Her first taste of the national team came in 2010 when she made the U21 Women’s team to represent them at the World Championships hosted in Italy. After competing at another worlds as a U21 team member she made the Senior team and played with them at the 2012 World Championships. When not busy training she is busy chasing a Kinesiology Diploma specializing in Adapted Physical Education by studying or volunteering with different Special Olympic programs throughout Red Deer.
Christie first got into kayaking in 2002 when life guarding Canoe Polo and figured she would enjoy learning to kayak, once she started she never stopped.
Canoe Polo quickly became a huge part of Christie’s life.
Between 2009 and 2012 she began coaching local club teams in Innisfail and Sundre Alberta, ever passionate about sharing in her love of the game. This is a source of pride for Christie as a number of her “kids” have gone on to be members of the National team in both Canoe Polo and Slalom Kayaking.
When not in a polo boat she can often be found whitewater kayaking, walking her dog or at work as a school teacher in Calgary Alberta.
Major Competitions:
2016 – Training for World Championships ( Italy)
2014 – World Championships (Thury-Harcourt, France) –11th/20
2012 – World Championships (Poznan, Poland) – 14th/17
2010 – World Championships (Milan, Italy) – 12th/18
2008 – World Championships (Edmonton, Canada) – 10th/17
2006 – World Championships (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – 11th/20
2004 – World Championships (Miyoshi, Japan) – 9th/14
Kristina O’Brien has been competing in Canoe Polo since the mid 1990’s. She has played on the Canadian National Senior Women’s team for 8 Canoe Polo World Championships since 1996. Skipping the 2012 Worlds allowed her to write her certification exams to become an Emergency Room Doctor. Kristina acted as team captain on the National team in 2008, 2010, and 2014. She is also committed member and volunteer executive of her local club: The Edmonton Whitewater Paddlers. She has a great love of the sport of canoe polo and would like to see it continue to grow in Canada and North America. Her goals for the future are numerous and include: continued efforts towards training and competing at a high level, a commitment to developing the sport in both novice and high performance groups, and exploring opportunities to coach teams in the future.
Since starting kayaking at a very young age, she has competed at her first World Championships at the age of 15 in 2012. Following that, she has competed at various Pan-Am, and other international tournaments, as well as Worlds in 2014. The Syracuse, Italy 2016 Worlds will be her third Worlds following in her parents’ footsteps as they were former members of the Canadian Canoe Polo team. As the youngest on her team she hopes to keep pushing her limits and succeeding as one of the best Canoe Polo players in Canada and some day the World. This Worlds she hopes to be a top 10 goal scorer as well as to secure a top 10 finish with her team.
She is also an avid skier, enjoys photography, and is a full-time student enrolled in BSc in Kinesiology at Grande Prairie Regional College.
International Canoe Polo Experience
2014 – Canadian Team, World Championships (Thury-Harcourt, France) – 11th/20
2010 – Canadian Team, World Championships (Milan, Italy) – 12th/18
2008 – Canadian Team, World Championships (Edmonton, Canada) – 10th/17
2006 – Canadian Team, World Championships (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – 11th/20
2004 – Canadian Team, World Championships (Miyoshi, Japan) – 9th/14
2002 – Canadian Team, World Championships (Essen, Germany) – 13th/19
2000 – Canadian Team, World Championships (Sao Paulo, Brazil) – 8th/10
1998 – Canadian Team, World Championships (Aveiro, Portugal) – 10th/11
1996 – Canadian Team (Inaugural Women’s team), World Championships (Adelaide, Australia) – 7th/7
Highlight Accomplishments
• Top Female Goal Scorer – 2008 World Championships July 2008
• Qualification for Quarter-finals at 2004 World Championships
Julie has been playing canoe polo since 2009. It was a love at first sight! Mother of three little kids, canoe polo was mostly recreational and a family thing, but it didn’t take long before she liked the discipline it gave her, the will to improve and the excitement every time she got in her polo boat.
She’s been on the national team since 2011 and went to a couple of international events including the International canoe polo tournament in Deventer, Netherlands (2015), ICF World Canoe Polo Championship in Thury-Harcourt, France, International tournament de Paddle, Dikkebus, Belgium (2nd), Breizhcup kayak polo (3rd) in 2014 and World master games, Torino, Italy (3rd) in 2013.
Carolyn has been on the National Team since 2004 and since 2014 have been training to be a goaltender, the only position she hasn’t played in previous World competitions. Her goal is to rock the net at World’s 2016! She also plays on two recreational hockey teams. Her Women’s team is a developmental team that she Coaches and assists with the Management. The Co-ed team is mostly men where she tries her best to play smart since she is one of the few females in that division. Sports are super fun, great team building experiences, full of fitness and friends, excellent stress relieving activities that everyone should do from the moment they can walk and then on forever! Go Girls!
