Lacrosse dreams could be realized at the BC Summer Games next week.
Maple Ridge hosts the 2024 Games, but Mission Leisure Centre will welcome athletes for four box lacrosse games as well.
Mission will be well represented in box lacrosse with three athletes suiting up for the Fraser Valley (Zone 3) squad helmed by another local, head coach Kyle Mooney.
Standouts Joshua Brooks, Judah Kruger and James Raffan previously played together in club lacrosse and now the trio will represent Mission on the bigger stage.
Mooney says the Fraser Valley team has the talent to win gold, but there are other benefits to playing in such a large tournament.
The three Missionites and their teammates will have the chance to showcase their skills to scouts ahead of January’s BC Junior A Lacrosse League draft.
Brooks, a goalie, is a brick wall between the pipes and helpful to teammates on defence.
“I’m hoping to win this tournament, get a gold medal and bring it back. And… coming from Mission, we have maybe one scout out of every 10 games if we're lucky. So it’s kind of nice to just have the opportunity to show off what you got,” Brooks said.
Raffan is shifty with the ball and can push up the floor. He hopes to follow his father’s footsteps to the NLL.
“I hope that this tournament would bring some more eyes on me so I can show them what I am capable of,” Ruffan said.
Kruger is a leader on the floor, bringing defence and grit as well. He hopes to take his skills to the next level and play junior lacrosse before shifting to field lacrosse in university.
“Playing box lacrosse is really just transferring my skills —stick work and all that— to field lacrosse so I can focus on my dreams there,” Kruger said.
Mooney says the team is feeling good ahead of next Friday’s opening game against Team Indigenous at 11 a.m. at Cam Neely Arena.
While games will take place at Mission Leisure Centre, the Fraser Valley team will play all of its games in Maple Ridge – barring a spot in the third-place game on Sunday (July 21).
The box lacrosse players are three of 22 Mission athletes set to represent the Fraser Valley at the Summer Games.
Eight local athletes will participate in field lacrosse, including Josiah Allen, Case Bromba, Adam Foote, Masen Hooper, Nolan Kerr, Beau Nicoll, Matthew Smith and Daven Varcoe.
Caitlyn Fernandez, Calla Nguyen, and Maclaine Vos will hit the pitch in girls soccer while Cassidy Kennedy and Holly Ross could hit pitches of a different sort in softball.
Cassandra Baisley will compete in athletics, Birpartap Dhillon in beach volleyball, Lindsey Johnson in swimming, Paul Potma and Justin King in Special Olympics swimming, and Kennedie MacDonald in volleyball.
Other Mission coaches will help out the athletes as well with Sam Adams, Tej Grewal and Ryan Smith in field lacrosse; Tom Nguyen in girls' soccer; Danielle Gerber and Katelyn Ross in softball; and Bill Murray with Special Olympics swimming.
Six Mission officials also earned their stripes for the Summer Games, with Jeff MacAulay in box lacrosse, Ryder Bremner in field lacrosse, Bryan Stretch in wrestling, and Lorraine Irvine-Roberts, Adia Irvine-Roberts and Richard Rosenthal in canoe/kayak.
