Mr. Speaker, at the world school volleyball championship held in Greece from May 10 to 17, 1998, the Libellules of Joliette's Thérèse-Martin high school placed 13th, thus obtaining the best result for a Canadian team since the beginning of this sports competition.
Under the able direction of trainers Yvon Turgeon and Julie Lachapelle, these young girls, whose average age is 15 and a half, turned in an exceptional performance against athletes averaging 18 years of age.
With their 13th place position in school volleyball, the Joliette Libellules are a credit to Quebec and to Canada which, by the way, they represented for the first time in this world championship.
Theirs is an impressive achievement and they deserve all our admiration and congratulations.
I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Yvon Turgeon, who is retiring after 20 years of devoted service to the Libellules team.