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Canadian Capitals raid the American capital
(PHOTOS)
By Kerry Green, with photos by Tess Edwards and Kerry Green
February 13-16, 2009 — The 18U Girls’ latest adventure was to the Capitol Hill Volleyball Classic in Washington DC. Bright and early, we met at Timmy’s for what turned out to be an 11 drive to ObamaLand, except for “Princess” Leah who was provided with a 90 minute flight to the US capital. Things seem to be going smoothly until we hit the border, when one of the vans was pulled aside for a random spot check. All 7 in the van had to go into the border patrol building, stand and wait for 20 minutes and then we were told that everything is OK and that we could leave. What was that all about? We still think it was because of “Commando Chris” and his ties to the Canadian military. The rest of the trip was uneventful until we hit DC at 5:00 and finally arrived at the hotel around 6, where we were greeted by earlier arrivals. A quick check-in, dinner in the hotel, and early lights out as we had to be ready to play in the morning wave at 8 AM.
Competition Day 1: This turned out to a relatively easy day for the girls. We drove past the Washington Monument and the White House to get to the Convention Centre, a massive structure with 30 courts upstairs and another 20 downstairs. First up was NCAJ from Albany NY, where the girls displayed some of the better skills they have been working on and won in two. Next was a reffing assignment (and a trip to the medical table for ice by about half the team) followed by another straight sets win over KaepaWhoosh Stars and Stripes of NY. Another reffing assignment, finally an off-game, and then the final game of the day, a 2-set win over DE Juniors Blue Thunder. This gave the girls first place in their pool and another early morning on Sunday.
Lunch time and a 2 block walk to Chinatown gave us all some much needed energy for the rest of the day. Back to the hotel where the girls showered and then a few walked across the Key Point Bridge to Georgetown for a few hours of looking around at this very upscale area of Washington. Back to the hotel for a quick team meeting followed by a light dinner in the hotel and again early lights out.
Competition Day 2: First up was another reffing assignment, so the girls didn’t have to be up as early as on Saturday. The Day 2 competition was much stronger than that of Day 1, and the girls needed to bring their best game if they were to advance to the Gold Medal round. First up was United from the NY area. The CAPS took the first set but then fell back a bit to lose the second. The third was back and forth until United pulled off the 15-12 win. Next the girls faced Roanoke 18 Open, a fairly close match which the CAPS took in 2 straight. This pool of teams was close in talent level, with many matches going to a third set and causing the games on this court to run late. With one match to play against Xceleration of Philadelphia, the CAPS could finish anywhere from first to fourth, so a win was very much needed. After an opening set loss, the girls came back to win the second, setting up an all-important 3rd set with the winner going to the Gold Medal round. Teams for the afternoon wave were now waiting to get on the court as it was approaching 3:00 in the afternoon. The CAPS were ahead at the break when, in the middle of the set, announcements were made for the afternoon wave and then the American anthem was played! After the 5 minute break, points were won back and forth until the CAPS squeaked out a 15-13 win to grab first place in their pool and a place in the top 16 for Day 3 play.
This day lasted longer than expected, so sightseeing time would need to be shortened. After a quick trip to the hotel, the girls had 30 minutes to get ready and jump in cabs to go back downtown. (Unfortunately, Brittany and Rebecca had caught the flu and were unable to make this excursion.) We all met at the White House, where some had their picture taken with Pres Obama (was that really him?) and then walked to the Washington Monument, past the Reflecting Pool (where we were reminded of Forrest Gump calling out “Is that you Jennnayyy”) to the Lincoln Memorial, and finally to the Vietnam War Memorial where the girls’ giggling and goofing around turned serious. They realized that many of the names were of men not much older than them and asked many questions about the war. Luckily Charles (Jeremy’s mentor) was there to help out. Then it was off to the hotel for dinner and an early night as we had another 8 am game.
Competition Day 3: Not only was this the final “Win or Go Home” day of competition, but it was also travel day back to Ottawa. The girls’ first match was against NRV18 of Virginia – not an overly big team but quick and very good defensively. The CAPS came out slow in the first set and dropped it 18-25. In the second, the girls adjusted to all of the tipping that NRV was doing and kept it close to the end but came up short 27-29 to finish in a tie for 9th out of 68 teams. One more reffing assignment, lunch and then the long drive home finished off the weekend.
Many thanks to coaches Jeremy, Chris and Michelle for preparing the girls for yet another tournament, to the drivers for getting the girls to DC and back, to the parents who made the trip to support the team, and a special thank you to Charles for making the trip and helping out in any way he could.
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