WHAT SPORT IS ALL ABOUT

A small gesture recently at the University of Toronto aquatic center showed humanity as it can and should be.

On the previous weekend, the Under 14 Toronto Golden Jets water polo team was in Kitchener to compete in the Provincial Championships.  In short, the Golden Jets made it to the gold medal game against the host K-W Inferno, a rematch of last year's title game. The Inferno won 7-5.

But the story was Jets captain, Kosta Grbic.

Grbic, at only 13 years of age, had to become a player-coach in a critical round robin game that went to a penalty shoot out when the team's coach, Predrag Pejanovic was given a red card for going to the scorer's table during the game. That was heady stuff for anyone, let alone a youngster into his second full year in the sport.

But that wasn't really the story either.

You see, Grbic was playing in the game with a very leaky valve - as in heart valve. A condition that had been diagnosed a year earlier and deemed minor had deteriorated considerably. While the doctors had cleared Grbic to play the final tournament of his U14 career, they had another message for him.

The following week, Grbic was scheduled to be in hospital having heart surgery to repair the leaky valve. It will be a while before he can return to the sport he loves.

So, it was strange to see Grbic at pool side, brought there by his father. In fact, other than the chance to say hi to his teammates, Grbic looked a little confused as to why his father had brought him to
practice.

The answer came a few minutes later.

Suddenly, a dozen kids with a few parents appeared on deck and headed towards Grbic. They presented Grbic with a water polo ball they had autographed along with a card and other gifts. They exchanged hugs.

What made it all so special was that the well-wishers were none other than the Jets' chief rivals from Kitchener who had driven in for 8:00pm on a school night to show their support. And, it was all the kids' idea.

Maybe there is hope for the future...