14U Boys At March Madness, News (K-W Water Polo)

The Maverick’s March Madness tournament was held from the 22nd to the 24th in Etobicoke. The event featured 29 teams playing 73 games at the 12U and 14U levels ... madness!

Watch the highlight reel and interviews of the U14 Boys, brought to you by   - Etobicoke vs KW.

On our own KW Kraken team, there was the excitement of calling up a 12U player and adding a brand new player to our team to play in his very first tournament.

In the 14U Boys category, there were more teams than at any other level, including four high-calibre teams from Quebec coming to check out the competition in Ontario. One of those teams, the Montreal Machine, was the first squad our Kraken Boys faced Friday. The Montreal Machine are one of the very top teams in the eastern end of the country. Regardless of the score in this loss, 17-5, our boys played well against them. Another loss against Hamilton 2, by 17-1, might have weakened and dispirited a lesser team, but our Kraken boys instead grew stronger from it. In fact, all weekend, the boys continued to get better and better.

Early Saturday morning, our team had to battle against the Maverick Mustangs in the Maverick’s home pool, in front of the Mavericks home crowd. Despite all this, the Kraken boys were up to the challenge. It was a very close match, 5-4, leaving our Kraken in 4th place in their group. Our team worked extremely well together and they were all engaged in this game. Their own coach said that “the attitude and mindset that they displayed inside and outside these games demonstrates just how far they have come since the beginning of the season.” Their perseverance would pay off.

In the next game against the Shadow Tigers, it was the Kraken that pounced. Our KW team had taken the momentum they were building in their previous losses and turned this game into a victory. Our boys doubled their opponent’s score, 18-9. They were not done yet. Despite their second early morning start in a row, our team remained energized and together. They took on the Titans from Ottawa and triumphed, 8-3.

These victories set up a rematch against the Maverick Mustangs in our boys’ final game of the weekend. The home-pool advantage tipped things toward the Mustangs again in another close battle that ended against the Kraken , 4-1.

Whether it was a win or a loss, our team made their coaches, families, and club proud by raising their level of play game after game. They even raised their level of play within each game by making it difficult for teams to score against them in the third and fourth quarters. The coaches are excited to ride the improving play and the positive attitude and focused mindset into Provincials. Their coaches say they can’t wait to see our boys “carry out the remainder of the season with continued passion and tenacity.”

Congratulations to our 14U Boys for the growth they made during the March Madness tournament and all season.

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