Dear Beaches Lacrosse Fans,

As we embark upon the 2007 Junior A lacrosse season, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a number of positive accomplishments by some of our current and former players over the past year.

Former Beach Boy and team captain Ryan Cousins has certainly enjoyed an outstanding run of late. In early September, Ryan won his third consecutive Mann Cup, emblematic of the Canadian Senior Men’s lacrosse championship, this one playing with the Peterborough Lakers. Ryan won his first Mann Cup with Peterborough in 2004 and followed that up with a championship with the Victoria Shamrocks in 2005. Derek Collins, Jason Clark and Mat Giles, as well as former Beaches Assistant Coach Daryl Gibson, joined Cousins on the 2007 Mann Cup champion Peterborough Lakers team.

Cousins, who serves as captain of the Minnesota Swarm of the National Lacrosse League, followed up his Mann Cup performance by being named to the National Lacrosse League’s First All-Pro team as well as being named the NLL’s Defensive Player of the Year. Ryan also recently competed with the Canadian team in the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in Halifax where Canada successfully defended its World Championship. Other former Beaches players who competed in the World Indoor Championships include Garett Kikot, Ashton McLean and Derek Collins of Scotland, Tom Montour of the Iroquois Nationals, and Peter Dunits and Jason Clark of England.

Several members of the Beach Boys 2006 graduating class were honoured by being selected in January’s OLA Major Series Draft. Geoff Griffiths was picked up by the Brampton Excelsiors and later dealt to the Brooklin Redmen, the Peterborough Lakers snagged Mac Allen, Kevin Ross was selected by the Six Nations Chiefs, but has since been dealt to the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, Wesley McDonald was tabbed by the Brooklin Redmen and Michael Dominelli was chosen by the St. Regis Indians.

In last September’s NLL draft, a gaggle of Beaches products were also snapped up, Kyle Wailes in the first round by the Calgary Roughnecks who later traded him to the Philadelphia Wings, Matt Holman by the Portland Lumberjax, Ashton McLean by the Rochester Knighthawks (Ashton subsequently signed with the Minnesota Swarm), Garett Kikot, the older brother of Beaches netminder Brett Kikot, by the New York Titans and Tim Chisholm by the Toronto Rock. Mac Allen who was projected to be an early round pick was inexplicably not selected, but later signed on with the Edmonton Rush becoming their top face-off man and one of their best defenders/transition players.

It has been a busy time for college commencement ceremonies these past few weeks and a number of former Beach Boys have picked up their sheepskins, including Matt Holman, Andy Rohmer and Tim Chisholm at the University of Hartford, Wesley McDonald at Hobart College, Mac Allen at Bishop’s University and Kevin Ross and Angus Dineley at Canisius College.

Dineley capped off his lacrosse career at Canisius by being named to the MAAC All-Tournament Team and to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team in District I. Ross was certainly no slouch in the hardware department, picking up All-MAAC First Team honours for the second straight year and being named the Canisius College Male Athlete of the Year. Kevin topped things off when he was featured in the Faces in the Crowd section of the May 14, 2007 edition of Sports Illustrated Magazine.

Beginning new academic careers south of the border since the end of the 2006 season were Tyler Collins and Chris Nash who matriculated at Colgate University and Bellarmine University, respectively. Todd Duncan began his studies at Brock University where he was a member of the Canadian University Champion Brock Badgers lacrosse team. At the prep school level, Damon Edwards and Robert Koger moved down to New Hampshire to join fellow Beach Boy Stephen Keogh at Brewster Academy where former Beaches Assistant Coach Matt Rowley teaches and coaches. Keogh, who has now graduated from Brewster, has committed to attend Syracuse University in the fall where he will study and play lacrosse for Coach John Desko’s Syracuse Orange. Keogh was also recently named a High School All-American.

Beginning at Brewster next fall will be second year Beach Boy Carter Bender and Katie Wailes, the daughter of Head Coach Ian Wailes and sister of former Beaches star Kyle Wailes.
Congratulations are certainly in order for Andrew Chapman who had a fine year on the lacrosse field for Drexel University where he will be starting his senior year this fall. Andrew’s Dragons began the season with a bang, knocking off the number one ranked Virginia Cavaliers with Chapman setting up the tying goal with a seeing-eye pass late in the game. Andrew capped off the season by being named to the Colonial Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team.
Congratulations also go out to former Beaches defensive stalwart David Brown, cousin of Beaches rookie Aaron Brown. Brown and his Rochester Knighthawks teammates recently captured the NLL Champions Cup with a win over the Arizona Sting.

Finally, at the Beaches team banquet held last December, the following winners of the Beaches team awards were announced:

Best Defensive Player – Mac Allen
Leading Goal Scorer – Kevin Ross
Set-Up Man Award – Most Assists – Geoff Griffiths
Rookie of the Year – Brett Kikot
Directors’ Trophy – Kevin Ross

As always, we are deeply indebted to our many sponsors and boosters for their generous support and would ask that you support them whenever you have an opportunity to do so. I would also thank our many fans and volunteers on behalf of our players, coaching staff and everyone else in the Beaches organization. Your tremendous ongoing support is both noticed and appreciated and we look forward to enjoying it for many years to come. We hope to repay this support with another season of exciting and entertaining lacrosse here in the Beach!
Yours in lacrosse,

Fraser McDonald
President and General Manager 2007