Five local lacrosse players will be joining Team Ontario for national tournaments this summer.
Three Arthur Aces players, Sam Hadley, Erin Rooney and Hayley Price, along with two Centre Wellington Mohawks players, Frances McKnight and Landon Kells, were chosen to be a part of the provincial box lacrosse teams.
Each player had to register, tryout and go through three cuts before they found out they made the team.
Rooney described how she waited in a dressing room to find out if she made the team. The other players had a similar experience.
“It’s an honour really, to be chosen to go out and play for your province, it’s just hard to explain,” said Hadley.
Rooney and Hadley will be playing at the bantam level, McKnight and Kells at the midget level, and Price at the senior level.
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| LANDON KELLS AND FRANCES McKNIGHT |
Price actually tried out for and made the junior team, but the junior competition was cancelled when British Columbia’s entry dropped out. The Ontario senior team was short, so Price and two other junior team members were called up to play.
This is Price’s fourth time playing for Team Ontario.
“It’s rewarding and it’s a great experience to get involved in,” she said.
This summer will be Rooney’s first year playing for the provincial team.
“I’m just really excited to represent Ontario, because when I tried out, I really wanted it and I’m just really glad my hard work paid off,” Rooney said.
Hadley, who will be in net for the tournament, is excited to play lacrosse of this calibre.
“I’m really excited to play at such a high level of lacrosse and I really want to win the gold,” he said.
Price added, “I’m excited to fight for gold and just be competitive because I’ve always had that competitive drive, I always wanted to be up there with the best.”
Arthur Aces president Brent McDougall said having three Arthur players making their respective Team Ontario squads is a “tremendous accomplishment for our organization.”
He added the three players put in hard work, which shows “you don’t have to be on an ‘A’ team to make it.”
This summer will also be a first for Kells, who was selected as a goaltender for the tournament. He and another goalie were selected out of 16 trying out for the team.
Kells said when he was told he made the team, he couldn’t stop smiling.
“I couldn’t really say anything, I just had the biggest smile on my face,” said Kells.
McKnight, who made the team for the second year in a row, is excited to relive some of the memories she made last year.
“You just think you get to do it all again, go with your team on the plane, stay at the dorms, play all the games. When I made it this year, it all came back – I was going to get to do it again,” said McKnight, one of 18 players that made the cut out of 50 who tried out.
Last year, McKnight and Team Ontario won gold. She is hoping to repeat that performance.
“We are hoping to come out and keep our title,” she said.
Rooney, McKnight and Price will compete in the bantam, midget and senior girls national tournament in Calgary from July 18 to 23. Hadley joins the bantam boys tournament Aug. 2 to 6 in Saskatoon, while Kells will travel to Whitby for the midget boys tournament July 31 to Aug. 6.
