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It happened in the Gold Medal game between Pakmen 17U Gold and Phoenix Legacy (17U) at OVA Challenge Cup, on Dec 2 2023, in Oakville:
By DAVID WINER Special The Pakmen have drawn a line in the sand that may never be crossed. Competing at the Ontario Volleyball Association Beach Provincials, the Pakmen Volleyball Club prevailed with a flurry of gold medal performances that would confound the most optimistic prognosticator. “It was a record performance!” said ecstatic Pakmen director Kelly Smith. “These were the most Tier 1 gold medals at a Provincial Championship in OVA history.” Many of the 200 enthusiastic youngsters, who took to the six regulation sized courts this summer to participate in Elite Beach training, competed at an unworldly level resulting in 10 out of a possible 15 Tier 1 gold medal showings. “We are especially proud of head coach Jessy Satti after coming off a record-breaking indoor season,” said Smith. “His 18U boys won Provincials and Nationals, and he became the first coach to ever win three consecutive 18U national titles. Now, his male beach athletes performed so well, winning almost every single event, including several all-Pakmen finals, and in some cases, winning gold, silver and bronze. “Also, Arjun Selhi, who played for Jessy as an indoor player and was one of Jessy’s assistant coaches on the beach for three years is now in charge of the girls’ program and they also enjoyed a lot of success.” Assisting Satti on the boys’ side were Omar Abu Jazar, Saad Shaikh and Kadeem Clarke, while Selhi was assisted by Osemi Efosa. “Across the board on the boys and girls side we’ve had a tremendous amount of success, said Satti. “I give a lot of credit to the athletes, who make the conscious decision to stick with their teammates and do beach volleyball with the club. It creates a really good dynamic and team culture. There’s lots of opportunities for players to do different beach programs with other coaches, but I’ve found our athletes enjoy our beach program. It shows that the club is able to offer high quality programming 12 months of the year, and our results from indoor and beach proves that.” Setting the tone were Pakmen trailblazers Salma Abdelrazak on the girls’ side and the tandem of Misha Panasiouk and Aleksa Rakic on the boys’ side who worked overtime to collect two gold medals apiece. Panasiouk and Rakic mastered the 15U and 16U Tier 1 age groups that were chock-full of Pakmen teammates. “I think Misha and Aleks had a great summer. When they played up (16U) and won, it was definitely a special moment,” said Satti. “I think they showed people that the way beach volleyball is played can outweigh factors like size and athleticism. We make sure to teach beach the way we feel it should be played, and we’ve done that since the inception of our club. By getting athletes to buy into the training and structure, it puts them in a position to have a lot of success.” The 15U division, contested August 12-13 at Toronto’s Ashbridges Bay, was swept by Panasiouk and Rakic, followed by silver medalists Davis Hinshelwoods and Spencer Ham and bronze medalists Cooper Spehr and Jonathan Sousa. Pakmen inhabited two of the three podium placings in the 16U competition on August 5-6 with Yahia Elsayed and Chris Tang securing the bronze. The highlight of the tournament for both Panasiouk and Rakic was beating Elsayed and Tang in the 16U semi-final. “We lost to them in the final at an earlier tournament and they became the duo that we always wanted to play and beat,” explained Rakic. “While we lost to them in the first set, we fought through it and eventually won the third set 18-16.” “Even though we were ranked No. 1 entering the competition, the favorites were Yahia and Chris, who are both really good beach players and were also the tournament winners last year,” added Panasiouk. “We are also a year younger than them. But in a really close third game we were able to win, despite the fact the majority of the audience supported the opposing team.” A lot of planning had to go into Rakic and Panasiouk’s style of play considering there would be extra wear and tear on their bodies competing on back-to-back weekends. “Having to play multiple games a day with only about an hour of time for a break, it came down to how efficiently we used our time to rest and recover,” explained Rakic. “Sitting in the shade, and wearing towels and shirts to conserve our energy, was a must. After finishing each day we used our time to recover using ice, a roller and massage gun to prepare us for the next day and stay as fresh as possible.” However, the biggest reason for success, other than talent, is the rapport the two have developed. “Since Misha joined our rep team two years ago we’ve stayed close friends,” said Rakic, who attends Mississauga’s Applewood Secondary School. “Being able to connect easily from this friendship, it was easy to play together. All the time that we spent practicing on the beach and indoors made our basic skills better and helped us learn how to help each other through our struggles. If I’m struggling Misha is there to help me, and if Misha is struggling, I am there to help him.” Panasiouk, who attends Earl Haig in North York, says there’s a number of factors for their success. “The first is, of course, trust. We know that at the most crucial and stressful moment we will make the right decision that will lead the team to success. The second is communication. We are good at making our jobs easier and more efficient by communicating on the court; and the third is we are strong players in terms of set of skills no matter who the opponent serves, we know that we will definitely score a point.” “We are able to adapt and learn from our opponents,” added Rakic. “We understand how our opponents play and not only play to our strengths, but to their
By DAVID WINER
The best way to face a storm is head on. Veering away from it will only result in capsizing.
Mississauga Pakmen didn’t have to consult a manual on marine navigation when preparing for this indoor volleyball season, they just needed to trust in one another and weather the storm together.
And united, as one, the club’s 15U boys swept both the Ontario Volleyball Association and Eastern Canadian Championships in dramatic fashion over arch nemesis, Aurora Storm RipTide.
While the Pakmen faltered against the Storm in the preliminary round of the Eastern Canadians, and needed the maximum three sets to win both gold medals, they found a way to prevail in the face of the Storm in crucial moments.
Credited for steering the Pakmen through the turbulence is head coach Kelly Smith.
While the scores clearly indicated there was little separating the Pakmen from the Storm throughout the indoor season, including the Ontario Championships April 22-24 and Eastern Canadians from May 13-15 at Waterloo’s RIM Park, Smith felt the difference was, “Our guys don’t give up. As long as you don’t give up, you are always a threat.
“Storm is an excellent team and we have battled back and forth with them all season,” added the club’s founder and President. “We beat them in a hard-fought, come-from-behind match at Provincials. We lost to them in pool play at Nationals, but we were playing without our captain and leader, Pete Rugosi.”
Rugosi turned and sprained his right ankle against Toronto’s Patriots VC in the third match of the opening day of play and could be seen court side in a walking boot and on crutches during the second day of action when Pakmen suffered their lone loss.
“I was jumping up to block a ball and when I came down, I landed on the setter’s foot from the other team who had put his foot over the line,” explained Rugosi. “So (after seeing the doctor), I sat and cheered my team from the bench.
“But I was really anxious and wanted to play. (Finally) on Sunday, I thought I could play through the pain since my ankle was feeling better.”
But, despite wearing a brace to help support the ankle, Rugosi admitted, “I could barely handle the pain at the beginning of the day. But as the day went on, the less I felt my ankle because of the adrenaline pumping through my body.”
“When (Peter) returned to play in the playoffs,” explained Smith, “it made a huge difference. He’s an unreal competitor and he makes every player more confident on the court.”
“I knew how much this medal would mean to our team, and me, so I wanted to push hard,” recounted Rugosi. ” I just ignored the pain as best as I could and played my best. We set the middles a lot so that I wouldn’t have to cut out every time to spike since I couldn’t run that fast.”
Rugosi’s comeback and stellar play certainly didn’t go unnoticed by Volleyball Canada’s organizing committee who named him the most valuable player of the Championship, while teammate Saqib Shaikh was named to the National All-Star team.
Volleyball Canada awards one all-star selection to each of the fourth and third-place teams, and two to the second-place team, while awarding one selection to the gold medalists, coupled with the MVP award.
“He was the standout player at the tournament — serving, attacking, blocking, passing and digging — in every area,” said Smith.
“I feel very humbled being named tournament MVP because it’s a huge award and every one played amazing on my team so it must have been tough to choose the MVP,” said Rugosi.
“Being named National All-Star was a big honour,” conveyed Shaikh of his selection. “Not too many players win this award, so being named (an All-Star) was very special. I felt like my leadership and playing left side and right side led to me getting this award.”
“All the guys played well,” added Smith. “Our two setters, Ashraf Shaikh (Saqib’s cousin) and Trent Ketrzynski, (also) deserve a lot of credit because they work hard, have good skills, make good decisions on the court, and always put the team first.”
Ashraf Shaikh appreciated the positive sentiments from his coach.
“I feel like the talent and hard work that we possess on this team is unbelievable. Our coaches are very good at keeping us focused all the time. (Coach Smith) always stressed to us about hard work and where it will lead you on and off the court. The team trust and bond we have is also unbelievable.
“Our team was very confident going into both Provincials and Nationals. But that confidence didn’t just come from nowhere,” said the 5-foot-9 Ashraf Shaikh.
“We had a very talented and hard working team that always gets the job done no matter who is on the court. (In) beating Storm in most of the tournaments that we played, we thought it was very realistic that we would beat them again.”
The Grade 9 Mississauga Secondary School student added the team’s success stems from “the great chemistry we have on and off the court. We always trust in each other to get the job done.
“I feel (as a setter) I should be leading my team and helping everyone out,” continued Ashraf of his responsibilities to his teammates. “Setters do not get most of the credit, but I feel if the setter is not making good decisions and not setting well, then the team will not have success. The attributes that I possess come from my coaches and the person within me. My coaches have taught me how to make good decisions when I am setting, and the work ethic and team first attitude comes from within, as I realize that hard work will take me a long way in life and a team first attitude will always benefit the team more as a whole. You become a team first player when you realize that individually you cannot win a game by yourself. It comes from a team effort.”
That team first attitude resulted in a nearly unblemished record, other than the 25-20, 20-25, 12-15 stumbling against Storm RipTide, in which Smith says, “We were up 10-5 in the third and lost 12-15. We talked about never letting up and staying focused. That experience helped out in getting the job done in the final, I feel.”
After the preliminary rounds in which the Pakmen defeated Markham Revolution, Leaside Thunder, Toronto Patriots, London Heat and Leaside Thunder for a second time, the Pakmen knocked off Markham Revolution 25-12, 25-23 in the quarters; Niagara Rapids Black 25-10, 25-12 in the semis; and Storm RipTide 25-17, 22-25, 15-6 in the final.
“I feel very happy and lucky to win both Provincials and Nationals,” summed up Rugosi on the indoor season. “It was great to see that all our hard training paid off.”
“It feels amazing being both the Provincial and National champions,” chimed in Saqib. “We worked hard all year long and it paid off. We feel proud bringing another Provincial and National title to Pakmen.
“Storm is a great team and they compete hard. They push us for each point. I felt like our serves were a big factor in the finals and that really gave us the extra edge,” added the Grade 9 Mississauga Secondary School student.
Now, says Ashraf, is a well deserved summer off before the 16U indoor season begins.
“We need to forget about the success we had this season and not let our egos get in the way. Next season we need to start fresh, and we, as a team, need to work extremely hard to become back-to-back Provincial and National champs.”
As author Willa Cather once said, “There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.”
If so, the Pakmen will enter the next OVA indoor season a well prepared and confident group.
Other members of the championship team include Luca Nastase, Talha Kahloan, Mark Dildar, Nick Basilio, Karman Nahal, Josh Pereira, Tevin Bramwell, Jonathan Li and Sebastien Martin Demers.
Smith was assisted by Franco Rugosi, Alex Ketrzynski and Andrew Ceolin.
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