Four Port Alberni lacrosse players were part of a B.C. team that travelled to California earlier this month for the U.S. Box Lacrosse Nationals.
Diego Hopkins, Jace Fedirchuk, Declan Fines and Ryder Wells are all members of the bantam 49th Parallel Lacrosse Team: a team based out of Victoria that gives young, skilled lacrosse players a chance to play elite-level lacrosse. The team was put together for the first time this year by head coach Sean Knoles and entered into the U.S.-based tournament. Organizers are hoping to expand the program next year to take more teams.
Both Diego and Ryder are bantam players, while Declan and Jace are peewees who were able to join the bantam team due to their skill level.
“It gives skilled players another avenue to go play high-calibre lacrosse for their age group,” explained assistant coach Kelly Fines, who is also Declan’s father.
The tournament started with a 5-2 win against Calgary, a 4-3 win against Minnesota and a 7-2 win against Denver. They had their first loss (4-2) against Georgia, but pulled together an 8-6 win against San Diego that sent them to the bronze medal game.
After a 9-3 loss against Las Vegas, the brand-new team ended up placing fourth out of twelve teams in their division, which Fines says is an impressive achievement.
“It was a lot of lacrosse,” said Fines. “It was six games in two and a half days.”
The tournament took place in Huntingon Beach, California over August 3-5. The team’s hotel, said Fines, was only eight minutes from Disneyland.
“They loved it,” said Fines. “There [were] a lot of good experiences. And definitely lots to do there.”
All four lacrosse players also played in the local Alberni Valley Tyees association this year.