Poncsak reflects on victory at Worlds

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Published on Friday, November 21, 2014

Joey Poncsak

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner

A Glenella resident has returned home from a once in a lifetime experience on the international sports stage. Joey Poncsak was a member of the Yellowknife Ravens, who recently won the 2014 World Broomball Championships in Tomakomai, Japan. 

The tournament featured three Canadian teams, as well as clubs from the United States, Japan, Italy, Switzerland and Australia. Yellowknife went through the event a perfect 8-0, including a 3-0 win over the Calgary Cowboys in the gold-medal match. 

Poncsak said the opportunity to play for the Ravens came about through happenstance, only a few weeks before the Worlds’ were set to begin.

“It was my first time ever playing with the Ravens. I played a lot with a few teams in Manitoba and with a team out of Saskatchewan over the years,” said Poncsak. “[The Ravens] saw me there at a tournament earlier this year and offered me an invite to join them in Japan.”

While Poncsak did play in the 2012 World Championship in Ottawa, with a team based out of Manitoba, he noted that the experience this time out was remarkably different.

“It definitely was a new experience. Culturally for sure. This year, there was also more of an international feel. In Ottawa, it was open to as many Canadian teams as possible, because Canada is still the top broomball nation. But going overseas to play the international teams was still a good level of play,” said Poncsak. “It was definitely surprising. You wouldn’t picture Australia or Italy even having teams, but they have organizations and it’s growing the sport. So, that’s definitely something nice to see.”

The World Broomball Championship will once again be held on Canadian ice in 2016, as Regina, Saskatchewan will host. Poncsak noted that himself, along with several other players from across Manitoba hope to assemble a team competitive enough to be a part of it. 

 “We’re taking some young players and some veteran players, from across the province. Getting them together and hopefully, maybe not this year, but soon, maybe going to Nationals. And in two years the Worlds’ are in Regina, so we’re hoping that we can grow as a team and go to those next big tournaments and consistently stay at those high caliber tournaments and do well. That’s our goal.”