played some of our best soccer of the year. We're finding our stride, and we're discovering what makes our team "tick".

On Saturday, we faced up against Nippissing. The boys were determined to have a strong showing against the Lakers with Alumni watching from the sidelines. They put in a solid team effort, both in attack and in defense, and came out victorious 4-0. On Sunday, we played against Laurentian. It was an opportunity for us to separate ourselves from the middle of the pack in the standings as we were tied in points with the Voyageurs. Although we didn't come out as strong from the start, our back 6 were organized and kept the score-line 0-0 through the first 20 minutes. Eventually, we were able to break the deadlock and go into the half with a 2-0 lead. We scored another in the 2nd half to make it 3-0 but conceded a consolation goal late in the game. The final score was 3-1.

My thoughts...
I was pleased with the team I saw this weekend. The guys put in the work that is required to win games at this level, and we're making progress day by day. This past weekend could be a turning point for this team, as they now see the way we are able to play when we're firing on all cylinders. While it's great to achieve 6 points this weekend, there is no time to celebrate. We're back to work on Tuesday and play Carleton on Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. at Richardson Stadium. As I said in an earlier blog, the season is short but the process is long. We need to build on the positives and fine tune some of the negatives.

Before I sign off, I'd like to thank the alumni who were able to make it down this past weekend to our alumni game and dinner. Our young boys now understand what it means to be a part of Queen's Men's Soccer, and for that, I thank you. Quick shout-out to Steven Irish and Brent Lukowski :)

Until next time...

Chris

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Game #3

So, we're away from the home pitch of Kingston Field this weekend to play McMaster at their own Homecoming. We've backed up the normal kickoff time to 12noon instead of 1pm to accomodate three games on the Mac field today, and we're up and ready to go.

Much has been made of our last two meetings with Mac in the 2009 season. We are ready to go and using many of our best attributes to goal set and to motivate ourselves for today.

Best of luck to the football Gaels in their match-up against Ottawa and a big shout out to the Queen's alumni who have made the trip to Kingston this weekend, including the PHE '00 alumni and other pseudo-physed types!

All the best,
Beth

Thursday, September 23, 2010

100th Anniversary Weekend

Hi Folks,
 
What a weekend!  The primary focus was the 100th Anniversary Celebration of Women’s Basketball at Queen’s University.  With that, came a number of activities that included:
·        A free basketball clinic Saturday morning – about 60 players attended
·        A tour of the Athletics & Recreation Centre – about 40 people joined in
·        An Alumni vs Alumni game with 25 former players playing and another 10 in attendance (turns out CBC did film parts of the game)
·        An exhibition game with McGill that was televised “live” coast to coast on CBC (as part of their inaugural Sports Day in Canada show) (see game report below courtesy of our Sports Information Department)
·        A dinner banquet with over 100 in attendance at the Ambassador Resort Hotel
 
I will send out a separate email regarding the other day’s events, hopefully with photos in a future email.
 
For now, the game:
 
From my perspective, I was disappointed with our performance on the court.  No question we were “tight” and fatigued early.  We were out-hustled to the ball on numerous occasions in the first half, although I thought we did a better job in the second half.  Turnovers certainly plagued us throughout the entire game, recording 16 in EACH half.  We were congested on offensive, with poor physical  execution, and failed to identify (and react to) McGill’s main scoring threats.  I know our players are very disappointed with their play.  On a more positive note, the skill level, commitment and drive exhibited by this group of players will allow us to get better……much better.
 
 
KINGSTON, Ont. (September 18, 2010) – The McGill Martlets spoiled the party as the Queen's Gaels fell 78-58 in a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) women's basketball preseason matchup which was the centre piece of CBC's Sports Day in Canada broadcast.
 
Queen's University acted as the main broadcast venue for Sports Day in Canada which saw the City of Kingston featured as the host city. CBC's Scott Russell was on hand broadcasting segments all day long while the entire city was showcased in front of a national television audience.
 
In addition, the game was being contested to honour the 100th anniversary of women's basketball played on campus.
 
“It wasn't the result we wanted on the court, but overall an outstanding day,” said Leslie Dal Cin, Director of Athletics & Recreation of Queen's University. “There was lots of activity here on campus and across the city. Kingston should be very proud of how it supported the event.”
 
Athletics & Recreation welcomed the entire community to take in the new state of the art Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) which opened in December 2009. Free tours, swims and fitness classes were a part of the programming offered all-day long in the building.
 
The ARC also got rave reviews from several officials on site as well as the CBC broadcast team.
 
In the game, Francoise Charest of Quebec City poured in 24 points while McGill teammate Anneth Him-Lazarenko of Ste Dorothee, Que. Finished with 18 points in the win. Also breaking double-digits for McGill was Natalie Larocque of Quebec City with 12 points.
 
Gemma Bullard of Guelph, Ont., was the top scorer for Queen's with 12 points while Rachel Urosevic of Kitchener, Ont., scored 11 points in the exhibition matchup. Both Bullard and Urosevic were playing in their first CIS game.
 
Hanna Koposhynska of Toronto was named the player of the game for Queen's recording 13 rebounds and nine points.
 
Christine Wallace of North Gower, Ont., tallied seven points before departing the game with an injury. The Gaels were also without perennial leading scorer Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont. who is nursing a minor injury.
 
NOTES: This was the first time in CIS history, outside of the national championship tournament, that a CIS women's basketball game was televised coast-to-coast... 1,257 people were on hand to see the basketball game while hundreds of others turned out to take part in sporting activities across the campus.
-30-
 
Up Next on the Road:
October 15-17 @ Memorial University (St. John’s, Nfld - 3 game series)
October 22-24 @ Laval Tournament (Quebec City)
 
Up Next at Home:
October 29-31 Tindall Tournament with University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), Guelph University and Ottawa U.
 
Have a great week.
 
Dave.

soccer girls run it through

Hello All.

I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to 'lead' the soccer girls in a run last night. Granted, I did start out in the lead but that didn't last too long once the hard work started. Girls, you did an awesome job of the bench blast and I was really impressed by your efforts. For my part, I did make it back and I'm actually not that sore today - phew!

Another step forward and Alumni Weekend!


Only have a couple of minutes before I head off to work so I thought I'd very briefly give you my thoughts about our 1-0 win against Trent and our upcoming alumni weekend.

Last weekend, we played Trent Excalibur, an organized squad with a new-found confidence. We created a couple of good scoring opportunities in the first 15 minutes but couldn't capitalize on them. As the game progressed, their confidence grew, and the score-line remained nil nil. The last 10 minutes, saw us pushing for a goal. We knew we needed 3 points if we were to hope for a first round bye in the playoffs. In the 93rd minute, we found the winner. Our left winger, Mac Ojiaku, hustled for a ball he had no purpose hustling for, crossed it in the box to Dan McBride, who played it across to Eric Cappon for the winner. I keep telling these boys that these moments - the moments when you think you're out of a game but find a way to win - are going to help us down the road. All in all, pleased with the result, but improvements are still to come.

This weekend is a special weekend for our young boys. Each of them have an opportunity to share in the glory days of our great alumni. They will have the opportunity to listen to past-time stories, receive words of wisdom, and lifelong advice. This is what makes alumni weekend so special. Add in a 2-game weekend versus Nippissing and Laurentian, and we have ourselves a weekend to look forward to.

Alumni are encouraged to attend the alumni game at 12:00 p.m. at our West Campus practice field. I will be there at 10:00 a.m. for any out-of-town alumni who want to see the changes we've made to the Men's Soccer change room. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

I look forward to welcoming all of you and thank you for your continued support.

Chris