The cancellation of the 2020 soccer season hasn’t stopped Mikayla Morton and the Gee-Gees women’s soccer team from continuing to practice and train at a high-level. Morton is currently finishing up her degree while finding new goals and motivations both on and off the field.
As COVID-19 continues to bring uncertainty, various Gee-Gees sports teams are awaiting announcements regarding their seasons, or already shifting their focus to 2021. Athletes from the football team, men’s and women’s rugby teams, and the men’s ultimate frisbee team share their outlook on the current situation.
The Ontario University Athletics has announced that it has cancelled all OUA sanctioned programming for the rest of 2020 cancelling the seasons of a number of Gee-Gees varsity teams and competitive clubs in the process.
The Gee-Gees have won the FISU World Cup! The women’s soccer team beat Brazil’s Paulista University in the finals to bring back gold to Ottawa.
The U of O baseball club had a tough weekend in their first-ever OUA championship in Ajax. The team lost all three of their games to put an end to their inaugural season in the OUA, in which the team won only three regular-season games. In spite of this, a promising core of young players brings a light of hope for years to come
While scrolling through the Gee-Gees website, some may notice that not all varsity teams play in OUA. In fact, nearly half of the school’s varsity teams play in RSEQ, USports’ Quebec university sports conference. But why?
“We’re going to see this team again. We don’t take this lightly—we’re going to use this as motivation.” —Angela Ribarich, Gee-Gees centre.
“We didn’t know how we would fall relative to the top three teams (Carleton, Lakehead, Nipissing). So it was an exciting event for us to finally be sending a team after so long.” —Zeke Williams, U of O Nordiq skiier.
“It was a game that had a lot on the line, and we did have a high stress level. But you can tell with our press offence that our seniors were struggling with the ball at the end, but a learning experience will be better next time.’’ —Andy Sparks, Gee-Gees head women’s basketball coach.
“Everybody is playing great hockey—now we’re going to face a tougher team, so we’ll have to make sure we keep our game simple, fast, and hard, but we are confident in us.” —Kevin Domingue, Gee-Gees forward.
“Usually in the playoffs, what it comes down to is good teamwork, special teams, and goaltending. I know we have good teamwork and good goaltending, but special teams are something you’ve constantly got to work on.” —Patrick Grandmaitre, Gee-Gees head men’s hockey coach.
“Ottawa’s a great place to ski, so we just have to convince them to go here and not go to Carleton.” —Sheila Kealey, head coach, U of O Nordiq ski team.
It was yet another great weekend for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees women’s soccer team, as they recorded two win on Sept. 8-9 to hold first place in the OUA conference with a record of 5-0-1.
The 2018-19 season is fast approaching, and the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees have a solid deck of talent that will be on display.
Stephen Evans, of the Gee-Gees track team, provided a great performance to finish off this athletics season for the Garnet and Grey, with a great come-from-behind run to finish just off the top of the podium.
Christine Deaudelin recorded three goals and nine points in 20 contests with her team this year, leading all players of the same position and good for third among all players.
The team, which saw ups and downs all season long, compiled a record of 16-8-4 after 28 games, good for a fifth-place finish in their division.
At the conclusion of an outstanding season with the Gee-Gees, forward Brigitte Lefebvre-Okankwu has been named to the U Sports Women’s Basketball All-rookie team.
Both competitions saw several medals awarded to the Gee-Gees, but no first-place finish for the team on the nation’s biggest stage.
The nationally seventh-ranked Gee-Gees Men’s Swimming team has been putting up strong performances all season, always staying in the U Sports top 10.
It was a slow start to the game, but a fiery third period would give the Garnet and Grey a 4-1 win on home ice.
Facing off against the Carleton Ravens on Jan. 26, the women completed the sweep, winning all 14 of their races, while the men came within one race of the same outcome, winning 11 out of 12 races.
Despite the loss, the team did get recognition for the players’ hard work. Seven Gee-Gees players were recognized by the OUA for their strong performances this year, both on and off the field.
Baines’ great numbers and awards earned him some recognition professionally, since he was recently signed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders and will attend training camp in May.
Despite some disappointing team finishes, the standout individual performances of Gee-Gees athletes this year can’t be overshadowed.
