The Vancouver Island field lacrosse team, destined to represent the Island at the 2018 B.C. Summer Games, has been chosen, with three of the players B次元官网网址� Josh Verhagen, Jace Francis and Sonny Miller B次元官网网址� having a close connection to Saanich.

B次元官网网址淲e have eight players who play for Victoria Youth Field Lacrosse Association (including the Saanich natives), three who play for Pacific Rim Youth Field Lacrosse Association, two who play for mid-island Youth Field Lacrosse Association, one who plays for Oceanside Youth Field Lacrosse Association and five who play for Nanaimo,B次元官网网址� said Sean Walmsley, the coach of the Vancouver Island Team.

B次元官网网址淵ou can see that we have a pretty good selection of players from across the Island. ItB次元官网网址檚 a really great bunch of guys.B次元官网网址�

For the purposes of the Games, the team will represent Zone Six, competing against five other zones from across the province.

B次元官网网址淲e put out applications that players could fill out if they wanted to play for the Island in the Games and we got 57 responses from players who were interested in trying out. By then we had a pretty good idea of who these players were, even before the tryouts, because we had gone out in February and watched these players in action during the box lacrosse season,B次元官网网址� explained Walmsley.

B次元官网网址淲e had tryouts on May 12 and June 2 and it was a really tough decision, but we finally got it down to our 17 runners and two goalies.B次元官网网址�

Walmsley feels that his team will be very strong contenders and stand a better than average chance of winning the tournament.

B次元官网网址淲e have a very strong team. With the talent that showed up at tryouts, we could easily have fielded two very competitive teams so you can imagine that the one team we have is just incredible.B次元官网网址�

Walmsley is no stranger to the B.C. Games.

He actually played for the Island Team 15 years ago when he was 16 years of age. As a coach, this will be the third time he has headed up the Island team in the Games .

B次元官网网址淕oing to the B.C. Games is very exciting for the players. For them itB次元官网网址檚 like a mini-Olympics,B次元官网网址� said Walmsley.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been a lot of years, but I still remember how it felt.B次元官网网址�

Walmsley explained that, having been chosen for the team, the players are primed for action.

B次元官网网址淭hey are really anxious to get out and get going. WeB次元官网网址檙e going to start practicing in Ladysmith soon and, since thatB次元官网网址檚 where the actual Games will be held, weB次元官网网址檒l have a bit of a home field advantage as a result.B次元官网网址�

Walmsley said that the game of field lacrosse has seen a resurgence in recent years, particularly within the girlB次元官网网址檚 program as some secondary schools in the region have introduced the game within an academy-type program.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 an incredible game. IB次元官网网址檝e played since I was 10 years old and I can tell you thereB次元官网网址檚 no game quite like it.B次元官网网址�

The B.C. Summer Games take part July 19 to 22 in Cowichan.