11/08/2013
CANADIAN MEN’S INDOOR LACROSSE TEAM
NOV. 8, 2013
TEENS TO SHOWCASE THEIR LACROSSE TALENTS
A push to add a junior division to the world indoor lacrosse calendar will be launched with a Canada-Iroquois game this weekend.
``This is big news for box lacrosse fans because it’s the first step towards convincing the Federation of International Lacrosse that we should have a world championship at the under-17 or under-19 indoor level,’’ says Team Canada director Dean French.
Top teen players will display their talents in an 11 a.m. ET tussle before pro stars square off in a 2 p.m. ET Canada-Iroquois exhibition game in Montreal’s Bell Centre on Sunday. A subsequent step in promoting the addition of a world-wide FIL men’s indoor junior division would be staging a Canada-Iroquois-U.S. box lacrosse tournament for teens during the FIL world field championship in Denver next summer.
``Box lacrosse is key to helping other countries develop field lacrosse skills,’’ says French. ``The sport will be able to make a stronger Olympic bid once we have four or five top countries instead of two or three.’’
An under-19 world field division for men already exists. Why not do the same in box?
Teens Ben French and Austin Statts would certainly love to see it happen because they’d be among the first teens to participate. They know each other well. Ben helped Ontario win a Canadian box lacrosse title with a thrilling 6-5 overtime win over Statts and the Iroquois in the 15-16 midget age group. Statts and his buddies hope to turn the tables Sunday.
``He’s a smart player who is very unpredictable,’’ Ben French says of fellow-leftie Statts. ``Austin also has a high compete level and goes to the net hard.’’
Ben French, whose dad oversees the national program for the Canadian Lacrosse Association, transferred from Toronto’s St. Michael’s College School to IMG Sports Academy in Bradenton, Florida, on a lacrosse scholarship and he faced Statts again last month when Team Florida played the Iroquois in a tournament in North Carolina. French scored seven goals on seven shots but the Iroquois, led by five goals from Statts, won 12-11 in overtime.
``Playing in the under-17 Canada-Iroquois game this weekend will mean a lot to me and I know after speaking with Austin the last time we played that he feels the same,’’ says French. ``Maybe we will make it three overtime games in a row.’’
Both teens will be playing NCAA field lacrosse in 2016 or 2017 _ Ben’s brother Joe is at the University of Virginia _ and should be getting athletic scholarship offers from many schools.
``If I was a college coach I’d be making my way to Montreal to see them play box lacrosse,’’ says IMG Academy coach Bill Shatz.
(Written for the Canadian indoor men’s lacrosse team by Neil Stevens)
