It's been a while since our last posting here at the RRJ, but there have been a few tournaments since that time, namely in Windsor in late March, followed by Vancouver, with an international field of athletes soon coming in for the Défi Sportif at the end of this month.

Team Canada's Mike Whitehead figured prominently in both tournament wins in Windsor, where he family ties, and in Vancouver, where he was the tournament MVP.

The two "Canada" teams met in the final in Vancouver, which were primarily made up of players from Ontario and Quebec, with the BC "A" team taking third place. It is a nice preview of our upcoming national championships, where those big three teams all intend to take home the Campbell Cup. This year, we have 10 teams in total, making it our largest national championship ever!

We had three national team program athletes in the recent USQRA Nationals, with Mike Whitehead wearing Hoveround Gunners colours, and his Ontario Lightning teammates Dave Willsie playing in Divison I with the California Quake and Erika Schmütz riding the top line with the Great Lakes Storm in Division II. Travis Murao, from the BC Bandits, also suited up for his university team in Div. II

Some interesting reports on their championships can be found on the Lakeshore site:

April 6th

April 7th (Willsie and the Quake beat Lakeshore Demolition!)

April 8th

April 8th

April 9th (Gold Medal Game)

A complete look at the results of the two division US Nationals can be found on these pages: Division I, Division II.

FINAL RESULTS:

DIVISION I

1st Place Phoenix Heat (featuring 3.0 Shinichi Shimakawa, from JAP)
2nd Place Lakeshore Demolition (featuring Dan Buckingham from NZL)
3rd Place Texas Stampede (featuring 2.0 Geremy Tinker from NZL)
4th Place Hoveround Gunners (featuring 3.0 Mike Whitehead from CAN)
5th Place Denver Harlequins (featuring 2.5 Ross Morrison from GBR)
6th Place California Quake (featuring 2.0 David Willsie from CAN)
7th Place Portland Pounders
8th Place Kentucky TNT (featuring 2.0 Alan Ash from GBR)

DIVISION II

1st Place Magee Eagles
2nd Place OG's
3rd Place Pasadena Texans
4th Place U of A Wildcats (featuring Travis Murao from the BC Bandits)
5th Place Tampa Generals
6th Place Chicago Bears
7th Place Northridge Knights
8th Place Great Lakes Storm (featuring Erika Schmütz from CAN)


4 US players will soon be wearing Canadian provincial team colours at our 2006 Nationals in Halifax. Adam Bencsik, the MVP from the Div. II US National champion team, will play for the Sasksquash; Justin Patterson, who earned "Best 2.5" honours in Div. I will play for the Québec Impact, and teammates Nick Springer and Pat O'Connor, from the Hoveround Gunners, will play for Alberta and Manitoba respectively.