ESTEVAN — The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for Estevan Sharks water polo alumna Jennika Linthicum.
Jennika has competed at 16-and-under (16U), 18U and senior events, bringing home medals and other accolades from the 16U and 18U levels.
Her busy schedule started at the National Community League U16 Western Canadians during the first weekend of April in Edmonton, where she was selected to the all-star team and Saskatchewan won gold. Saskatchewan then brought home silver from nationals April 30-May 3 in Surrey, B.C. She also helped Saskatchewan win silver at the 18U national event May 7-10 in Markham, Ont.
Jennika would have been playing for Saskatchewan at the 18U Western Canadians and a senior-level tournament, but she was named to the Canadian Senior Women’s Talent Pool, which meant a training camp in Greece and a world Division 2 tournament in Malta, sending her overseas for a couple of weeks.
She was also the top goal scorer in the NCL at the 16U level in Western Canada during the season, recording 57 goals in 11 games.
“For the NCL … they play in the Western Division throughout the whole year, and then the top four teams from the west and the east meet at nationals at the end of the season,” said Jennika’s mother, Nadine.
Jennika said she was selected for the senior national team after receiving an email in February inviting her to the camp and potentially a tournament.
“The senior national team talent pool is the top 30 athletes in Canada for women and men,” she said. “They take the top 15 to go to tournaments and different events and training camps.”
The training camp was held April 12-19 in Athens. After a week of hard work, she was one of the athletes chosen to go to Malta for a Division 2 qualification tournament April 21-26.
“Division 1 is comprised of the top eight teams in the world, and Division 2 is everyone else who wants to play in this tournament,” said Jennika.
Canada finished third at the tournament. The top two teams advanced to a final tournament for promotion to Division 1.
Linthicum is finishing Grade 10 at a school in Regina. She relocated to the Queen City to be part of the Team Saskatchewan High School Performance Centre.
“For a couple of years, before she was really involved in the training centre when she was younger, we used to drive up here a little bit, but they practise five or six days a week, so it would be way too much driving,” Nadine said.
Jennika earned the opportunity through attending national team camps.
It has been challenging competing against older athletes, Jennika said. She believes she is able to match the intensity of 18U athletes, but she learns a great deal from playing older competition.
“I just like playing up and learning more from people who have been here longer than me or know more than me," said Jennika. "Especially with the senior team. A lot of those girls have been to Olympic games, and it’s so cool to see more insight about the game and teaching me to be more proactive in the water.”
After a short break, Jennika will attend 16U worlds, with pre-training in Istanbul and the week-long tournament in Zagreb, Croatia.
From there, she will have a week off before heading to 18U worlds, with pre-training in Barcelona followed by the tournament in Puerto de la Cruz in the Canary Islands.
After school resumes in September, the 19U national team will travel to pre-training in California before heading to worlds in Bauru, Brazil.
Jennika remains grateful to the Estevan Sharks water polo program for its support and guidance.
“Estevan is the whole reason I started. I absolutely love the coaching staff there, and it was such a great experience for the many years I trained there. I still love everyone there, I want to go back and help and give my information to all of the younger kids who are trying and doing what I did," she said.
Nadine added the local club is supported by provincial coaches and others in Regina, but the Estevan coaches are all volunteer parents who learned the game so they could help the kids.
She also thanked Jennika’s coaches in Regina for helping her development, including Cyril Dorgigne, who learned the sport in France.
The opportunities for boys and girls in the sport are endless, Jennika said.
“Honestly this whole experience is all about taking the opportunity that you’re given, and if anyone has the heart and the drive for this sport, I think anyone can succeed," Jennika said.
