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Lacrosse all the rage on North Island
Lacrosse continues to grow in the Mid and North Island. According to recent accounts one school in Nanaimo is adding the game to its list of school sports and Carihi in Campbell River is said to be looking at doing the same.
This follows the lead of Claremont school in Saanich which has a full development program for field lacrosse involving daily practice. This is one of the four sports on offer as part of the Claremont Sports Institute Program.
Students who are accepted and enrolled in the Claremont Sports Institute program in all grades focus on skill development within their sport. Students in their respective grade levels earn credit for PE9, PE10, PE11, PE12, Science of Sport and Training 9 &10, Strength and Conditioning 11 and 12. Work ethic and personal commitment and responsibility are of the utmost importance for this program.
The program has paid off big time for students combining their love for the game with the requirement to keep their grades up.
Last season both junior teams made the BC High School Provincial Tournament semis, as did the Grade 11 squad. The Grade 12 team was the class of the province-wide tourney, winning the final 11-6 and taking their fifth banner in last eight years. Strong proof of a successful program worthy of duplication in our neck of the woods.
Last weekend the U16 North Island Rage fought hard to eke out a 7-7 tie at Nanaimo Turf, playing with a less-than-full roster. They managed the draw with 11 players and one substitute. What’s more, four of the players were parachuted in from the Rage U14s.
While Rage battled in Nanaimo, the U14s with a depleted roster, dropped both games to PacRim2 in a doubleheader at the Highland field in Comox. Ten minutes worth of penalties played a large part in the 7-5 and 6-4 losses.
On the bright side two goals each by Owen Shears, Kaleb Vivier and Colby Black kept the first contest close. Angus Atkinson found the back of the net for the single from just outside the crease.
In the second game Kaleb, Owen, Levi Smith Landsell and Carson Foy each sunk one into the twine. Full marks to the coaches for keeping the those tired legs in the game!
The Big Orange U14 will need a full compliment of shooters next weekend in Richmond. On Saturday they contest Kelowna, Sunday they meet Mission and Monday they battle the Coquitlam Adanacs. If they find a way to cut those penalty minutes they’ve every hope of making it to the finals on Tuesday.
QUICK FLICKS The Vancouver Island select team, Seaspray, with four North Island members came back from a weekend in Seattle with 18-0 and 10-2 victories …
– North Island Rage
Saanich lacrosse players ready for B.C. Games this weekend
Field lacrosse players from Claremont Secondary are gearing up for the B.C. Games in Nanaimo, which starts Thursday and runs to July 19.
Dawson Gordon, Will Johansen and Josh Pickford are three of the Claremont players heading to the Games as part of Zone 6, Vancouver Island-Central Coast.
“It’s going to be fun, high quality lacrosse,” said Johansen. “Spending time with my team, playing the sport I love.”
Johansen has been playing lacrosse for eight years.
“I like it better than any other sport,” he said.
Pickford started playing lacrosse about eight years ago as well, when his mom put him in the sport to try it out.
“I ended up loving [it],” said Pickford, adding he likes the fast pace of the game.
Gordon, a field lacrosse player for 10 years, said he is simply looking forward to playing lacrosse at the B.C. Games.
He said it is a bit intimidating to be playing against kids from all over the province, but he’s also excited.
Gordon, Johansen and Pickford are going into Grade 10 in September, but they are already thinking about playing lacrosse in college.
All three recently went to California Gold, an invitational lacrosse showcase recruiting event. It is a chance for players to get noticed by college coaches as the teens plan their future beyond high school.
Johansen said he thinks being from Claremont Secondary will give them an advantage at the Games this weekend because the lacrosse program is so good at the school.
“We have a really good coach,” said Johansen.
Gordon added, “We play [lacrosse] every day.”
All three boys are involved with lacrosse teams outside of school as well, including Victoria Youth Field Lacrosse, Pacific Rim Field Lacrosse and Saanich Tigers.
They also play box lacrosse, but all prefer field lacrosse.
“It’s a totally different game,” said Pickford, referring to box lacrosse. “I’d say field lacrosse is a lot easier to score.”
The three boys and their team are hoping to score enough goals to bring home the gold this weekend.
The Vancouver Island-Central Coast team will play its first game on Friday against Cariboo-North East.
Cowichan Thunder's Jung named best in B.C
When his Cowichan Valley Thunder midget A team didn’t make the provincial box lacrosse championships in Campbell River earlier this month, Mat Jung’s mom, Gina, still had to find a way to get him there and to the annual awards ceremony.
What she knew, and what he would find out, was that he had been named the 2014 Subway BCLA Box Lacrosse Player of the Year.
Jung was one of eight players in B.C. named as the best in their respective zones. The eight were invited up on stage to be honoured at the ceremony.
“They called all the zone winners up and we all got jackets,” Jung recalled. “After we all got the jackets, they told us to open them up.”
They all expected an envelope or something to fall out, and started shaking their jackets. Finally, it was pointed out that all the jackets were embroidered to recognize that they were zone winners, except Jung’s, which was labeled with Player of the Year.
“I was kind of surprised,” he admitted. “It’s kind of a big achievement. I was quite proud of myself, and I’m sure my mom was too.”
Having already received a $500 postsecondary scholarship as zone winner, he got another $500 for the provincial honour, the culmination of 13 years of passion and dedication to the sport. In addition to playing, Jung has been a referee for the last five years, and helped coach the pee wee C team this year, when he had time.
With his midget team, Jung had a rough season as the only returning player from the team that won provincial bronze the year before. All the other second-year players had played B or C the previous year, and some were playing A-level lacrosse for the first time. “It had its ups and downs, but overall I thought it was a good season,” Jung said. “We finished strong.”
Jung did win a provincial silver medal with Cowichan’s intermediate B team. Jung finished second in the scoring race at the provincial championship tournament with 24 points, just two points back of teammate Colin Winship.
In late July, he won a bronze medal with the Vancouver Island team at the BC Summer Games.
This coming weekend, Jung will join Team BC at the national field lacrosse championships in Edmonton, where his teammates will include fellow Thunder star Brian Robb and former Cowichan player Tyler Glanfield. The team’s goal is nothing short of winning it all.
“We definitely want to medal; we’re shooting for the gold,” Jung said. “We have a very skilled team. There’s kind of a lot of pressure because the B.C. U16 team has won gold three years in a row.”
After that, he’ll prepare for the junior box lacrosse draft in January. He was invited to the Victoria Shamrocks prospect camp, but Team BC practice got in the way. In the longer run, he hopes to pursue the sport into the post-secondary ranks, hopefully playing collegiate field lacrosse in the U.S. Going into Grade 11, he has already spent two years at Claremont Secondary’s lacrosse academy in Victoria. Although he grew up playing box lacrosse, he has made a smooth transition to field in recent years.
“I like playing both, but I’m starting to ease toward liking field better,” he said. “When you play it enough, you start liking it a bit more.”
© Cowichan Valley Citizen – See more at: http://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/sports/cowichan-thunder-s-jung-named-best-in-b-c-1.1330574#sthash.DS0Vr4nm.dpuf
Okanagan Lax Team visits Claremont
A visiting Okanagan team visited Claremont Jr’s this past week. Games between Spectrum , Okanogan, Claremont Red and Claremont White Jr teams. Pictures are available under the teams photo gallery.
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