Ottawa Schoolreach League
The Ottawa Schoolreach League is a set of regional qualifying tournaments that take place in late winter and spring. Teams play the Reach for the Top format, and compete for the Richard Mageau trophy, which is awarded to the team that finishes in first place at the final tournament. The top 3 finishing teams at the final tournament also qualify for the Ontario provincial championships in May.
Tournament Format
The league consists of two qualifying tournaments. Schools may only sumbit one team, and there is no intermediate (JV) division. In round 1, teams are divided into 3 flights of 6-8 teams each (depending on the number of schools competing that year). Within each flight, the teams play a complete round robin, with the top 2 teams in each flight moving on to the second qualifying tournament. In this tournament, the 6 qualified teams play a round robin. The top four teams play a semifinal round, with the first seeded team play the fourth seed, and second seed playing third. The victorious teams move to the final, where they compete for the Richard Mageau Trophy, and the losing teams compete for third place, and the right to join the finalists at the Ontario provincial tournament in May.
Teams
| School | Titles |
|---|---|
| A.Y. Jackson Blue Jays | 0 |
| Bell Bruins | 3 |
| Cairine Wilson Wildcats | 0 |
| Colonel By Cougars | 1 |
| Earl of March Lions | 0 |
| Gloucester Gators | 4 |
| Holy Trinity Tornadoes | 0 |
| John McRae Bulldogs | 0 |
| Lisgar Lords | 4 |
| Merivale Marauders | 2 |
| Mother Teresa Titans | 0 |
| Nepean Knights^ | 1 |
| Osgoode Township Panthers | 0 |
| Sacred Heart Huskies | 0 |
| Sir Wilfrid Laurier Lancers | 0 |
| St. Joseph Jaguars | 0 |
| St. Mark Lions | 0 |
| St. Patrick's Fighting Irish | 0 |
| St. Peter Knights | 0 |
| St. Paul Golden Bears^ | 0 |
| Woodroffe Tigers^ | 0 |
| Yitzhak Rabin | 0 |
^ = did not participate in 2006-07
Former Members
- Hillcrest
- Ridgemont
Past Champions
based on the plaques on the Mageau trophy
- 1992: Bell
- 1993: Ridgemont
- 1994: Bell +
- 1995: Bell (Lisgar) - see Lisgar and Bell articles for details on 1995 issues
- 1996: Nepean
- 1997: Gloucester
- 1998: Gloucester +
- 1999: Gloucester
- 2000: Gloucester ++
- 2001: Lisgar ++
- 2002: Merivale
- 2003: Merivale
- 2004: Lisgar
- 2005: Colonel By
- 2006: Lisgar
- 2007: Lisgar
- 2008: Lisgar + /Merivale (tie)
- 2009: Lisgar/Merivale (tie)
+ won national title
++ defeated eventual national champion in Ottawa final
2008 Tournament
Round 1
In 2008, a change in tournament format called for 8 teams to advance to Playoff Pool A. By the end of round 1, the traditional powerhouses of Bell, Gloucester, Merivale, Colonel By and Lisgar had advanced to the second round, with both Merivale and Lisgar finishing the day with 6-0 records. St. Mark and Mother Teresa provided the tournament surprises, also advancing to Playoff Pool A, along with Yitzhak Rabin, who made their second Pool A appearance in as many years.
Round 2
After a round robin, Lisgar finished with a 7-0 record, followed by Merivale at 6-1. Gloucester, using a team comprised completely of freshmen and sophomores (after losing all five members of their provincial 2nd place team), finished tied for third with Mother Teresa. With only 3 spots available for the Ontario Provincial Finals, Mother Teresa and Gloucester played for the right to go to Toronto. After a close match, the Titans took the game and the final spot. The final between Merivale and Lisgar, however, provided the most interesting part of the day. A broken buzzer and a disputed question in the second round led to, for the first time in history, an unresolved draw after all methods of tiebreaking proved unsatisfactory.