Going to Jamaica to play some elite water polo, mon.
Cochrane’s Bryant Joudry can be forgiven for getting into the spirit of the Union Americana de Natacion (UANA) Pan-American junior men’s 17-and-under (17U) water polo championships. Jamaica is that kind of place.
He’s now in Jamaica’s capital city, Kingston, playing for Canada at the 12-team tournament featuring the top 17U men’s water polo teams from the Americas. Top 5 qualify for World juniors next year.
Joudry, 17, is captain of the 12-man Canadian contingent in Kingston, the team’s final roster chosen earlier this month in Calgary following tryouts featuring Canada’s top-20 17U junior men’s players.
“During the year I trained around 25 hours a week with usually two practices a day,” the National Sports School (Calgary) Grade 12 says of the intense training regimen that includes pool time with Canada’s senior men’s team. “We will be playing teams all across the Americas; USA, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Jamaica, Peru, and more.”
With tournament experience in Europe two years ago, Joudry is aware of the high level of competition on the global stage. Pan-Ams will be tough. But Canada’s junior men’s captain is confident in his team.
“I believe we could get a top-3 finish. Going to worlds is a very real possibility,” he speculates “This is a very hard-working team. If you get top 5 in Jamaica, then you go on to Worlds, which would be next year.”
It’s all part of a process that began with Canada’s 40 best 17U men’s players who were whittled down to 20 at the end of the season.
“Then we had a three-week-long training period where they chose the top-12 out of that top-20, and those 12 players made the team and we’ve been training in California for five days,” Joudry relates.
Being close to home, he had a bit of an edge in the selection process taking part at Calgary’s Talisman Centre, where Canada’s senior men’s team trains.
“It was nice to be able to rest in my own bed and stuff,” he says. “It’s really nice playing against the senior men’s team. It gives us an opportunity to play against way bigger players than there are at my age, and they definitely have more experience, so it definitely gives me a jump on upcoming competitions.”
Now it’s into the pool to take on the best 17U teams in the Americas.
“It’ll be a huge competition. I’m expecting the competition to be very intense,” he surmises. “I’m expecting us to have a podium finish but I am very confident in our ability to finish first.”
The UANA Pan-American junior men’s 17-and-under (17U) water polo championships go Aug. 25-Sept. 4 in Kingston, Jamaica.
