Competition Season

Just as the NCAA water polo is now in full swing for women (last post) so, too, is the regional competition cycle for age group teams in Canada. This week we host the 2011 Bushido Invitational at Pan Am Pool. It's a bit smaller than previous years and that, oddly, reflects some growth on the prairies.


Teams from Edmonton are not traveling here this year, unlike the past few seasons, since they have so many provincial games with emerging regional clubs in Alberta. Great for them, reduced travel interest for us. Same for Saskatchewan, Cyril has energized the 12U and 14U competitions in that province so there are leagues each winter and the younger players who used to migrate here for their only winter event are now playing much more and closer to home. Again, a good thing for growth in the region but not so good for our event even though it is a unique 5 on 5 format.

This 5 on 5 play is one of the most interesting to me as a coach and it gives young players way more opportunity to touch the ball and to learn individual skills. We've seen lots of great players develop through this structure, including a dozen national team athletes from Bushido the past decade. This year the event will see National Team participants from Regina, Weyburn and Bushido.

One of the things I am most interested in is the chance for young, often overlooked, referees to whistle lots of games. Brendan Domoney is the Referee in Chief and he has a list of 5 or 6 referees that we don't see enough of each winter so that is very positive in this organization.