 14U Boys Win Gold - Posted:1/18/2012 - Click the picture to enlarge
 Saturday January 14 the Boys 14U team of the Barrie Elites won Gold.
It was a long day of very close games and when it came down to the Gold Medal round we played a very tough team from Oakville called Lakeside. Lakeside won the first game 25 to 23 and in the second game the Elites answered back by winning 25 to 10 over Lakeside. So the match went to a third game where both teams were very determined to win and they gave a great show to all the fans with rallies lasting a long time and the score going back and forth until the Barrie Elites ended with a score of 21 to 19 to take the gold.
BACK ROW Assistant Coach Agnes Bartosik, Colton Bortowski, Jacob Sera, liam Osborne, Nicholas Renda, Dario Zecca, Joshua Osborne, Cole Michels, Coach Neil Clune
FRONT ROW. Ryan Chantler, Parker Clune, Jack Brown
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16U Girls Black Defeat Provinces #4 FCVC - Posted:1/15/2012 - Click the picture to enlarge
 This past weekend saw the Barrie Elites 16U Girls Black lose a close third set match (17-25, 25-17, 15-10) versus Halton Hurricanes to bring home the Silver medal at an invitational tournament held in Burlington. The Elites had handily defeated Halton in pool play (25-20, 25-16) but were unable to repeat the task in the final. The team's performance was highlighted with wins over the province's 4th ranked London with the match going 3 sets and the Elites dominating the perenial premier rated team 15-6 in the third set ... and earlier with the provinces "top 10" ranked Hurricanes. "The girls could not overcome the energy deficit accumulated from competing with the top ranked teams throughout the day. Their performance was worthy of a gold medal ... we just came up 5 points short in the end", reflected coach Gross. Another tournament highlight saw the Elites defeat Woodstock's 17U team in 3 sets. The Elite's silver performance, on top of previous Gold and 5th place finishes, is serving notice that they are a team to be recon with as they slowly climb toward the top of the rankings at the 16U age division which sees more than 90 teams competing provincially.
(photo L-R)
back row: Coach David Gross, Kathryn Marks, Kelsey Watson, Alisha Stidam, Kendra Wells, Anja Ceklic, Josie Fiegehen, Alisha Oliver, Coach Kerri Scott
front row: Jenna Gross, Riley Watson, Abbey Dempster, Jenna MacPherson, Christine Woodliffe
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Region 5 teams - Posted:1/15/2012 - Click the picture to enlarge
 Congratulations to Kara Stephan, Morgan McDonnell and Devon Kerr.
These three players were selected as players or alternates to represent Region 5 at the upcoming Ontario Winter Games.
This is a great accomplishment for these athletes and the Barrie elites as Region 5 is an extremely competitive region.
Good luck at the games!
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North Bay Tournament - Posted:1/14/2012 - Click the picture to enlarge
 Congratulations to the U15 girls Black team who brought home a gold medal from last weekends tounament in North bay!
These young ladies dominated the tournament from start to finish, with all team members contributing to the win!
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Second Straight Gold Medal for 13U Girls Black! - Posted:12/10/2011 - Click the picture to enlarge
 The 13U girls travelled to a wintery North Bay, Ontario to play for the Challenge Cup December 10th. The tournament was held at the impressive Nipissing University athletic complex. The girls showed some rust in a straight set win against an over-matched Ottawa Fusion team. The girls then faced the same Georgian Cubs from the Provincial Cup. This time the Cubs turned the tables and won in three sets. The girls then faced the Elites Blue team. The Blue team played well but the girls won in two sets. The girls placed second in their pool and faced the Maverick Rattlers in the first round of playoffs. They won in two sets and moved to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, the Elites faced a scrappy Storm Vortex 12U team that refused to quit on any rally and any game. The girls prevailed in a hard fought, see-saw affair 18 – 16 in the third set to move into the finals. They now faced the Georgian Cubs who are rapidly becoming arch-rivals. It was a well played match and the girls came from behind in the second set to win in two straight.
U13G – North Bay
- back row – Sophie, Danielle, Madison R, Leah, Amrika, Muskoka, Payton, COACH: Heather
- front row – Madison P, Emily, Kenzie, Kiley
- Absent: Sydney
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Girls 13U Black wins Gold at Provincial Cup! - Posted:11/12/2011 - Click the picture to enlarge
 With a small core of returning veterans and a strong crop of new players, the 13U girls travelled to Markham to play for the Provincial Cup. The girls placed second in their pool after beating the Waterloo Tigers and losing a close match to the Durham Attack Red. In the first round of playoffs, the girls faced the Georgian Cubs. In a well played match, the Elites prevailed in two sets and moved to the quarterfinals to face the Durham Attack Silver. Again the girls played very well and won in two sets moving them into the finals to face the Durham Attack Red. The Elites were able to avenge their earlier loss to the Attack with a hard fought three game victory.
U13G – Markham
- back row – ASST: Siona, COACH: Heather, Amrika, Danielle, Leah, Sydney, Payton
- front row – Sophie, Emily, Madison P, Kenzie, Kiley
- Absent: Madison R, Muskoka
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16U Provincial Silver Surprise for Stidam and Oliver - Posted:7/31/2011 - Click the picture to enlarge
 Alisha Oliver and Alisha Stidam of the 15U Girls Black team didn't end up as beach partners until halfway through the season in July. Deciding to partner up for the Beach Provincial Championship ended up being a wonderful surprise for this duo.
Scheduling conflicts resulted in the duo playing up in the 16U division, giving them an even greater challenge as a new partners. The first tournament the girls played together was tough as they started to figure out each others playing style. A respectable 5th place in the higher age group, with all sets close in scores encouraged them. However, a day at the Vaughan 15U tournament was a learning experience and pushed the pair back to playing 16U in Cobourg. Things finally started coming together for them and a 3rd place positioned this newly formed team with the positive momentum they needed going into Provincial Championships.
The girls decided that they thoroughly enjoyed the stronger strategic play in 16U so they asked to end their season playing provincials in the higher age group knowing that it would be a tougher challenge.
Day one at Provincials provided a challenge for them as they were tiered against teams all ranked much higher than them. Despite a grueling first day the girls refocused on day two. The wins started coming and they were back in it. Both the girls served strongly and they built solid leads throughout the day as they continued to work hard on developing their partnership skills.
Making it all the way to the semi final game, Alisha Oliver's speed and dynamic diving saves and Alisha Stidam's virtually perfect ace serve in the third game, solidified their spot in the finals.
The duo ended the day with silver medals and smiles all around for their spectacular performance. What a way to end their first beach volleyball season together!
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15U Provincial Bronze for Watson and Woodliffe - Posted:7/31/2011 - Click the picture to enlarge
 RILEY WATSON AND CHRISTINE WOODLIFFE: Bronze Medal Winners!!
This was our first year playing organized beach volleyball and our first year as a partners. The season started in May playing pick-up at Tyndale almost every night with other Elites players and friends. We didn't have a coach but everyone we practiced with gave us tips and pointers. We entered 3 tournaments together and also played with other partners over the summer when our schedules didn't match up. We had our ups and downs over the season but we always made sure we took something away from each tournament to work on and improve for the next tournament.
We entered the Provincial Championships ranked 16 out of 71 teams in the U15 division. Saturday proved to be a tough schedule, playing the 5th and 6th place teams first. The games were close but unfortunately we were 0-2 after those games. The third match turned out to be one of the most exciting matches we played all year. We lost the first game 19-21, won the next game 21-19 and then lost a thrilling third set 17-19 to leave us 0-3 after day 1, but we came away from the day feeling great about how we played in the last match. Sunday started out with a convincing win that set the tone of the day. After the round robin games we were ranked top in Division 2. After a bye in the first round we won our quarter finals match 21-16 and 21-14. Moving on to the semis we encountered a tough team and lost the match to the eventual gold medal winners of Division 2. After a long wait in 36 degree temperatures we played for the bronze medal. The first game was close but we prevailed 21-19. After a quick break we refocused and went on to win the second game and the bronze medal with a great 21-10 win. Everything seemed to come together in the last game as we had some great serves and hits and a few timely blocks.
Winning the medal was awesome, but what was even more important was the improvement we made as beach volleyball players and how we came together as a team.
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15U Girls 13th in Eastern Nationals - Posted:5/8/2011 - Click the picture to enlarge
 This past weekend our 15U Girls Black travelled to Sherbrooke Quebec where 40 of the best teams from Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia competed in the 2011 Eastern National Championships. The girls finished second in their Day 1 pool, defeating both Durham Attack Black and the Ontario "Premier" team Interclub. Barrie, re-pooled for Day 2 competition, narrowly lost to the #3 ranked Etobicoke Titans 24-26 & 23-25 but cruised through both Durham Attack Red and the #10 ranked Ms Pakmen enroute to another second place finish in pool play. This set up an elimination match with one of Quebec's top ranked teams, "Anglais", Sunday morning. With a promising first set win, the Elites slowly relinquished the match losing in 3 sets. "It was an excellent result", commented head coach David Gross. "This was our girls first experience at a National Championship, and to come away with a 13th place finish and only 1 loss each day (3 losses in total) speaks volumes to the girls confidence and team performance." (back row left to right) Jenna Gross, Abbey Dempster, Josie Fiegehen, Riley Watson, Taylor Osborne, Kelsey Watson, Alisha Stidam, and Coach David Gross. (front row left to right) Coach Kerri Scott, Alanah Jewell, Alisha Oliver, Julia Hopper, and Jenna MacPherson.
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Past Barrie Elite's Sam Pedlow King of Queens - Posted:9/10/2010 - Click the picture to enlarge
 When Sam Pedlow was nearing graduation from St. Peter’s Secondary School, he applied to nine universities. At the very bottom of that list was Queen’s. “To be honest, I didn’t even know where it was,” Pedlow said with a chuckle.
Ironically, over the past five years, Queen’s University in Kingston became the focal point of Pedlow’s life, where he developed into one of the most decorated men’s volleyball players to ever play the game.
“I’m the only guy I know of to have won (Ontario University Association) medals in five straight years,” said Pedlow. Last year, Pedlow decided to return to Queen’s for a fifth year to finish his schooling and to complete some unfinished business on the court. A volleyball veteran, he was chosen to captain the young squad in his final season.
Sam went from being one of the shortest guys on his high school team in Grade 11 to a star that blossomed first with the Barrie Elites under coaches Dave Gross and Doug Godin before growing into his talent under the tutelage of Willis. “Every coach hopes that the athletes they attract to their program will be determined, dedicated, unselfish and hardworking,” said Willis. “Well, Sam was all of that and more.
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House League a Great Success - Posted:11/18/2008 - Click the picture to enlarge
 The first session of the Barrie Elites House League wrapped up at the Holly Community Center. All the players got to show off their newly acquired skills in a round robin tournament ( including perhaps the most important skill ..... the "high five" !!) Many thanks to Barrie Parks and Rec , and a HUGE thank you to my student coaches - Lyndsey , Robin , Vicki and Collin !! You were awesome !
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