Perfect season for U13 Athletics
The St. Catharines Athletics captured the U13 girls championship at the Ontario Lacrosse Festival in Whitby. Photo: DENIS CAHILL
The St. Catharines Athletics ran the table to capture the U13 girls championship at the Ontario Lacrosse Festival in Whitby.
The A’s completed a memorable summer with a win over Centre Wellington in the championship final to cap off a perfect 21-0 season.
A’s coach Sallah Hamdani said the team was anything but complacent heading into the gold medal game.
“Winning never gets boring and these girls knew they were on pace for a perfect season,” Hamdani said. “They didn’t want to lose that, didn’t want to have a hiccup, a learning moment going into games too confident. I think the coaching staff did a great job to keep them motivated, to keep them hungry and make sure they played for their teammates, make sure their goalie would get a shutout.
“Just a complete, perfect season. Quite possibly one of the best teams ever with that record put together.”
The A’s were the only team in Ontario — boys or girls —to end the season without a loss or tie.
The Athletics had only four players — Sabrina Cahill, Amira Hamdani, Kacy Chan-Hill and Charlotte Olsen — back from the last provincial championship team.
Hamdani said the staff recruited athletes from other sports to fill out the roster.
“Girls box lacrosse starts at U13. It gives a lot of pressure to make sure the program is up and running with girls that not only want to play, but that you think are going to last. You aim for a roster of 15 and a goalie and you have some work to do.
“We were able to recruit from soccer teams, from girls hockey. We were able to recruit 10 more and a goalie, Mieke Watson, who is a goalie in hockey.”
Hamdani and his staff then went to work on moulding the team into a cohesive unit.
“We built the base and just drilled it into them and the girls started rolling. At the end of the day, if you want to get better you have to do it away from the arena. Playing two or three hours a week is not going to be enough so the girls that have that passion, they build and work on their craft and get better. These girls did that.”
The team came together from Day 1.
“It came together quickly because some of them may have played field lacrosse before but they never played box. It is a different game and we were able to spread the experience on three lines and build from there. By the end, all three lines were contributing to help win a championship,” Hamdani said. “When bringing girls together it’s essential to establish a strong team culture. One that can quickly bring the girls together and create a competitive environment that allows for fun as well as accountability. The girls checked all the boxes.”
The A’s captured the Zone 9 local title as well as two tournaments in Kitchener and Whitby before the Festival in Whitby where they topped Burlington 1, Burlington 2, Kitchener and Centre Wellington en route to the final.
Members of the team are: Mieke Watson, Morgan Kemp, Olive White, Peyton Attwood, Piper Malton, Sabrina Cahill, Vivian Grifa, Alexandra Kislasko, Amira Hamdani, Blakley Vinc, Charlotte Olsen, Charlotte Beatty, Ericka Westfall, Holly Dale, Jolene Goodbrand and Kacy Chan-Hill.
Coaching staff: Head coach: Sallah Hamdani. Assistant coaches Matt Attwood, Terrence Cahill. Trainer/goalie coach Kevin Olsen.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 6,200 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
