June 6, 2008 - There was certainly no shortage of happy
faces on-hand Thursday evening as the NCVC celebrated another
successful season at its 4th Annual "CAP-It-Off" Year-end
Banquet. It was certainly a full house as, for the first time,
the Algonquin staff were forced to move the food line into the
adjacent room! After a hearty feast of roast beef, lasagna and
delectable desserts, the formal part of the evening was initiated by
our very entertaining MC, former Director of Special Events, Luke
Luecke.
After the girls were set loose on a table full of door prizes
(courtesy of the O'Doherty "basement"), Club President Bob
O'Doherty, began the task of thanking those who made special
contributions to the smooth running of the NCVC in 2007-2008 -
namely the coaches, team managers, directors, and those other
volunteers who helped make this 4th CAPS season such a success.
Next up were the 14U and 15U team presentations, including player
speeches, gifts for coaches, player awards and a 14U/15U slideshow
presentation thanks to 18U parent Brian Morphy.
The 16U/17U/18U portion of the evening was highlighted by a
really wonderful speech by newly minted
CareerCAP Gina
Morphy, who very eloquently spoke to her teammates - and to
all the CAPS in attendance - about how truly memorable, unique and
important the CAPS experience has been to her as an athlete, but just
as much the impact it has had on her development as a young woman.
She survived a flood of tears to pull off this little masterpiece -
way to hang in there Gina!
The NCVC is always particularly proud of its graduating players
and of their success in securing recruitment - as well as academic
and athletic scholarships - to top-level post-secondary schools and
varsity teams. This year's class is certainly no different.
Congratulations and presentations were offered to the 18U Girls, our
newest CareerCAPS:
BECKY BILLINGS
Queen's University Golden
Gaels
LEAH HOFMANN
Brock University Badgers
SARAH JOY
University of Maryland/Baltimore County
Retrievers
EMILY KYTE
McGill University Martlets
GENEVIÈVE LEMAY
Les Aigles Bleues de
l'Université de Moncton
MELISSA McCOY
Royal Military College
Paladins
GINA MORPHY
York University Lions
KALYN MOSTERT
University of Albany Great
Danes
SOFIA STUROVA
University of Ottawa Gee-Gees
GABRIELLE VALLÉE-VACHON
Les Carabins de l'Université
de Montréal
HALEY WOLFENDEN
Ryerson University Rams
Another great 16U/17U/18U slideshow was followed by closing
remarks from Bob O'Doherty, in which he thanked the membership for
their contribution to the success of Ottawa08, the 17U/18U
Canadian Open, challenged next year's 16U, 17U and 18U teams to
work hard towards even greater success at next year's championships,
and reminded everyone how important it will be that they give of their
time to make Ottawa09 the best event Volleyball Canada has ever
seen. The girls ended the evening with a full half hour of
mingling over the autograph pages of the brand new 2007-2008 CAPS
yearbook.
Without question, I think those who have been around a few years
would agree that this was one of the best CAPS banquets ever.
Thanks must be given to Director of Special Events Mary Clare
Carter and her wonderful volunteers for pulling together a tight
and perfectly scheduled event. Thanks as well to the Algonquin
staff for putting on such a great feast and for their professional
management of the evening.
We look forward to the 08-09 season (after a welcome break) and
to our 5th anniversary celebration in 2009. 613...
NC!
