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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
Winning gold at the OVA Beach Ontario Championships is becoming old hat for Peter Rugosi.
Entering this year’s 15U championships at Toronto’s Ashbridges Bay over the weekend (Aug. 6-7), the Mississauga Pakmen Volleyball Club star had already claimed the top of the podium each of the last two summers with fellow Pakmen member and long-time amigo Mark Dildar by his side.
But, Ontario Summer Games Region 5 coaches threw a wrench into the works by teaming Rugosi with a different partner this summer, fellow Pakmen Cole Ketrzynski.
Instead of fretting about any lack of chemistry, or griping about Dildar not being by his side, Rugosi promptly demonstrated why he is a true champion by building a well-tuned Maserati with that wrench that purred all the way to the finish, rewarding Rugosi with his third straight provincial crown.
“The coaches strongly suggested that (Cole and I) play a tournament together before (next weekend’s) Ontario Summer Games and we decided that provincials would be a good tournament,” explained Rugosi, who added, “We tried out as individuals and the coaches made us a team.”
Rugosi, who also won Provincial indoor championships each of the past two seasons, added there were other complications prohibiting he and Dildar from returning to defend their title for a third straight summer.
“Mark (Dildar) is a great indoor and beach player, but unfortunately it didn’t work out this year and he didn’t play because of Region 5 and because of his elbow injury at the beginning of the year. (Mind you) If I hadn’t been selected for the team this year then I would’ve played with Mark at provincials.”
Although relatively new as a team, having only played twice last summer including an age group up at the Nationals where they placed fifth, Rugosi and Ketrzynski hardly missed a beat over the weekend, cruising to victory without losing any of the 16 sets against their eight opponents in the 27-team field that was eventually whittled down to 12 in Tier One and 15 in the lower Champions Division.
Much of the credit belongs with Pakmen beach coach Jessy Satti, who prepared his two charges for the beach Provincials. Satti, who regularly works hand-and-hand with beach head coach Lennard Krapp, took on most of the responsibilities this summer, with Krapp currently coaching Olympians Sam Schachter and Josh Binstock in Rio de Janeiro.
“Peter and Cole make a great team,” said Satti. “Cole is a dominant blocker and Peter is one of the fastest defenders on the beach. Both set well and both can put the ball away attacking.”
And while Rugosi and Ketrzynski rarely had the opportunity to compete with one another, they had the chance to admire each other’s abilities.
“We got to know each other by playing against each other in court and in beach and one day last year he asked me if I’d like to play a tournament with him and it worked out great so we’ve been playing for about a year,” explained Ketrzynski about his partnership with Rugosi.
And Rugosi soon realized there’s a distinct advantage to feeding the towering Ketrzynski the ball at the net.
“My secret with Cole is that I set him on the tape and he just hits the ball straight down,” said Rugosi. “Cole is 6-foot-5 with an incredible amount of skill, so it is no problem for him to do that. (And) all the weaknesses we had (like serving) we were fixing all throughout the tournament so that when we hit the finals, you could barely see a weakness.”
That final match pitted Rugosi and Ketrzynski against Cole Irwin and Noel Campfens of Toronto’s Patriots Volleyball Club, with the Pakmen prevailing 21-12, 21-15.
Earlier, Rugosi and Ketrzynski downed Robert Cooke and Erik Siksna of Aurora 21-7, 21-9 in the semi-finals and Craig Therkildsen of Aurora and Grant Reddon of Durham 21-17, 21-12 in the quarters.
“They were all tough games, but in the end it would’ve probably been Craig and Grant in the quarters (who gave us the toughest resistance) because we have never seen Grant play before so we had no idea of what to expect from him,” added the 5-foot-11 Rugosi, who will attend Grade 10 at Etobicoke’s Bishop Allen Academy in the fall.
Among all the championships Rugosi has won in recent seasons, he suggests, “This ranks really high because it was the most recent achievement in my life and and I also won provincials in indoor which I haven’t done since the 13U season.”
While Rugosi is accustomed to the best, when it comes to picking out jewellery….er…gold, Ketrzynski, despite his obvious talents, is a relative neophyte when it comes to precious metals.
“It’s the best I’ve ever done in beach,” said Ketrzynski, who played up two age groups in his first year with the Pakmen this past indoor season after coming over from the Patriots, “so I was very happy with the result.”
Ketrzynski, who will attend Grade 10 at Toronto’s York Mills Collegiate in the fall, would appear to be the perfect fit for Rugosi. While Rugosi reflected on Ketrzynski’s great co-ordination and leaping ability at the net, Ketrzynski offered, “I think something that helps with our success would be Peter’s reliability and his skills. He’s always able to give me the set I need and help me play to the best of my abilities.”
Being surrounded by Pakmen in indoor play has also been a boon to Ketrzynski’s immense talents, adding that “I enjoyed the switch a lot and the change in the intensity and competition.”
Along with the competition, outdoor players have also had to compete against the heat in this record-breaking summer.
And both Rugosi and Ketrzynski insisted learning to deal with the heat is almost as important as preparing for their opponents.
“Something I found helpful to beat the heat was to wash off with cold water between games, either in the lake, or at the showers they have by the washrooms,” offered Ketrzynski.
“I usually just bring a lot of water, Gatorade and fruits to the beach when I play to keep me hydrated when I play,” offered Rugosi. “I also stay in the shade for most of the day ’cause the beach is already hot enough and I don’t need to go in the sun to get hotter.
“I have seen people cramp up on the beach while playing important games because they were dehydrated,” added Rugosi, “and they usually ended up losing the game.”
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