A jump of eight spots on the opening day of Provincial Championships is sure to create quite the test for the balance of the tournament – but it was a challenge that the Northern Chill 15U Norsemen were more than happy to meet head on a few weeks ago in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Ranked 28th in a 32-team field entering the Ontario playdowns, the Chill Norsemen were one of three teams in their pool to post a 2-1 record on day one of competition, sending a message out of the gate versus the Leaside Panthers (#21 – 25-20, 30-28), going to the wire with the Milton Edge Shock (#20 – 25-14, 23-25, 14-16) and still finding a way to overcome that heartbreaking loss as they closed out their first troika opposite the Markham Revolution Rebels (#29 – 25-22, 22-25, 17-15).

Re-bracketed on day two against even more highly seeded teams, the Sudbury lads squeezed out a late win. After falling to both the MAC Steel from Hamilton (#9 – 19-25, 15-25) and the Titans Fury from Scarborough (#12 – 24-26, 22-25), the northern squad managed to outlast the REACH Ignite (#17) from Toronto in three sets, 10-25, 25-22, 15-8.

Closing out the event in Division I Tier 3 play (teams ranked from #17 to #24), the Chill Norsemen tripped up Pakmen Black (#21) from Mississauga in the quarter-finals, 25-15, 16-25, 15-13 before being sent to a third place game by REACH Kryptonite (#18) from Toronto, 16-25, 20-25.

A 24-26, 21-25 loss to Unity Nova from Markham may not have been the finish the Norsemen would have liked, but it did little to dampen the spirits of a group that could hold their head high, post-provincials.

The locals The team leaves later this week to compete at Nationals in Edmonton, a wonderful experience for a very devoted group of young men.

The Northern Chill U15 Norsemen 2024-2025 edition spotlights Budhik Sharma, Myles Mason, Miguel Gauthier, Carson Gatien, Brendan Deacon, Jack McDonald, Travis Dickie, Duncan Mullin Santone, Xavier Aubertin, Jack O’Connell, Kale St-Onge, head coach James McDonald, assistant coaches Alain Gauthier and Mikaio Walia and team manager Sean Dickie.