NOTL'S Jayden Polgrabia is Ontario Junior Handball champion

The trophy is almost as big as he is, but Jayden Polgrabia of Niagara-on-the-Lake proudly hoists it up to show it off. 

The 13-year-old won the Ontario Junior Handball Championship earlier this year and was presented with the OHA (Ontario Handball Association) trophy for Junior Player of the Year earlier this week at White Oaks, where he plays the sport. 

Polgrabia began playing handball about three years ago through a new junior program begun by coach Wally Oprzedek, with the help of Jayden’s father Mark. The elder Polgrabia’s name is also on that same trophy, having earned the junior title twice himself, back in 1984 and 1985 . 

“I’ve been playing the sport my entire life,” says Mark. “I began when I was in high school, when Wally’s father used to coach us. It disappeared here for many years, but now that fewer people are playing racquetball, it’s starting to come back.”

That’s how the White Oaks program began. With the racquetball courts sitting idle most of the time, Oprzedek was approached about starting the junior program, with White Oaks giving the court time free of charge for the young players. 

Mark says the program began with about 12 kids, and now hosts about 30. Most of them are Jayden’s age and younger, but a few high school students have begun to show up to the sessions held at White Oaks Monday through Wednesday evenings. That bodes well for the future of the sport.

The indoor game is played in an enclosed court, with the ball being struck against the wall by hand. Players wear gloves and goggles as they try to score a point off their serve by making their opponent miss their shot, similar to racquetball or squash. It can also be played outdoors, on courts with either three walls or just one. 

“It’s the oldest ball sport,” Mark says. “There are Egyptian hieroglyphs that show people hitting a ball against a wall. It is one of Ireland’s three national sports. As the Irish migrated all over the world they brought handball with them. And it’s still to this day played at every military base and at just about every fire station in the world.”

Because it is a bit harder to learn and requires a lot of quick movements, it fell out of popularity after the 1970s as sports like racquetball and squash, and more recently pickleball, were catching on. 

“It’s great for conditioning,” says Mark, a volunteer firefighter. “Lots of football players play it as well. And you have to learn to use both sides of your body.”

Jayden is familiar with that requirement. 

“I’m getting better at hitting left-handed,” says the grade eight student at St. Michael Catholic Elementary School. “I practice on it all the time.”

With the White Oaks program and another one running in the Pickering area, 2023 was the first time in many years that an Ontario junior championship was able to be held. They were hosted at White Oaks.

Jayden, who also plays hockey and softball and scored a hole in one on the ninth hole of the NOTL Golf Club this summer, beat an older local opponent, Max Parent, for the title. It was a close game, going to a tie breaker before he came out victorious 11-10. 

“He had a really good opposite hand,” Jayden says. “He plays tennis, so he had that experience with the other side. He was also good with his strong hand too.” 

When asked how he beat such a strong, ambidextrous Parent, a sly Jayden responds, “I used my special serve. It has special ingredients and special forces that I can’t really reveal at this time. I don’t want to give away too many secrets. It gives a lot of power, and I serve it to the back corner to make it zig-zag a bit.”

Jayden’s younger sister Kaitlyn, 11, also plays handball in the White Oaks program. She says she plans to be the third Polgrabia to have her name etched on the trophy when she competes for the championship next year. Mom Caroline is the only member of the family who does not play handball.

Meanwhile, both Jayden and Kaitlyn continue to hone their handball skills each week, with Mark overseeing their progress two nights a week. 

Oprzedek welcomes more youth to join the handball program at White Oaks when the next session starts in January, 2024.

“The big push with handball is that it can be an affordable, inexpensive sport for kids,” says Oprzedek. “All you really need is a pair of sneakers and a ball and you can play. Our goal is to attract those kids who can’t access some of the other more expensive sports.”

For more information, visit the OHA website at http://ontariohandball.ca/juniors-2, and to contact Oprzedek, who’s known as ‘Wally O’ by most, about joining the program, send an email to [email protected].