TVRAA Year in review
There was one perfect season and another that came agonizingly close.
There were long title droughts ended and provincial titles won, but the high school sports year in the London area will be remembered more for something else.
Enough weather problems to drive everyone crazy.
More snow in December than in recent memory postponed almost two weeks' worth of games and spring rains that never seemed to end created no end of havoc for the Thames Valley Region Athletic Association.
But thanks to heroic efforts of conveners and the co-operation of coaches and game officials, almost all of the regular seasons were completed on time. Only girls' rugby saw fewer games than it should have, through no fault of its own.
"I don't think we could have imagined the snow implications -- and at that time it was a really positive statement about our conveners and coaches and administrators at the school level to get those schedules done -- but for that to turn around and happen again in the spring is absolutely unheard of," TVRAA co-ordinator Keith Heard said. "For the amount of hours they worked in a very short period of time, those people probably haven't received the thanks they deserve."
Another reason for giving thanks were the artificial fields at City Wide Sports Park that saved the TVRAA Central Conference soccer playoffs as well as the WOSSAA AAA and AA boys' soccer championships.
(Note to city and school boards: Installing a few of these at select schools around the city might not be a bad idea.) But when the games were played, there was a lot more to look back on:
Fall
In football, the senior Catholic Central Crusaders gave head coach Jean-Paul Circelli a championship in his first year after taking over from his legendary father Mike by winning the Central Conference title. And as they did in 2008, they did it coming out of the second tier.
They got past East Elgin in the TVRAA challenge and were outmatched in the Western Bowl semifinal by a very good Windsor Herman squad.
East Elgin also made some history as the Eagles won the Southeast senior title for the third straight year, making them the first team from the Aylmer school to do that.
In boys' volleyball, the Oakridge Oaks went undefeated until the very last match, dropping a heartbreaker to Kingston Regiopolis-Notre Dame in the OFSAA AAA final at Hamilton. They saw right-side hitter Kyle Richards go down with an ankle injury early in the fourth and deciding set and never really recovered, although they handled defeat with dignity.
In girls' basketball, the Regina Mundi Titans, battered but not bowed, gutted their way to an OFSAA AAA silver medal in Stratford. Guard Jenalyn Yumol embodied the Titans' grit, playing the final on a badly sprained ankle. The John Paul II Jaguars won OFSAA bronze in a very tough AAAA field in Hamilton.
On the cross-country trails, Hilary Stafford of Aquinas and Jaclyn White of Mother Teresa won individual gold at OFSAA in junior and senior girls, respectively, while Huron Park took the junior girls' team title.
Winter
After 46 years and a heartbreaking loss in the final the season before, Catholic Central won a boys' hockey title when it swept defending champion Mother Teresa in the Central Conference final. The Crusaders then beat the Spartans in the WOSSAA AAA/AAAA final before going on to OFSAA in Toronto. There, they went 3-1 in pool play (which included games against eventual champion Markham Brother Andre and bronze medallist Peterborough St. Peter's) and finished in a three-way tie atop the group, but were eliminated on goal difference.
In boys' basketball, Beal Raiders completed a fifth straight undefeated season within TVRAA by beating Aquinas in the Central Conference AAAA final. Both advanced to the OFSAA tournament, held in London, with Beal bowing out in the quarters, the Flames in the second round.
Mother Teresa completed a, winning its first Central AAA/AAAA girls' volleyball and girls' hockey titles.
It was a pretty sparse season in terms of OFSAA gold as the only two were turned in by wrestlers -- Brian Cowan of Dorchester at boys' 51 kilograms and Sam Jennings of Central Elgin at boys' 95 kg.
Spring
They got on a roll from the first game and never stopped until the OFSAA AAAA gold medals were around their necks in Thornhill. It was a magical season for the Mother Teresa girls' soccer team, which didn't allow a goal in six games at the provincial championship.
In boys' soccer, Central ended a 36-year wait for a conference title by beating Oakridge in the Central Conference AAA final, while the Medway Cowboys got a scare from Oakridge early in the Central boys' rugby final before rolling to their 11th straight title.
In track and field, TVRAA athletes won nine gold medals at the OFSAA meet in Sudbury. Branden Wilhelm led the way with a pair (senior boys' high and long jumps); Alysha Newman of Mother Teresa set an OFSAA record of 3.80 metres in the senior girls' pole vault; Stafford won her second gold of the school year by taking the junior girls' 3,000; Brian Choja of Oakridge won junior boys' pole vault; Carolyn Adams of Lucas took the junior girls' high jump; Andrew Martin of Strathroy took the midget boys' shot put and Sara Kim of London Christian was the ambulatory girls' 100-metre champ.
Not a bad year. And with the prospect of a better financial picture on the horizon, 2011-12 looks even better. Just as long as Mother Nature decides to co-operate.