Toronto Beaches Jr A Lacrosse

The snow is all piled up in the Beaches and ready to melt in the spring thaw - so it is time to start turning our thoughts once again to lacrosse.

This is the first time you will be receiving club news from someone other than Fraser MacDonald in quite some time. Fraser and his wife Kathryn have been running the club very admirably for the last 10 years or so. With their son Wesley now having graduated and now playing Senior lacrosse, Fraser and Kathryn have passed the management of the club over to me. Thank god they have agreed to help me in the transition!

I am pumped about the potential for the team during the 2008 season. As many as 20 players may be returning and only Todd Hosmer and Stephen Keogh, who were our top scorers in 2007 and our team leaders, will be entering their last year. Our goaltenders, Shaun Palmer and Brett Kikot, are entering their third full season of Jr A Lacrosse as are Kevin Mulla and the Danny’s - spark plugs Danny De La Casa and Danny Hamlett. Sophomores Cade Zulak, Aaron Brown, Branden Collins and Aiden Genik will only be better with another year of experience.

Competition for the few remaining spots will be tough. We have our 2007 pick J.A MacDougall as well as our 2008 picks, Brendan Macdonald, Alex Kruse, Jared Lockhurst and Ryan Serville looking to compete for the remaining spots along with alumni from the Beaches Minor Lacrosse association amongst others. Look for more information on this impressive group in the weeks to come.

Some of our boys are already playing field lacrosse on teams in the NCAA. Stephen Keogh has scored some critical goals for #5 ranked Syracuse, a team that this weekend knocked off the previously #1 ranked Johns Hopkins. As well Tyler Collins is playing for Colgate University, Kyle Brown for Bellarmine University, Graham Bergsma at Fairfield University and Kenny Burst at Hobart College.

In fall ball during 2007, congratulations go to returning players Todd Duncan and Chris Nash who played for the Brock University Badgers. Brock were winners of their sixth straight Canadian University Field Lacrosse Championship - the Baggataway Cup.

Our “preppies” will be starting their field lacrosse seasons in a little over a week. Ryan Haynes is finishing his last year of high school at Trinity Pawling school in the United States. Reid Acton is finishing his last year at Westminster in Connecticut. Also in their final year at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire will be Carter Bender, Damon Edwards and Robert Koger. Unfortunately all of our prep school attendees will miss the first couple of games of the season as their school years will not be complete before then. But they will be in great shape after a full spring season of field lacrosse. You can see why we will be counting on our youngsters and players from our Guelph affiliate.
Depth at every position will enable us to make a run to the playoffs and get over any adversity we might face. Last year we lost many games by a goal and in overtime. We are making improvements to ensure that it does not happen again and we leap to the top of the standings by winning the close games.

Speaking of depth, our club has affiliated with the Guelph Regals Jr B team. We will be able to draw from their strong line-up that is being recruited to make a strong run for the Founders Cup. Guelph will be the host city in 2008 for the Founders. This arrangement will make for better playing opportunities for all of our protected players.

Congratulations also go out to defenders Robert Koger and Reid Acton who made the Team Canada U19 team in field lacrosse. This is quite an accomplishment for these two alumni from Beaches Minor lacrosse and likely a first for the organization. They will be in BC during the first weeks of July and will miss what will likely be some key Jr A games for the Beach in the stretch run to conclude the season. Look for them to be around to help out at camps this summer and pass on their knowledge, skills and experience to the younger Beaches players who want to succeed at field lacrosse.

Most of our coaches will be back. Ian Wailes will continue as head coach and will be ably assisted by Al Burton. Daryl Haynes will be “reassigned” in order to be able to coach his younger son. Joining the staff in his place will be Scott Crombie, a Toronto Beaches Jr A alumnus. Strength and conditioning will be done by coaches Bob Acton and Mike Austin - they will make sure no team will outwork us this season. We are hopeful that alumnus Ryan Cousins will also be able to join the staff once the NLL season is over.

Look for news about our fund raiser to take place in late April or early May. It will be a dinner/dance and will be a fun night for all. Details to follow shortly.