Westman players enjoy lacrosse nationals

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This article was published 23/08/2024 (631 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In what’s become a rite of passage for Westman’s top young lacrosse players, nine youngsters hit the floor at box nationals last week in Regina.

It’s the second year in a row nine players have gone — including seven from Brandon this year — a fact that impresses 14-year-old Cash Zdan of Brandon, one of the teenagers who went both years.

“It was pretty neat,” Cash Zdan said. “Four years ago there was none playing on Team Manitoba, and now three years later, there’s seven of us.”

All seven players who competed in the under-13 and U15 levels were from the Wheat City — including U13 players Jillian Hatcher, Ayden Mott, Knox Zdan, and Ari Lang, along with U15 teammates Mason Woychyshyn, Cash Zdan, and Vaughn McLeod. The two older U17 girls, Izzy Graham and Sydney Sheppard, are both from Carberry. All but Hatcher and Mott were returning veterans.

Cash’s father Marty, the organizer of Wheat City Lacrosse, said it’s nice for talented young players to have the opportunity to take that next step in their development.

“It’s big for our program because there are always players who are going to want to take the next step,” Zdan said. “Just like in any sport, you’re going to have different skill levels of players, and you have to be able to provide or at least give them the opportunity to try out for these teams. When those players go to nationals and they bring up their skill level playing against better players and better teams, they are going to come back for winter camp or in the spring and they’re going to be that much better of a seasoned player going through those experiences.”

The national event was actually the second major tournament this summer for the young athletes. The inaugural Prairie Cup, held earlier this month in Regina, served as a pre-national tuneup for teams from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and two teams from Alberta covering the northern and southern regions. The tournament featured competition in the U13, U15, U17, and U22 age groups for both boys and girls, and is set to become a regular fixture on the lacrosse calendar.

It’s slated to come to Brandon next summer.

“It’s hard when you get these provincial teams going,” Zdan said. “There are no club teams going and you essentially don’t have anybody to play at that level. You get the provinces together two or three weeks before nationals and get into some real competition.”

The national event, which was held in four rinks at Regina’s Cooperators Centre from Aug. 12 to 17, featured male and female competition in the U13, U15 and U17 age groups, with a female U22 age group as well.

In the different age groups, Manitoba’s finishes were:
• U13 boys — 1-5, sixth place of six.
• U13 girls — 1-5, sixth place of six.
• U15 boys — 4-4, fourth of eight.
• U15 girls — 0-5, fifth of five.
• U17 boys — 3-4, sixth of 10.
• U17 girls — 1-6, sixth of seven.
• U22 women — 1-4, fourth of five.

Since Mott and Hatcher didn’t have previous national experience, it was their first chance to wear the Buffalo.

“It’s an honour to play for Manitoba honestly,” Hatcher said.

Hatcher, who is 11 and in her third year in the sport, achieved the impressive feat of playing with both the U13 and U15 provincial teams at the Prairie Cup, while also earning a spot on the U15 team for nationals. It was her first glimpse of the game at that level and she came away impressed.

“It was definitely different than I thought it would be,” Hatcher said. “A lot of the girls are bigger than me because I’m playing in an age group above what my age is, but it was really exciting and just a great experience overall.”

It seems she overcame the size disadvantage with hard work. The youngster trained six days a week all summer, only taking Wednesdays off.

She also had the experience of playing on a team with boys all summer, so the physicality wasn’t a complete shock.

At the other end of the spectrum, Cash Zdan has been playing the game for six years and just made his third trip to nationals, so he’s definitely the grizzled veteran of the lot.

“You’ll see if you come to one of our games (in Brandon) there is a lot of roughness, but that’s because it’s all skill levels playing together,” Cash Zdan said. “There are some people who are just starting lacrosse that year and me who has been playing for six years so it gets little rough. “At the national level, it’s not rough at all. It’s super high paced, the ball is moving, you can’t even keep track of it.”

Zdan had five goals and four assists in eight games to finish fifth in team scoring. While Manitoba suffered a 15-2 loss to Ontario, the teenager viewed it as an opportunity to learn rather than a crushing defeat.

“There are positives you can take out of that for sure,” Cash Zdan said. “You see how they respect and keep their sportsmanship even though they’re up 14 and it’s getting a little rough at the end of the game. They don’t compete in any of that and just let you take all the penalties. They stay really sportsmanlike, and it’s pretty neat to see how they play knowing they’re going to win, just passing the ball and moving the ball.”

It was Mott who may have achieved the most impressive feat of the nine Westman players. The 12-year-old just finished his third year in the sport, and his first playing at a higher level.

Marty Zdan said his improvement has been incredible.

“He really came into his own this year,” Zdan said. “He took a big step. He’s an athlete and just transformed it into lacrosse skills all at once this year. He’s always been one of our better players, but this year he took a real big step. He got all-star at Prairie Cup and replicated it at nationals. It’s huge. It’s our first one.”

Mott was blown away by the honours.

“It felt amazing to know I was considered able to compete with some of the best of the best in Canada,” Mott said. “All of this could never have been done without my coaches and teammates and friends helping me the whole way,” he added.

Manitoba’s U13 boys scored just 16 goals in the tournament and Mott led the way with four. He described the experience as eye-opening, seeing the sport played at such a high level.

“It was my first time so it felt great to be able to go there and see how much faster everything was, how everything moved faster,” Mott said. “It was just better overall.”

And although he proved to be the lone Westman All-Star, he said it was nice to have his teammates there for support.

“It felt great because there were two older kids who could help me if I needed any help and there were four from my regular season team so it felt great knowing I had friends everywhere around me there,” Mott said.

The regular season was already over for the local association, which had just over 60 players this summer. Winter camp is set to start in December or January at the TC Indoor Sports Facility. Additionally, Manitoba Lacrosse plans to collaborate with schools to introduce the sport in physical education classes

While the provincial team members may not have won as much as they hoped, Marty Zdan has no doubt they’ll all be improved by the experience.

“They definitely became better players,” Zdan said. “You only get better by playing against the top teams, and this was the opportunity for all these teams we had players on. It’s definitely some trying times. You have some big ups and some big downs. Losing sometimes isn’t fun but you do learn a lot of lessons, and you don’t get better if you win every game.

“Traditionally Manitoba is toward the bottom but that’s changing little by little.”

 

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