OTTAWA – The Carleton Men’s Water Polo team started off their season with a pre-season game against the Canadian Men’s National at Carleton University. Although it was not an easy start to the season for the Ravens losing 20-5, it was still a great way to get some experience from players who play at the highest level.
The opportunity was not lost on fifth-year team captain Thomas Dalkwoski, “I was really happy to have had the opportunity to play such high-level competition. I learned a lot from watching their team play. They made very few mistakes and capitalized on our mistakes. This experience will help as we prepare to participate in the OUA Championships at the end of the month”.
Not only does it prepare the Ravens for the OUA championship, but it even creates an alliance with the national team, says Carleton Ravens Head Coach Zoltan Csepregi, “This was a great experience for our student-athletes to play against some of the best players in the country. It provided an opportunity for our team to see first-hand the skill, effort, and dedication to become a national team athlete”.
While the pre-season game was beneficial to the Ravens Water Polo athletes, it also creates a partnership between OUA teams and the national team constructing transparency between the professional level and varsity sports, says newly appointed Head Coach of the men’s National Team, Patrick Oaten, “Our team and OUA universities can use this first experience to establish a partnership that will help both programs develop, increase the visibility of the sport, and have the top players of the country compete against each other in official games. To have Carleton University welcome us with open arms, demonstrates their professionalism with respect to the sport and the development of their student-athletes”. Not only did Oaten mention that but he even claimed that it gave the National Team an idea where the team is, progress wise, as they trained through the Olympic Quadrennial.
After competing against the Canadian National Team, the Ravens played a series of pre-season games winning against Queens (15-8) and Western (17-10), before falling short to the Toronto Varsity Blues (18-5). The Ravens then wrapped up their pre-season with a pair of games against the uOttawa Gee-Gees, tieing game 1 10-10 before winning game two 10-9.
With the experience that the Raven’s Men’s Water Polo team have gained from playing the National Team, they are hoping to translate the experience they received from the game toward the upcoming OUA Eastern Regional Qualifier at Queens, and on the 27th of November against Ottawa Gee-Gees at 2pm, and Queen Gaels at 7pm.
