Kaitlyn Polgrabia takes national handball championship

Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Kaitlyn Polgrabia is the 2024 Canadian handball champion in two categories. 

At last weekend’s National Tournament at Club de Wallball de la Ville de Quebec, Team Ontario’s Polgrabia went undefeated, knocking off both Bonnie and Olivia Briand of Calgary, Alberta to capture first place in two combined categories - Girls Under 14 and Ladies B Division. 

It’s an incredible accomplishment for the 11-year-old, and it caught the attention of everyone at the tournament. 

Canadian handball legend and Hall of Fame member Kathleen Bedard was there. The 16-time Canadian and two-time world champion made a point of coming up to congratulate the Crossroads Elementary School student and to share some pointers with her. And to cap off the weekend, Kaitlyn was named the recipient of the Renee Hurley Award as the outstanding junior of the tournament, voted on by her peers. 

Kaitlyn’s father Mark, a Team Ontario coach, says he knew she had the talent to do well at the national level. 

“She’s been playing a lot with the older boys,” Mark says of her regular handball sessions at the Club at White Oaks. “But because she has been playing a lot of hockey, she could only be on the court once a week and was getting discouraged. But since hockey ended she just kind of took off. She’s a rock star.”

The championships were a family affair for the Polgrabias. Besides coaching, Mark, a volunteer firefighter who won the Ontario Junior title in 1984 and 1985,  also competed in the Men’s Doubles in the Masters 40/50 combined category. 

“It’s been a while since I played any competitive handball,” Mark told The Local. “This is the first time I’ve been to the Canadian Nationals in about 15 years. Let’s just say I had a fun time playing.”

And Kaitlyn’s 14-year-old brother Jayden, the 2023 Ontario junior champion, captured the consolation title in the boys 15 and under singles category.

Jayden earned a bye through the first round but lost to Calgary’s Jax Taylor in the quarter-final. Relegated to the consolation bracket, he went on to beat Sam Organ of St. Johns, NL 21-20 then went on to face Stoneham, Quebec’s Zachary Nadeau for the final. 

In the best-of-three consolation final, Jayden won the first game 21-9, but Nadeau bounced back with a 21-17 win in the second game to force a tiebreaker. Jayden edged Nadeau 11-9 in the third-game tiebreaker.

The Polgrabia siblings were two of six junior competitors for Team Ontario at the nationals. Kaitlyn was the only member of the team to emerge with a title, but several of them made it to their respective finals and consolations finals. 

“It was the best showing for Team Ontario in at least 10 years,” said Mark, who runs a junior program at White Oaks with  Wally Oprzedek, a local handball legend. “It was a really good showing all around.”

Mark added that the enthusiasm he saw all weekend from the juniors was impressive. Between their scheduled games the group would gather on an empty court to scrimmage in singles and doubles matches to keep in practice and have fun. 

Kaitlyn’s Canadian championship qualifies her for the World Championship which is being held later this year in Ireland. 

“We won’t be going, though,” said Mark. “Ireland is a hotbed for handball. They are dominant. We are still building our junior program here.”