OVA News

Prime Minister Stephen Harper watches his son Ben (foreground, left) compete at the Ontario volleyball championships at RIM Park in Waterloo on Friday. David Bebee, Record staff

The Waterloo Tigers had enough to worry about entering the biggest volleyball championships of their lives Friday morning ranked as underdogs.
But the boys never counted on the extra pressure of playing their first game in the provincials in front of a bunch of men in dark suits with ear pieces and stone-cold expressions. More specifically, they didn’t count on having Canada’s most powerful man — Prime Minister Stephen Harper — in the stands cheering for the other team.
“It was nerve-racking. We wanted to play better because he was there. We wanted to impress him,” said Nathan Martin, one of the Tigers players.

The prime minister and his extensive security entourage visited the 2010 Ontario Volleyball Championships at RIM Park Friday so Harper could watch his son Ben play with his Ottawa team. Harper’s surprise appearance was the talk of the busy tournament, which is expected to bring 18,000 players and fans to Waterloo over the next three weekends.

Groups of girls hounded the PM’s security to point out Ben, the lanky, blond-haired 13-year-old on the Ottawa Fusion, then texted each other telling what court he was playing on. They squealed with delight when his famous father was escorted down the hallway, and asked him for autographs and photos.

Get the full story from Greg Mercer, therecord.com

For more information about the OVA’s  provincial championships go to www.iset.net