Sydenham High School to host OFSAA boys AA volleyball tournament

Craig Bakay | Nov 01, 2018

Sydenham High School is set to host the 2018 OFSAA boys AA volleyball championships Nov. 22-24, says convenor/coach Bryan English.

“As far as I know, this is the first time Sydenham has hosted an OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) championship,” English said.

Twenty teams will take part in the event, including champions from 18 areas all around Ontario, as well as the host team and one medal entry.

“This is an important championship,” he said. “Only one to two per cent of high school students ever get the chance to compete in OFSAA.

“And it’s nice that it won’t be held in a big city this year.”

Teams will actually arrive Nov. 21 and there’ll be a banquet at the Ambassador Hotel in Kingston that evening.

The tournament gets underway Nov. 22 beginning with round robin games from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the two courts in Sydenham High, one court at Regiopolis-Notre Dame in Kingston and one court at Ernestown Secondary School. The round robin will continue the following day from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Round robin matches are two out of three.

At 4:30 p.m., the consolation and quarterfinals begin with three of five matches.

The semi-finals begin at 9 a.m. on day three with three of five matches. The bronze medal match is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the championship match at 5 p.m. The semi-finals and finals will all be held at Regi due to an OFSAA ceiling height requirement. The main gym at Sydenham doesn’t meet this requirement and the second gym doesn’t have enough spectator room.

English said Sydenham will also be hosting the EOSSAA (Eastern Ontario Secondary School Athletic Association) championships beginning on Nov. 14. While, as the host school, the Golden Eagles automatically qualify for the OFSAA tourney, English is hoping that they might get in as EOSSAA champs, in which case, the second-place EOSSAA team would take the host spot.

“Last year, we lost in the semis,” he said. “We have a lot of returning players and they’re hungry.

“But it will take a lot because there are quite a few competitive AA teams this year.”

English said it’s been a “whole school effort” to host these championships this year.

“You can’t do this without a lot of help,” he said. “And all of our matches will be live streamed.”

Admission for the OFSAA tournament is $10 per day or $20 for the tournament.