Two bantam players with the Cranbrook Oultaws lacrosse team have made the cut for Team Interior, a squad consisting of players from the B.C. Interior that have a chance to make a provincial roster.
Conor Sinclair and Kole Tait cracked the roster during a camp in Armstrong at the end of April, as 30 athletes struggled to make the cut for a roster that included 15 spots.
“Very hard, very serious. They made you do a lot of high-end drills,” said Sinclair. “Catching was probably the most important part, quick stick, shots, accuracy—putting them on net and not hitting the goalie in the head.”
Following their experience over the course of the camp, each athlete was hauled into one-on-one meetings with the coaches to go over their tryout and find out if they had the chops to make it onto the roster.
“They brought you in to interview you, they asked some questions, asked what you think you need to work on, how good you did, then they tell you if you made it,” said Sinclair, who added he was pumped to make the cut.
He said his intensity was the biggest aspect of his game that he wanted to use to impress the coaches.
“Probably the intensity I want to play with—hard on defence, hard on offence, always running my hardest,” said Sinclair.
Tait said he came into camp feeling pretty confident in his abilities, but an equipment malfunction nearly threw him off his game.
“I blew up my stick, during a drill, so I kinda had a heart attack there, because I had to switch to my bad stick and I have trouble playing with it,” Tait said.
However, he said hard work was the key to getting noticed.
“Overall, it was a real good camp, hard work, there was a point where I was sweating so much I could hardly see out of my eyes,” Tait said.
Tait said he wanted to prove he belonged on the squad by playing physical and being smart positionally.
“Being solid, saving the balls, getting out, being big and stick work,” Tait added.
The two will join up with Team Interior for a tournament in the Lower Mainland this weekend featuring other regional teams from around the province.
Players on all the regional teams will be scouted and selected based on their merit to the provincial Team B.C. roster.