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Flyers heading to OFSAA for 18th straight season

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The Eden Flyers seniors boys volleyball team is heading back to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships in search of its 18th straight medal at the provincial championships.

Eden punched its ticket to OFSAA by winning Thursday’s Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association championships at Blessed Trinity. Last season, the Flyers were second at SOSSA en route to a bronze medal at OFSAA. Behind strong defensive performances by Ephram Janzen and Ty Klassen and solid middle play by Kai Schatz and Luke Johnson, the Flyers defeated Zone 3 champion A.N. Myer 3-0 (25-18, 25-19 and 25-15) in the semifinals and Zone 1 representative Westmount 3-0 (25-18, 25-17 and 25-16) in the final. Last season, Westmount defeated Eden in the SOSSA final and went on to win silver at OFSAA.

“The team’s success can be attributed to the consistent setting of Jesse Reimer, the defensive prowess of Zeke Smith, and the incredible serving runs from Logan Dueck (seven in a row) and Isaac Reimer (eight in a row),” head coach Bill Markham said. “Once again, the depth of the team played a vital role, allowing the coaching staff to strategically deploy multiple lineups to maximize the strengths of this dynamic group.”

In his last season as head coach of the Eden program, Markham expressed his gratitude to all the parents and teachers who make the program possible, acknowledging that the win is a collective achievement. He emphasized the celebration of the team’s hard work, commitment, and trust in each other and the system they have built throughout the season.

“Representing the volleyball high schools of Southern Ontario is always an honour for the Eden Flyers, who take pride in showcasing the talent and skill of their region,” Markham said.

The OFSAA AAA championships will be held Nov. 23-25 in Windsor.

This season, Eden went 7-0 in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association league play before defeating West Niagara 3-0 in the Zone 4 final. In tournament action, the Flyers won their own tournament, placed second at tournaments in Stratford and at McMaster and third in another in Uxbridge.

Eden has won 13 OFSAA gold medals.

Bernie Puchalski, a graduate of Brock University and Niagara College, worked in journalism in Niagara for more than 27 years before taking a voluntary buyout from The Standard at the end of 2016. He started his career as a news reporter for the Niagara Falls Review before switching to sports reporting. He was a sports reporter and sports editor at the Niagara Falls Review before joining the Standard's sports department in 1996. He was named the Standard's sports editor in 2000 and became the regional sports editor, in charge of the Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune and Standard, in 2015, a position he held until he left the company. During his time in newspapers, he was a multiple winner and finalist for numerous Ontario and Western Ontario Newspaper Awards for sports reporting, spot news reporting and humour writing. He was a member of the Standard Boys Basketball Tournament committee and co-chair of the Standard Girls Basketball Tournament, helping to raise tens of thousands of dollars for bursaries presented to participants in the tournament. He also served on countless local sports committees both in Niagara Falls and St. Catharines.

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