The Otaki Canoe Club is celebrating its success with members selected to New Zealand Teams and top placings at the end of the 2014 New Zealand National League Canoe Polo Competition .
Two women from the Otaki Club, Jordan Housiaux and Jordyn Pfeiler have been selected to represent New Zealand at the Canoe Polo World Championships to be held in Thury-Harcourt France on the 22-28 September 2014.
Jordan Housiaux 22, from Otaki, who has been selected to play for the 2014 New Zealand Women’s Team , was a member of the 2013 Team that came 2nd at the Oceania Championships in Christchurch and 4th at the 2013 World Games in Colombia. She captained the NZ Women’s U21 side that finished 3rd at the 2011 World Championships in Poland.
Jordyn Pfeiler 19, from Waikanae has been selected to play for the NZ Women’s U21 Team for the 2014 Worlds Championships. She has previously played for NZ in the Women’s U21 Team in the 2013 Oceania Championships in Christchurch.
Otaki Canoe Club also celebrates the selection of club members Peter Housiaux as Coach to the New Zealand Women’s Team and Jane Bertelsen as Senior Manger to the Women’s Teams.
This year’s World Champs held in Thury-Harcourt, Normandy will host 30 countries and over 700 athletes. With 500 volunteers and an expected 50,000 visitors, this is truly a world stage event. The New Zealand Cane Polo Association are sending 4 teams to France to compete this year and the competition will be fierce. The teams leave a month before the World Championships, and will play in build up tournaments in the Netherlands, France and Belgium.
The Otaki Canoe Polo Club is also celebrating recent successes in this year’s New Zealand National League Competition. With Otaki being one of the smallest clubs in the country, they still managed to produce three teams that took out medals at a National Level. The competition is held over three weekends throughout various venues in New Zealand with the A Grade being held separately to the B & C League Competitions.
Otaki’s Women’s Team Generation Y finished 1st in the Women’s A Grade Division, although taking out the National Title and being the Top Women’s Team in the country, Housiaux was the only member of the team to put her name forward for selection to the New Zealand Women’s Team, unfortunately her Generation Y Team Mates had work or university commitments, that were unable to be worked around a month in Europe, otherwise the club may have been celebrating more successes.
“Otaki Hunting and Fishing” finished 2nd in the Open B Grade
The Otaki C Grade – “Otaki” team finished 3rd in the Open division