Thank you Kelly, Gaelan and Max for your dedication to advancing water polo development in Winnipeg and across the country!!
Over the weekend, we developed 9 new referees, 20 coaches and offered introductory and development athlete programming programming to over 45 athletes!
Radio-Canada prepared fantastic coverage of the weekend:
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/videos/1-10484058/water-polo-camp-entrainement-a-winnipeg
 Intro to Water PoloSeptember 26 Discover the excitement of water polo in this fun and engaging introduction workshop led by Canadian Olympian Kelly McKee. This session is for beginner and first time players looking for a fun new challenge. |  Coach Workshop (Comp. Intro.)September 26 and 27 This professional development workshop, led by National Team Coach Maxime Crevier, gives coaches the tools to inspire athletes and deliver effective, engaging practices aligned with Canada’s LTAD & ADM models. |  Athlete Development CampSeptember 27 and 28 Take your game to the next level with elite coaching from Canada’s best: Olympian Kelly McKee, National Team Coach Maxime Crevier, and former National Team athlete Gaelan Patterson. This camp is for development and competitive players hungry to elevate their skills |
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 Referee WorkshopSeptember 27 and 28 Step onto the deck with confidence. This referee development workshop, led by former Team Canada player Gaelan Patterson, helps new and experienced referees sharpen their skills, understand the rules, and take charge of the game. |
Thank you to Sport Manitoba for their generous support!
RISE Camp Facilitators
Maxime Crevier has been around the sport of water polo since his birth, being the son of Marie-Claude Deslières, who has been at the forefront of the first Women team that went to the Olympics for Canada. He was brought up in that world, being at the Claude-Robillard pool in Montreal for as long as he can remember.
Maxime has played for CAMO from the age of 7 to the age of 29. He has had the chance of being around some of the best coaches in the country, like Daniel Berthelette and David Paradelo, who both coached Canada at the Olympic games and who he learned a lot from. He also had the privilege of being coached his whole playing career by Robert Couillard, one of the greatest water polo coaches Canada has ever had, and who has taught him pretty much everything he knows about this beautiful sport.
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This great background has set the tone for Maxime’s ambitions and willingness to develop top level athletes. After winning his first National Championship in 2018 with the 14Us, he went on to become the CAMO Men’s head coach in 2020 when Robert Couillard stepped aside. The CAMO Men program has since then turned around and went back to being one of the country’s powerhouses. Maxime’s teams went on to win the 15U National Championship in 2022, and back to back 17U National Championships in 2022 and 2023.
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At the Senior level, the exact same team that won the 17U National Championship in 2022 (05/06 generation), made it to the National Final as a group of 19Us, the first time it happened in our history. From these teams, 10 players made AGNTs and some of them have already had huge roles on the Senior National team.
At the Provincial Level, Maxime has won the 2022 15U and 19U Provincial Championships, along with the 2023 19U Provincial Championship.
All of that success at the club level has translated into opportunities for Maxime to coach AGNTs. That started in 2022 when he was the assistant on the 18U Youth National team led by Andras Szeri, who finished with a 10th place finish at World Championships, a record for any Youth Men’s NT. That was followed by assisting Bogdan Dubrovskiy at the 2023 Youth Pan Ams, and then becoming the head coach of that team a year later in Argentina, at the 2024 Youth World Championships. On a daily basis, Maxime has been coaching since 2022 at the National Training Center in Montreal with Pat Oaten, the Senior National Team Head coach. He is the Head Coach of the 15U National Team at the 15U Pan Ams in Bauru, Brazil this summer.
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Kelly McKee made her international debut at the junior level at the 2008 Junior Pan American Championships where Canada captured gold and it didn’t take long for people to take notice of her shot. Since then, she has played in two junior (2009, 2011) and three senior FINA World Championships (2015, 2017, 2019) and has proven herself to be a threat from the outside in every game she plays.
McKee won silver with Canada at the 2015 Universiade and the 2017 FINA World League Super Final. She also won silver with Team Canada at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, securing the team’s ticket to Tokyo 2020. In 2021, she was part of Canada’s fourth-place finish at the FINA World League Super Final, the team’s first competition in more than 18 months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, McKee scored three goals as Canada finished seventh.
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Getting into the Sport: Started playing water polo at age 10 with the Calgary Renegades Water Polo Club. Represented Canada for the first time at age 15. Has dreamed of competing for Team Canada since watching the Canadian women win gold in the 2003 Junior World Championships in her hometown of Calgary.
Outside Interests: Graduated from University of California Berkeley in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts. Enjoys reading and watching TV. Odds and Ends: Listens to the same playlist of songs before every game that she makes for particular tournaments. Favourite motto: “Do better”
Gaelan Patterson joined the national team program in 2010. He competed at the Youth World Championships in 2014, followed by the Junior World Championships in 2015, before making his international debut with the senior national team at the 2017 UANA Cup in Trinidad and Tobago. Patterson also suited up with the Canadian team at the 2017 FINA World Championships and 2019 FINA World League Super Final.
Getting into the Sport: His mother asked him he wanted to play water polo after he watched the Canadian team play against the Netherlands in Vancouver when he was 6 and he said yes…
Outside Interests: Studying civil engineering. Enjoys skiing in the winter and spending the summer in Vancouver.
