Caledon Bulldogs take fifth in national tournament

August 19, 2013 · 0 Comments

Caledon Bulldogs recently competed at Canadian Ball Hockey National Championships in Oakville Aug. 1 to 4, coming home with fifth-place honours in the U-15 category representing Ontario.
Being a first year organization, the Bulldogs knew the competition from long-standing programs would be strong.
First up were the opening ceremonies, which included a skills competition followed by an Olympic-style entrance by each province. Team Captain J.P. Lattavo proudly carried in the Ontario Flag leading Team Ontario into the arena.
The first day saw Caledon up against the eventual National Champion Team Manitoba. With strong competition, the local side competed until the final buzzer, losing 6-0. But they played a strong game and Coach Tony Biamonte told the boys to hold their heads high.
Moving into the second game, the Bulldogs played Team Saskatchewan. Down a few players due to injuries, the refs made Caledon’s day tough. The team eventually lost 7-2 to a feisty Team Saskatchewan.
The third day had two games on the schedule. The match against Team Ontario 1 (Oakville Rangers) was an epic battle, with Caledon pulling out all the stops. But eventually penalty trouble hurt the Bulldogs, again costing them a 6-5 loss to the Rangers. The other game was back against Team Manitoba. This was a much better outing, as the Bulldogs pulled out in front and were leading 2-0 at the end of the first half, but Manitoba pulled out all the stops in the second with an eventual 5-3 win.
This resulted in a Sunday battle for fifth place in the tournament. Team Ontario 2’s Coaches, Tony Biamonte, Dave Eccleston and Drew Thrower, let the boys know that their expectation were to compete and they had done. The direction was for them to go out and have fun, and the Bulldogs did just that.
With an eventual 5-3 win over Saskatchewan, the Bulldogs proved they are a force to be reckoned with in future Provincial and National Tournaments.
The Bulldogs would like to thank Coaches Biamonte, Eccleston and Thrower for all their hard work, and they look forward to playing next year.
The Bulldog organization is the Rep side of BluePrint Hockey’s new youth Ball Hockey League in Caledon. For more information, contact blueprinthockey@hotmail.com or www.blueprinthockey.com.