Miller-Morgan leads team to victory
Skawennahawi Miller-Morgan put the cherry on top of her time playing for the 16U team by bringing home the national championship last weekend. Courtesy Waneek Horn-Miller
Skawennahawi Miller-Morgan is officially a national champion, having co-led her team to glory at the 16U National Water Polo Championships held in Surrey, British Columbia, last week.
“It was really exciting getting to play other teams from the west and to show them what my teams and I are made of,” Miller-Morgan said. “I’m really happy that I got to have that tournament as the closing chapter of my 16U journey.”
Miller-Morgan led the Capital Wave 1 Girls team at the tournament, scoring six times throughout the competition. In clinching the victory, they become the first Ontario women’s team in history to win a 16U national title.
The team fought hard, scoring 41 points across the tournament and conceding only 14. A key moment for the team was when they came up against the 16U CAMO Fraser Girls in the semifinals, one of their fiercest competitors, who they ultimately beat 16-10.
“Although we knew we would come across them again, we were scared. We knew it would be a very physically and mentally demanding game, but despite that we still managed to push through with effort, fire, and want, as my coaches would say,” Miller-Morgan said. “We wanted to win more than anything, and that’s what we did.”
In the stands was one of Miller-Morgan’s biggest fans: her mother, Waneek Horn-Miller. Horn-Miller is herself a water polo legend, having co-captained the Canadian Women’s Waterpolo team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
She said she’s been proud to see her daughter take on the co-captain title for her team.
“I know it’s not an easy job, she was chosen by her coaches and she took the job very seriously, and that’s how I used to feel too, this isn’t just something you stick on a resume, this is really about leadership and you’re playing a really valuable role, especially in high-stress situations,” Horn-Miller said. “All year she was working and learning how to be a captain through her own trial and error, asking me questions, always being outspoken in team meetings.”
Horn-Miller said that her daughter and her co-captain, Naomi Jones, led with kindness, even preparing gifts for their teammates ahead of the competition.
“It’s really apparent from these two captains that this team really, really cares for each other,” Horn-Miller said. “They really play for each other.”
As Miller-Morgan wraps her time competing at the 16U level, she said she’s carrying the lessons she learned as a captain with her.
“Being a leader for my teammates and helping guide us to this title has been a true honour. I feel relieved to say that I really gave my all to this team, motivated them to the best of my abilities and worked as hard as I could to be a good leader for them,” she said.
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“I have always prioritized motivating and encouraging them to play to their best abilities and trying their absolute best every practice, game and tournament. I am quite happy to say that I have no regrets.”
She added that the victory is one that no individual can take credit for, and that coming home with the trophy is a mark of the teamwork necessary to succeed in the pool.
“I am so proud of all of my teammates because this is such a big accomplishment, and while I played a part in leading the team, it is really because of all of them that I am the leader I am today,” she said.
