Lacrosse leaders look to inspire

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This article was published 01/08/2024 (436 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s an added responsibility that comes with being the leader of a budding program, and Elle Garriock and Payton Cvetkovic have happily accepted the burden.

The Winnipeg teens will be depended upon to produce as they co-captain Team Manitoba at the U19 women’s field lacrosse championship in Winnipeg this weekend. Both want their impact to extend beyond the field.

They maintain the 20 players on the Manitoba contingent are pillars for the foundation of female lacrosse in the province.

“I think it leads me to be the best player I can be on the field, knowing I’m not just helping my team but I’m also kind of being a leader and also just showing girls — even off the field that are just watching — what the sport can be like,” said Cvetkovic.

Manitoba debuted a team in the national tournament last year and, thanks to another year of substantial growth in the local women’s game, won the right to host this year’s event. Five provinces, including Alberta, B.C., Ontario and the recently-formed Saskatchewan team, will field their top talent Friday through Sunday at Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex.

It’s the first time Manitoba will host a national women’s lacrosse event in 35 years.

“Hosting this is huge,” said Matt Mason, head coach of Team Manitoba and executive director of the Manitoba Lacrosse Association. “Young girls are going to be able to watch this and… I think it’s going to be really good just to show the community that this is an option, this is what you could be and hopefully that gets some girls to try it out and then commit to it for their sporting careers.”

Manitoba opens play against Saskatchewan Fridau at 8:30 a.m.

Garriock and Cvetkovic will form a dynamic duo in the team’s midfield.

Garriock has quickly become one of the finest female players in the province. She grew up around the sport while her older brother played from a young age, but with few opportunities available to women, she never followed suit.

That is until Manitoba sent a box lacrosse team to Niagara for the 2022 Canada Summer Games.

Like most of the women on this week’s squad, that’s where Garriock’s love for the sport sprouted, and it’s only blossomed into an obsession since that time. She thinks this week could serve up similar inspiration for others.

“The success for this tournament is important — get our name out there and stuff — but I feel like I’m more excited about the future of things: more age groups being included in lacrosse and stuff for girls and just seeing how much more the sport expands like that — the long term growth of it,” said Garriock, who will attend McKendree University (Illinois), an NCAA Division 2 program, in the fall.

“I’m proud to be a part of that. In the beginning, it was much slower until now, so, over the years I’ve been able to see the growth through my very own eyes, from where it started until where it is now. It’s just nice to be part of.”

With last year’s experience to lean on, Team Manitoba is convinced they can improve on their fourth-place finish in Quebec.

In July the team attended the Vail Lacrosse Shootout in Colorado a tournament — an event that featured some tough competition from the U.S. — and left with a silver medal.

Cvetkovic was named to the all-tournament team, which continued her outstanding year of growth and demonstrated why she’s lauded by coaches for her unwavering dedication since being introduced to the sport two years ago.

“When I first started, I just thought it was another sport I’m trying, but after I went to Arizona with my team and we did an (Arizona State University) clinic, the sport really clicked for me and I realized this is what I want to do with the next chunk of my life,” Cvetkovic said. “Ever since then I’ve had the drive to improve and get better and I’ve just been working since Arizona.

“Last year, I’d still only been playing for a like a year, not even. So, I went onto the team obviously still wanting to really do well but also I was still understanding it more last year. I’ve gotten a lot of exposure since then, and this year I just really want to help my team and I really want us to do well as a team and make sure our chemistry is there.”

Most of this week’s players have developed through The Herd, a grassroots program for female players in the province, and the women’s high school lacrosse league — both of which have entered the scene in the last two years.

Mason said the added resources have paid immediate dividends.

“(Two years ago) is the first time we had any Team Manitoba lacrosse — we had our U17 girls go to Canada Games — and then last year we had a couple more Team Manitoba teams. This year, we had a U13, U15 and U17 box team, a junior box team and a U19 women’s field team, so you’re really starting to see girls… just in general coming up and dedicating themselves to this.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam