ATHLETICS: A WINNING MINDSET

It has been a successful year for athletics at Pickering College with three teams earning championship titles.

It started in the fall term with the Senior Boys’ Soccer Team, who were undefeated all season long and came back in the final four minutes of the final game to secure the CISAA Division III championship.

“I think in sports, you couldn’t ask for more than a close tournament and all our games were so close. We never won by more than two goals,” says Steve Cope, who has been coaching at Pickering College since 2007. “It was a fantastic season for that.”

Captain Artem Rumiantsev said the team trained hard and he knew from the start that it was going to be a strong season for them.

“Honestly, I was confident about winning the league from the first days of the season because we had a lot of good players who were extremely motivated,” Rumiantsev says.

Despite that, it was still an emotional moment for him when they actually won. “It is a great honour and joy for me to be a CISAA champion. The last time Pickering College won the league was 2019 and I’m glad we were able to win the league for the first time in four years,” he says. “The finals were one of the most emotional games of my life.”

It was a very successful winter term as well, with three senior teams making it to the championships: Senior Boys’ Hockey, Senior Girls’ Volleyball and Senior Boys’ Basketball.

After an undefeated regular season, the Senior Boys’ Hockey team won the CISAA NC Division II championship on home ice in the Eric Veale Memorial Arena on February 28.

“Our last two games were our best games— we played better as a team than we did all season. Being on home ice—the fans were loud and there was music—it was a great atmosphere to have the final game and win the championship. Scoring the last goal on that ice meant a lot,” says Graeme Fraser, a Grade 12 student on the team.

That final goal brought the score to an impressive 4-1 for the Pumas against Lakefield College School.

This was the first time in over a decade the school had a competitive hockey team and the first championship win since 1986. “It is really exciting to have the team excel the way they did this year. We’ve had teams in the past make the playoffs, but this year seems to be one of the first years where the team actually had a chance to win the whole thing,” says Joe McTamney, who has been coaching hockey at Pickering College for about 15 years. “It’s exciting to have a team put together that can win a championship for the school and win a banner.”

That same day, Senior Girls’ Volleyball secured a victory of their own, becoming CISAA Division III champions also at home.

“The prospect of playing in a gold medal final in front of a packed Egan House brought excitement but also the pressure of being able to perform on a momentous day at PC,” says Graham Birt, team coach. “The team spent a significant amount of time all season developing its ability to execute in pressure-filled situations. We often spoke about pressure making people 30 per cent better or 30 per cent worse, and this year’s team fell unequivocally into the ‘better’ category.”

One of the players who performed well under pressure was Rebecca Liang, Grade 11. A winning mindset helped her achieve victory alongside her teammates.

“A quote that was in my head during the game was ‘be the player that other girls look up to,’” she said.

The team was undefeated all season and that rang true in the finals as well, as they won three close sets to earn the gold medal.

“A talented and motivated team from Trafalgar Castle School gave us an outstanding challenge in the final, including an incredible 31-29 finish in the first set,” Birt says. “It was a memorable day on the PC campus, and we are proud to have been able to cap it off on a winning note.”

Also that week, Senior Boys’ Basketball played in the championships at The York School, but did not advance beyond the semi-finals. In Middle School, the U14 Girls Volleyball team had a successful season, earning a bronze medal in their final game.