Jul
25
Written by:
News Editor
Sunday, July 25, 2010 4:54 PM
by Roxanne Hooper
The best of B.C.’s best young box lacrosse players got an extra bonus out of participating in the BC Summer Games in Langley this weekend.
Thirty of the province’s best 14- and 15-year-old boys, those who really shone during the Games, were hand picked to attend a special one-day camp Monday that will decide Team BC.
For the second time in a row, the Summer Games served as a qualifying venue for Team BC, explained Greg Toll, vice-president of operations for the B.C. Lacrosse Association.
Over the course of three days of box competition at the Langley Events Centre and George Preston Recreation Centre, a 14-member selection committee, including head coaches from all eight participating zones, was asked to evaluate all the players’ performances.
From there the 30 best overall players were picked. Not all are from the top three (Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, and Thompson-Okanagan) teams, Toll noted.
“Even though they may have played on one of the weaker teams, they still got the shot to be evaluated and considered for Team BC,” he said.
The boys knew, going into the weekend, that the only way to qualify for the nationals was to rise to the top in performance in Langley this weekend. So, Toll said, he believes that prompted some fiercer competition and motivated higher-level players to give a little more.
The Summer Games is becoming a training session, if you will, for greater things, Toll said.
The lacrosse camp, being held at the George Preston Recreation Centre in Langley tomorrow, will include a series of skills sessions starting at 9
a.m., and will conclude with the final cuts announced at 3
p.m.
The absolute best 18 runners and two goalies will then be selected to represent the province at the midget national championships in Coquitlam in late August, Toll said.
While each of the boys selected to participate in the camp this time had parents who able to stick around and look after the young players overnight, as well as arrange transportation home, Toll said contingency plans are in place to billet or board any boys without parents present to ensure those selected could still be part of the camp.