It is unbelieveable that 4 months have past since my last entry! Where has the summer gone? With holidays behind me, I am starting to prepare for our upcoming selection process, the team-building stage and the 2012-13 season.
We have five very good recruits coming in, and I expect that there will be a very competitive open tryout as well, as there is still room for one or two more players to earn their way onto the squad.
In case you haven't seen it on facebook for the website, here is a brief synopsis of the incoming class.
Ivo Dramov – 6'3” – Libero – Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Dramov has spent the last two years as a member of the Bulgarian Youth National Team. At the 2011 World Youth Championship, he helped Bulgaria to a sixth place finish, finishing second in total digs with 103 and third in digs per set (3.32). Earlier, he helped Bulgaria to fourth place at the 2011 European Championship, and second place at the 2010 Balkan Championship, where he was voted best Libero.
Markus Trence – 6'4” – Outside Hitter – Orangeville, Ont. / Robert F. Hall C.S.S.
Trence joins the Gaels from Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary in Orangeville, and the Mississauga Pakmen club. A highly sought-after recruit, Trence is a big banger with very polished all-around skills. In his five years of club and beach volleyball experience, he showed impressive aggressiveness and tactical intelligence.
Matt Golas – 6'5” – Outside Hitter – Etobicoke, Ont. / Father John Redmond C.H.S.
Golas is a member of the national team program in Beach Volleyball, and will compete on the OVA and National Beach tour this summer with future teammate Aaron Nusbaum. Inside, Golas has played for both the Toronto West Volleyball Club and the Toronto Thunderbolts. He also attended the OVA High Performance Centre last season.
Will Hoey – 6'10” – Middle Blocker – Brampton, Ont. / Mayfield Secondary
Hoey also attended the OVA High Performance Centre last season, and played with Trence on the Mississauga Pakmen. He helped the Pakmen to fourth place at last year's 18U National Championship. This summer, Hoey will represent Canada at the U19 World Beach Championships, only the sixth Gael to have this opportunity.
Austin Payne – 6'3” – Outside Hitter – Kingston, Ont. / Regiopolis-Notre Dame
Payne is already a champion, having led Regiopolis Notre Dame to an OFSAA gold medal in 2010, and silver in 2011. At the club level, he was team captain and MVP of the Kingston Pegasus for four years, attended the OVA High Performance Centre twice and was co-captain of Region 6 at the Ontario Summer Games.
We will have a young team next season, at least in terms of CIS experience. We will definitely have a new look, but I think we will have all the makings of a very good team. Our squad will have great size, great athletes, great people and youthful enthusiasm.
We will need quite a few matches to get to the point that we are playing like veterans, so our priority is to play as many matches going into the season as possible. We will hold an alumni game on September 15th, head to The Leasebank Invitational at Ryerson on the 28th of September, then play hosts to Guelph for a couple matches on Thanksgiving weekend, then we will host our annual invitational on the 12-14th, and finally; we will head up to Montreal for a few matches on the 19th of October.
With these 12 matches, before the season starts, I believe we will be able to sort out our line-up options, develop both experience and cohesion, and give ourselves a good chance at being ready for the league to kick-off.
This could be the biggest team I have ever coached (in terms of height), and it poses to be a very strong team, in time. The big question is simply, how much time?
With almost all of our top guys leaving, most positions are available and every athlete will have a chance to step up and own a key role. That internal competition for spots on the floor makes for great intensity, and I'm excited to return the program to that environment.
Bring it on!!!
The official blog of Queen's University - Athletics and Recreation.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Women's Basketball Update
Hi Folks,
A little overdue for another basketball update.
I am very pleased to report that three of our players were named Academic All-Canadians for this past year (attaining at least an 80% average): Jenny Wright (1st year Science), Sydney Kernahan (3rd year Commerce) and Brittany Moore (Faculty of Education) – an outstanding accomplishment!
June 16th marked a special day as upwards of 20 basketball Alumni players (& coach) from the 1970s gathered in Kingston to tour the campus and don their basketball gear for a scrimmage on the hardwood. Current players served as tour guides and videographer for the event and very much enjoyed hearing the stories of their predecessors on the team.
Our 6 incoming rookies made the trip to Kingston in late May to acclimatize themselves to Kingston and their new teammates. The weekend proved very fruitful as players began to familiarize themselves with each other’s style of play and team bonds began to form. I am very much looking forward to working with this group starting in late August – they will be well worth watching come game time.
Looking ahead, details regarding the Alumni event on Saturday, September 22nd are progressing nicely. Each year, we would like to honour and recognize a specific group of student-athletes. For this year, we have selected the players, coaches, managers from the following five teams: 1980-81 to 1984-85. I am planning on sending a personal invitation to all members of those teams, however, our records are somewhat incomplete. If you have contact with anyone from those years, please let me know or pass along the information to them – thank you.
On Wednesday, June 27th, RMC announced the cancellation of their Men’s & Women’s Basketball programs effective immediately. This does impact our program in a fairly significant way. We no longer have a “partner” school, which means that our two-game weekends will be against teams that will only be playing one game (against us). This, of course, affects pre-game scouting (teams are only preparing for us on a weekend, while we have to prepare for two teams) and conditioning (our second game of the weekend will be against a team that rested (and possibly watched our game) the night before. Before RMC came into the league, we were the “single school” on a number of occasions, including both years we won the east championship – so I think we will manage.
That’s it for now – have a great summer!
Dave.
A little overdue for another basketball update.
I am very pleased to report that three of our players were named Academic All-Canadians for this past year (attaining at least an 80% average): Jenny Wright (1st year Science), Sydney Kernahan (3rd year Commerce) and Brittany Moore (Faculty of Education) – an outstanding accomplishment!
June 16th marked a special day as upwards of 20 basketball Alumni players (& coach) from the 1970s gathered in Kingston to tour the campus and don their basketball gear for a scrimmage on the hardwood. Current players served as tour guides and videographer for the event and very much enjoyed hearing the stories of their predecessors on the team.
Our 6 incoming rookies made the trip to Kingston in late May to acclimatize themselves to Kingston and their new teammates. The weekend proved very fruitful as players began to familiarize themselves with each other’s style of play and team bonds began to form. I am very much looking forward to working with this group starting in late August – they will be well worth watching come game time.
Looking ahead, details regarding the Alumni event on Saturday, September 22nd are progressing nicely. Each year, we would like to honour and recognize a specific group of student-athletes. For this year, we have selected the players, coaches, managers from the following five teams: 1980-81 to 1984-85. I am planning on sending a personal invitation to all members of those teams, however, our records are somewhat incomplete. If you have contact with anyone from those years, please let me know or pass along the information to them – thank you.
On Wednesday, June 27th, RMC announced the cancellation of their Men’s & Women’s Basketball programs effective immediately. This does impact our program in a fairly significant way. We no longer have a “partner” school, which means that our two-game weekends will be against teams that will only be playing one game (against us). This, of course, affects pre-game scouting (teams are only preparing for us on a weekend, while we have to prepare for two teams) and conditioning (our second game of the weekend will be against a team that rested (and possibly watched our game) the night before. Before RMC came into the league, we were the “single school” on a number of occasions, including both years we won the east championship – so I think we will manage.
That’s it for now – have a great summer!
Dave.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Women's Basketball - Update
Hi Folks,
Time for another update.
It has been a very hectic March and April…………but a very productive couple of months as well.
The Ontario East/West All-Star game was played in Kitchener on the weekend, with Queen’s well represented once again. Jenny Wright played in her first All-Star game after being selected to the East All-Rookie Team. Brittany Moore returned to the game (after missing last season due to other commitments) and dropped a game-high 18 points en route to being selected the East Player of the Game. See the game report link:
http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/4/30/WBB_0430125134.aspx?path=wbball
Our second annual Reception and Silent Auction, in conjunction with our Alumni events are set for Saturday, September 22nd. An Alumni vs. Alumni game will precede a varsity exhibition game in the afternoon, followed by the reception and silent auction. Last year the auction was a huge success thanks to the donation of items from the Alumni, family and friends, plus local businesses that the athletes canvassed. If you would like to donate (and/or get a jump on your holiday shopping), please let me know.
We have solidified our exhibition play in the States in early November, with games against Oswego State on Friday the 2nd and William Smith College on Saturday the 3rd.
Still have a couple of details to iron out with the rest of the schedule, but hopefully will have it all sorted out shortly.
Our team participated in the 2nd Annual Charity Dodgeball Tournament last month. Returning as defending champions, the women’s basketball team managed a comeback victory over women’s hockey to reclaim their title. Of course, the true winner was the Right to Play charitable organization.
I am very pleased to announce that Claire Endicott of Guelph, ON will be joining our team this fall. Claire is a 6-2 post player, currently playing for the Tri-County Thunder in the JUEL program. She is a very solid post player with strong skills around the hoop, good rebounding capability and an excellent defensive communicator. We should have a press release out sometime next week.
That’s it for now.
Cheers.
Dave.
Time for another update.
It has been a very hectic March and April…………but a very productive couple of months as well.
The Ontario East/West All-Star game was played in Kitchener on the weekend, with Queen’s well represented once again. Jenny Wright played in her first All-Star game after being selected to the East All-Rookie Team. Brittany Moore returned to the game (after missing last season due to other commitments) and dropped a game-high 18 points en route to being selected the East Player of the Game. See the game report link:
http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/4/30/WBB_0430125134.aspx?path=wbball
Our second annual Reception and Silent Auction, in conjunction with our Alumni events are set for Saturday, September 22nd. An Alumni vs. Alumni game will precede a varsity exhibition game in the afternoon, followed by the reception and silent auction. Last year the auction was a huge success thanks to the donation of items from the Alumni, family and friends, plus local businesses that the athletes canvassed. If you would like to donate (and/or get a jump on your holiday shopping), please let me know.
We have solidified our exhibition play in the States in early November, with games against Oswego State on Friday the 2nd and William Smith College on Saturday the 3rd.
Still have a couple of details to iron out with the rest of the schedule, but hopefully will have it all sorted out shortly.
Our team participated in the 2nd Annual Charity Dodgeball Tournament last month. Returning as defending champions, the women’s basketball team managed a comeback victory over women’s hockey to reclaim their title. Of course, the true winner was the Right to Play charitable organization.
I am very pleased to announce that Claire Endicott of Guelph, ON will be joining our team this fall. Claire is a 6-2 post player, currently playing for the Tri-County Thunder in the JUEL program. She is a very solid post player with strong skills around the hoop, good rebounding capability and an excellent defensive communicator. We should have a press release out sometime next week.
That’s it for now.
Cheers.
Dave.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
2012 Spring Invitational Standings
Updated April 22, 6:41 PM
U16 Boys
U18 Boys
U16 Boys
Team
|
Wins
|
Losses
|
Goals For
|
Goals Against
|
Points
|
North Mississauga FC (1st)
| 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 9 |
Gloucester Hornets (2nd)
|
3
|
0
|
8
|
2
|
9
|
Cumberland Cobras
|
3
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
9
|
Bradford Eagles
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
Kingston United
| 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
Waterloo United
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
U18 Boys
Team
|
Wins
|
Losses
|
Goals For
|
Goals Against
|
Points
|
KNSC Lions (1st)
|
3
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
9
|
Etobicoke Energy (2nd)
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
6
|
Cataraqui Clippers
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
2
|
6
|
Barrie Spirit
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
3
|
6
|
Nepean
Hotspurs
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
Oshawa
Turul FC
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
2012 Spring Invitational Results
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Time/Age
|
Home Team
|
Away Team
|
||
8:30 U18
|
Cataraqui
Clippers
|
2
|
Nepean
Hotspurs
|
0
|
9:40 U16
|
Kingston United
|
1
|
Gloucester
Hornets
|
4
|
10:50 U18
|
Barrie
Spirit
|
0
|
KNSC Lions
|
3
|
12:00 U16
|
Waterloo
United
|
0
|
North
Mississauga
|
3
|
13:10 U18
|
Etobicoke
Energy
|
1
|
Oshawa
Turul FC
|
0
|
14:20 U16
|
Bradford
Eagles
|
0
|
Cumberland
Cobras
|
1
|
15:30 U18
|
KNSC Lions
|
2
|
Cataraqui
Clippers
|
0
|
16:40 U16
|
Gloucester
Hornets
|
3
|
Waterloo
United
|
0
|
17:50 U18
|
Nepean
Hotspurs
|
0
|
Etobicoke
Energy
|
2
|
19:00 U16
|
Cumberland
Cobras
|
2
|
Kingston
United
|
0
|
20:10 U18
|
Oshawa
Turul FC
|
0
|
Barrie
Spirit
|
3
|
21:20 U16
|
North
Mississauga
|
3
|
Bradford
Eagles
|
0
|
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Time/Age
|
Home Team
|
Away Team
|
||
8:30 U16
|
Waterloo
United
|
0
|
Cumberland
Cobras
|
2
|
9:40 U18
|
Etobicoke
Energy
|
0
|
KNSC Lions
|
1
|
10:50 U16
|
Kingston
United
|
0
|
North
Mississauga
|
2
|
12:00 U18
|
Cataraqui
Clippers
|
2
|
Oshawa
Turul FC
|
0
|
13:10 U16
|
Bradford
Eagles
|
1
|
Gloucester
Hornets
|
2
|
14:20 U18
|
Barrie
Spirit
|
1
|
Nepean
Hotspurs
|
0
|
15:30 U16
Final |
North Mississauga FC
|
2
|
Gloucester Hornets
|
0
|
17:00 U18
Final |
KNSC Lions
|
0
|
Etobicoke Energy
|
1
|
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