This coverage was first sent as an email newsletter to our subscribers. Sign up to receive it, for free, on our Ottawa at the Canada Games page. Newsletter by Tyler Reis-Sanford, Farrah Philpot, Dan Plouffe & Keiran Gorsky It’s already been a summer to remember for Jasmine Chrétien and what promises to be the biggest highlight has only just started. Her final stop on an extremely roundabout voyage to begin her university volleyball career with the Calgary Dinos is with the Ontario women’s volleyball team at the St. John’s 2025 Canada Summer Games. Ontario started slowly but finished firing on all cylinders in a 3-1 victory over British Columbia in its opening match, continuing the high level energy present ever since the fresh new teammates boarded the plane together en route to Newfoundland. “There were a few flight delays, but the moment we got in the air, it was really nice,” Chrétien recalled in a phone interview with the Ottawa Sports Pages’ Tyler Reis-Sanford. “We were all sitting beside different sports but we were all Team Ontario. It was really cool talking to the different athletes from different sports and getting to know them.” Chrétien and the rest of Ontario women’s volleyball players were able to get some valuable team building before the Games got started, as they travelled to Slovenia to kick off their training camp. There, they were treated to a state-of-the-art facility with a volleyball court “just steps away,” and got to hone their skill against a local Slovenian side and a competitive Croatian junior team. Jasmine Chrétien (right) during Team Ontario’s pre-Canada Games camp at Queen’s University in Kingston. Photo: @jasmine_chretien_volleyball Instagram / Team Ontario After that, they had another two weeks of training camp to get ready for the Canada Summer Games, where their first test would be against a strong B.C. squad. “I think mentally, we weren’t tight necessarily, but we didn’t know what to expect,” said Chrétien about the opening set against British Columbia. “The moment we started getting runs, that’s when we started realizing the more we cheer the more excited we get, that was hyping us up and getting us points.” The Béatrice-Desloges high school grad added that she thinks they didn’t realize that quick enough, and Ontario dropped the first set against British Columbia 25-22, but claimed victory in an even tighter second set 25-23. “After the first set, we realized we really needed that high energy,” indicated Chrétien. “And that’s what we made sure to bring in the second set.” Eva Génier (left) and Jasmine Chrétien. Photo: @jasmine_chretien_volleyball Instagram / Team Ontario Entering the tournament, Chrétien said Ontario knew that they had two huge strengths as a team, serving and blocking. They showed off both those strengths in the remaining two sets, and looked like an entirely different team as they steamrolled B.C. 25-10 and 25-15 to finish the match. Chrétien is joined on Team Ontario by a fellow member of the local Maverick Volleyball Club in Éva Genier, a Franco-Cité grad who is headed to the Université de Montréal to play for the Carabins. “I was given lots of opportunities (by the Mavericks) to learn from older athletes,” reflected Chrétien, who won a 2024 national bronze medal as an underage player with the Mavs’ 18U girls’ team. “They’ve helped me develop a lot.” While she’s been loving every moment with Team Ontario, Chrétien was also sad she couldn’t have been back home on Saturday for MavsFest, when the club celebrated its 40th anniversary with a big celebration at Ottawa Stadium. Chris (left) and Kerry MacLean. Photo: Farrah Philpot The club also toasted its founders Kerry and Chris MacLean, who are retiring from their leadership roles after 40 years of service. From its roots as a single boys’ and girls’ team composed largely of Kerry’s high school players at Colonel By, the MacLeans never would have imagined 40 years ago that their little east-end volleyball club would create a community that occupies a whole pro baseball stadium, reported the Ottawa Sports Pages’ Farrah Philpot in her feature. “I heard it was really fun,” Chrétien said of MavsFest. “I heard there was a lot of dunking coaches (in the dunk tank).” In men’s volleyball, Ottawa’s Deng Yout and Team Ontario fought back from early struggles to prevail in a fantastic five-setter against Manitoba in their first action of the Canada Games. Ontario dropped the first set 18-25, then went down 0-2 after losing a 23-25 squeaker in the second. With their backs against the wall, Ontario managed to surge back into the match thanks in part to strong serving, and by winning some momentum-shifting rallies. In the end, Ontario pulled through with 25-21, 25-16, 18-16 wins in the last three sets against a Manitoba team that seemed to surprise Ontario early with their speed and ferocity.
Rain delays start, but eventually relents in time for Ontario’s debut in first Canada Games women’s baseball tournament
Ontario women’s baseball team at their sport’s Canada Games debut Monday night when host Newfoundland played B.C. Photo: Team Ontario After a long series of rain delays, Ottawa’s Sophia Audet and Sofia Milks at last took to the field for Ontario’s first-ever Canada Games women’s baseball team. The anticipation turned out to be well worth the wait, as Ontario stormed to an early lead and never let it go en route to a 24-10 drubbing of Quebec. “I’ve been the only girl on every team I’ve played for up until this point,” Milks noted in an interview with Team Ontario. “Sometimes other teams would question why I was there, but I had supportive teammates and kept pushing. Now, playing with this group of girls, the bond is different – we can really connect on and off the field.” True to Milks’ word, Ontario’s chemistry shone through the gloominess of the Team Gushue Sports Complex, as they loudly cheered for every hit, run, and dramatic strikeout. Sofia Milks early in her baseball career (left) and competing at last year’s U16 nationals. Photos: Ottawa West Twins Milks is no stranger to breaking into uncharted territory. The 16-year old-pitcher and outfielder was named MVP of her Ottawa West Twins co-ed team in 2023, and was the first ever female starter for her school’s varsity team at Nepean High School. “Back home, there are younger girls who look up to me,” noted Milks, who advises them to “work twice as hard as boys do and just never give up. Prove everyone who doubts you wrong.” “To be part of the first Canada Games women’s baseball tournament means a lot. It shows them there’s a path forward,” she added. “With women’s baseball making its debut at the Canada Games and a professional women’s league starting in the U.S. next year, it feels like an exciting time where anything is possible.”Ella Lindsay returns to familiar place on national podium
Ella Lindsay (right). Photo: Diving Canada After winning a medal of each colour at last month’s junior nationals, Ella Lindsay added another national medal to her collection Tuesday in her first event of the Canada Summer Games. The Nepean-Ottawa Diving Club athlete placed third out of 19 competitors in the women’s artistic event, scoring 196.85 to carve out her place on the podium by .8 points. Three-metre springboard artistic diving is not an event usually found on championship programmes, but it’s one of five medal events held at the Canada Games and the latest in which the 15-year-old Lindsay has found success. It was a particularly special day for the NODC with the club’s Paris 2024 Olympian Kate Miller also winning a gold medal at the Junior Pan Am Games in Paraguay. (We’ll look forward to catching up on local athletes competing at the Jr. Pan Ams next week.) Rafael Serey-Cormier, who grew up as an NODC diver but now represents Gatineau, was 15th in the men’s artistic event.Danica Menard celebrates 16th birthday with a goal, an assist and a women’s soccer win
Danica Menard. File photo Ottawa South United Soccer Club products Danica Menard and Fiona Cortes-Browne scored a goal apiece as Ontario cruised to a 4-0 victory in their opening game of the women’s soccer tournament against Prince Edward Island. Cortes-Browne, a defender, sprung her side to a very early lead with her goal in the third minute as Ontario continued to apply constant pressure against an embattled P.E.I defense and goalkeeper that did everything in their power to keep the ball out of their net. It worked for the rest of the first half, but Menard scored the goal that finally broke things wide open for Ontario with her marker in the 64th minute. The goal came at the perfect time, not just because it gave Ontario a comfortable lead, but because it was a gift for Menard (who wears #16) on her 16th birthday. The midfielder capitalized on an errant pass from a P.E.I. defender who meant to pass it back to her keeper, but Menard pounced, beating the keeper by mere inches to the ball and squeaking a slow roller past her to go up 2-0. The icing on the birthday cake came just moments later, when Menard skillfully weaved a pass between a pair of defenders to assist on another goal from teammate Sydney Taylor. In artistic swimming, Madison Murphy of the GO Capital Artistic Swimming Club kept herself well within striking distance of the podium with her fifth-place showing in the opening technical routine of the women’s solo competition. Her score of 208.8050 is less than three points behind the third-place competitor in the standings. The 17-year-old who’s previously represented Canada in Pan Am competition will swim a preliminary free routine on Thursday and another final free routine Friday when the solo event medals will be awarded. Liam Davis. Photo: Kim Opheim / Canada Games In athletics, Zach Jeggo of the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club got off to a quick start, winning his men’s 400 m heat with a time of 48.27 seconds. Jeggo’s mark was good enough to stand as the second best time of the preliminary rounds. In the men’s shot put, Liam Davis of the Lions placed eighth in the final. His 14.48 m mark was short of his personal best of 15.90 m, set just over a month ago. Recent West Carleton Secondary School grad Will Batley of CANI Athletics helped Ontario to the top time in the men’s 4×100 m relay preliminaries with a 40.80 performance that hinted at a potential run for the meet record come the final. Andre De Grasse anchored Ontario to the current Canada Games-best time of 40.02 in 2013. Batley did not race the men’s 100 m, but is slated to compete in the 200 m.Day 12 Preview: ‘We’re not settling for silver’ – Conner Hopper makes Team Ontario softball expectations clear
Conner Hopper. File photo The first day of play at the Canada Summer Games got washed out for the Ontario men’s softball team, but it’s still a better start for Conner Hopper than the last time he wore the maple leaf. While representing Canada at the 2023 U18 Men’s Softball World Cup in Mexico, Hopper’s tournament came to an abrupt end in just his second game when he suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him for months. When sliding into first base, the West Carleton Electric player dislocated his shoulder while making contact with the first basemen. The injury took months of physiotherapy to get rehabilitated, and Hopper was left watching for the rest of the tournament as his fellow Canadians captured the bronze medal in a tightly contested 2-1 game against rival Team USA. “I got injured in November, and I don’t think I was throwing again until late March,” Hopper recounted in an interview with the Ottawa Sports Pages’ Tyler Reis-Sanford before the Games. “Head first slides, they kind of scare me. It’s always lightly in the back of my head, but thankfully I’m a feet-first slider now.” Band work, weight training, taping and specialized warmups are all part of a regular routine to keep Hopper injury-free, and to keep from re-injuring his shoulder. The 20-year-old said that surgery is a possibility in the future, but right now he’s focused on his next task, helping Team Ontario win the Canada Summer Games. “We’re not settling for silver,” underlined Hopper. “We’re a deep squad with a lot of talented guys. We’re going to put it all out there like we know we can. We just have to show up and perform.” Conner Hopper. File photo Ontario is scheduled to get its Canada Games tournament underway Wednesday morning against New Brunswick, followed by an afternoon game with Nova Scotia. Whether he’s asked to play in centrefield where he’s most comfortable, or to change over to a position where he’s needed, Hopper said he’s ready to do whatever his coaches ask of him to help contribute. He credits a large portion of his adaptability and coachability to the great relationship he has with his West Carleton Electric coach Adam Brown. Both Brown and Hopper have been a part of the same Electric team for more than a decade, and Hopper takes the lessons he’s learned from Brown wherever he goes. “There’s so much trust between us,” highlighted Hopper. “He still believes in my game, no matter what happens. If I get in a slump, he’ll still keep me high in the batting order. It gives me a lot of confidence.” Most recently, Hopper, Brown, and the rest of the West Carleton Electric U20 squad won bronze at the Ontario Amateur Softball Association provincial tournament. After a nail-biting 14-13 win over the Stone Mills Thrashers, the Electric lost to the Chatsworth Longhorns, the eventual champions. Hopper tallied a triple, a double and a walk in the loss, and was recognized for his efforts with an invite from the Plattsville Lightning to join their team for Softball Canada’s men’s U20 championship in Saskatoon. Hopper’s new mates went undefeated at 6-0 in the preliminary round but lost 6-4 to a familiar foe from Chatsworth in the championship game to take the silver medal. Conner Hopper. File photo Although Hopper is focused on the red and white jersey of Team Ontario this summer, he said he wouldn’t mind being tapped again to wear the maple leaf and represent Team Canada in the near future. “Wearing Canada across your chest, there’s a real sense of pride,” indicated Hopper. “I think the next big milestone after this is getting to represent Canada with the U23 team, hopefully sooner rather than later. “Oh, and playing more than two games this time.” Other local athletes in action Wednesday: Ottawa’s Thomas Sénéchal-Becker won his first senior men’s high school title at the Canadian Track and Field Championships on Aug. 3 at Terry Fox Athletic Facility. Photo: Farrah Philpot It promises to be an exciting and busy day at the track Wednesday for Ottawa athletes. Headlining the bunch is CANI Athletics higher jumper Thomas Sénéchal-Becker. Returning for his second Canada Games, the 22-year-old is the undeniable favourite for the men’s gold medal. Sénéchal-Becker equalled the top height achieved at the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games, but lost out on tiebreaker to take silver. He’s since gone on to win the 2023 U Sports title with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and then won his first senior national men’s title in Ottawa at the Canadian Championships two weeks ago. Also competing Wednesday will be Jessica Gyamfi of the Gee-Gees/Lions in the women’s shot put. This is Gyamfi’s second multi-sport event of the season, having represented Canada at the late-July FISU World University Games in Germany. She told the Ottawa Sports Pages’ Tyler Reis-Sanford that she prefers the discus over shot put, but that she’s been putting in extra reps for the shorter throws event in advance of the Canada Games. Batley and Jeggo will also be back for more preliminary round action in the men’s 200 m and men’s 4×400 m relay respectively. Dexter Bates of Holy Trinity (left) did not allow a point to be scored against him en route to OFSAA wrestling gold. Photo provided The first day of the Canada Games wrestling competition will be Wednesday, with two National Capital Wrestling Club grapplers set to hit the mats for Ontario in the first day of the men’s and women’s team events. Kingston’s Makinleigh Courtney puts in many miles as she tries to get to two practices a week with the NCWC in Mechanicsville, while Dexter Bates recently qualified to represent Canada internationally at the youth level. The Holy Trinity Catholic High School student enjoyed a perfect undefeated Grade 11 season en route to the OFSAA provincial high school gold medal. After having to wait until late Tuesday to make their debut at the historic Canada Games women’s baseball tournament due to rain delays, Sophia Audet and Sofia Milks will get to it in a hurry with a pair of Wednesday games in the afternoon and the evening. Ontario will meet Alberta and Newfoundland. In diving, Serey-Cormier will compete in the men’s 1 m springboard, while Lindsay will go for her second podium in the women’s 3 m springboard. Murphy will also be in the pool for the technical routine of the artistic swimming team event. And in volleyball, Yout and the Ontario men will face New Brunswick in the afternoon, while Chrétien, Genier and the Ontario women take on Alberta in the early evening.Ottawa at the Canada Games Daily Newsletter
A huge team of 48 Ottawa athletes is competing at the St. John’s 2025 Canada Summer Games in Newfoundland. The Ottawa Sports Pages will be sending out a free daily email newsletter with recaps, previews and profiles throughout the Aug. 9-24 national youth multi-sport event. Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. By clicking on the submit button, you consent to receive the above newsletter from the Ottawa Sports Pages. You may unsubscribe by clicking on the link at the bottom of our emails. Ottawa Sports Pages | 21 Kolo Dr., Ashton, Ont., K0A 1B0 | 613-261-5838Related
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