Fraser Valley's 16U Player Taylor Claggett recognized outside her sport of polo... her team won their tournament this weekend and received honors of player of the game. 

JUNIOR GIRLS: MEI Eagles 62, Yale Lions 54

Basketball is a contact sport, and MEI's Taylor Claggett wouldn't have it any other way.

The Yale Lions simply had no answer for the Eagles' rugged Grade 9 centre – Claggett shot an astounding 24 foul shots in the junior girls final, making half of them in her team's 62-54 win. She earned player of the game honours after leading all scorers with 26 points.

"She embraces contact," Eagles head coach Samantha Hill said of the 5'10" Claggett. "She's a water polo player, so she's strong and fit, and she loves getting dirty down there."

Watching the Eagles and Lions battle tooth and nail for local supremacy on Saturday, it's not hard to imagine the two deep and talented teams building a terrific rivalry by the time this age group reaches the senior level.

MEI had a lot of offensive success in the paint, courtesy of Claggett and Tessa Ratzlaf (13 points), with point guard Grace Tadrous doing a good job pushing the ball in transition and feeding the post.

"This whole tournament, all our games have been close," Claggett said. "But I think at the end, we played more as a team."

Fraser Valley's Matt Halajian, Danika Kotylak & Aiden Elphic Miner Making Headlines in the Ridge!

Kotylak and Halajian played for the U17 national team and represented Canada at the 2011 Pan American youth championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Elphic-Miner traveled to Serbia and Turkey this past August..

Full Story Here: http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/mapleridgenews/sports/131280969.html

Fraser Valley's Robert overcomes adversity to play for Team Canada!!

Any time an athlete earns the right to represent his country, it means they've beat some long odds.  The odds that Abbotsford water polo star Robbie Fisher faced, though, were much longer than most.

"His teammates, most of them don't know he has a potentially life-threatening blood disorder," his mother Linda said. "He just doesn't talk about it. But as his parent, I know what he goes through on a daily basis, and what he's been through over the years. That's what makes it so incredible."

Fisher, a 17-year-old who recently graduated from Robert Bateman Secondary, was part of a 13-member Canadian team that participated in the FINA Junior Men's Water Polo Championships in Volos, Greece in late August.  He helped Canada to a 3-4 record, good for 14th place, and scored a goal against Puerto Rico.

Read the full story at: http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/abbynews/sports/129767203.html?mobile=true

Fraser Valley's Alexa Tielmann wins scholarship to join UCLA Bruins water polo team!

While attending a water polo camp at UCLA earlier this summer, Alexa Tielmann instantly fell in love with the campus. She never dreamed she'd have an opportunity to spend four years there.

But towards the end of the camp, Tielmann and her mother Leanne were taken on a tour of the Los Angeles university led by a current UCLA water polo player. The last stop was the office of Brandon Brooks, head coach of the Bruins women's team. When Brooks offered her a scholarship, Tielmann's jaw nearly hit the floor

Read the full story at: http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/abbynews/sports/127950723.html

BCSSA removes 'O Cat' swim designations for elite water polo athletes!

At the 2011 Annual General Meeting, the BC Summer Swimming Association voted to remove the restrictions on water polo training in the off-season that had previously resulted in summer swimmers having to compete in the 'O Cat' division. Summer swimmers who have been designated as 'O Cat' swimmers because of their water polo (and synchronized swimming) training from October through May of each year will be able to swim and compete with their respective age divisions starting in the 2012 swim season. This means more time to play polo! Full details of the change in the rules can be found on the BCSSA website at: www.bcsummerswimming.com

FVWPC GIRLS WIN BRONZE MEDAL AT 16U WOMEN'S NATIONAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SURREY, BC

Fraser Valley's First Medal in the Women's Program!

All Star Awards go to:
All Star Team - Alexa Tielmann - FVWPC
All Star Team - Gurpreet Sohi - FVWPC
Click here for the full article...

FRASER VALLEY WINS 2010 18U MEN'S NATIONAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS IN HALIFAX, NS

All Star Awards go to:
Most Valuable Coach (MVC) - Justin Mitchell - FVWPC
Most Valuable Player (MVP) - Filip Juristovski - FVWPC

Click here for the full article...

Fraser Valley's Achievements & Accolades at the 2010 BC Open

18U Men's = Gold Medal
16U Girls = Silver Medal
18U Women's = 4th Place
16U Boys = 6th Place

18U Men's All Star Team:
Filip Juristovski, Alex Vazeos and MVG (Most Valuable Goalie) Shaun Lampen

18U Women's All Star Team:
Nadia Berard

16U Girls All Star Team:
Alexa Tielmann and Gurpreet Sohi

Congrats to All Star team members and Most Valuable Players!

Justin Mitchell wins Coach of the Year!

Justin Mitchell of Maple Ridge, Head Coach of Fraser Valley Water Polo, received the 2010 Coach of the Year award for his achievements in the sport of water polo. Mitchell recently coached the Men’s 18U team to a gold medal win at the National Club Championships and named the championships Most Valuable Coach. Mitchell is the co-founder and head coach of the Fraser Valley Water Polo club. Several of the club members were recently been named to junior national teams and Mitchell will co-coach the 18U Women’s National team.