A major water polo tournament is coming to Dollard des Ormeaux this weekend at the Dollard Civic Centre in which 12 teams from Quebec and Ontario compete for the gold.
The Mark Bernotas Memorial U18 Water polo tournament is an annual tournament held for the first time last year in honour of the late Mark Bernotas, a 21-year-old Pointe Claire resident who used to play for DDO U18's men squad. He died a year and a half ago in a car accident in Dorval. His brother Evan now plays for the team.
Three teams from Dollard des Ormeaux will be competing, two men teams and one women's team. The DDO1 U18 team is going in as favourite according to manager Claudette Boyd, after having won the two tournaments they were in this winter. They won in Hamilton in February and in Dollard des Ormeaux in November.
Spectators should expect a bitter rivalry to resume between Montreal's CAMO U18 and the DDO1 club as they had a very close game last year, a game DDO1 won by a tight margin.
A total of four teams are coming in from Ontario to compete. A women's team from York (Toronto), a boys and a girls' team from Hamilton and a men's team from Ottawa.
Boyd says the sport is getting increasingly popular in the West Island and that people should definitely hit the Dollard des Ormeaux Civic Centre to cheer the locals this weekend.
"It is pretty popular in the West Island for sure and in Quebec. A lot of kids play in the summer in the outdoor pools and some choose to play winter water polo. It's an exciting sport to watch," she said.
