A 14-year-old Grande Prairie lacrosse player will be among just 26 others across Alberta to represent the Junior Roughnecks in next month’s National Lacrosse League Junior NLL tournament in Toronto.
Coehn Bolin says he picked up the love of lacrosse from his father, and now he is hoping to put his best foot forward against some of the most talented young players in the country. He adds while it’s an honour to be there, the desire to compete to win remains very strong.
“He [his father] introduced it to me, I just stuck with it. It is his favourite sport,” he says. “It means everything, right? You are doing it for the coaches, and teammates, the second years that are leaving this year. You just want to do it for them, make them proud and show them what I can do.”
Bolin says getting on the team was no stroll in the park. He was selected for the final 26 from more than 150 U15 players from cities across Alberta. He says while the competition in the Peace Country is formidable, it was a bit of a jump at that level.
“There are some kids (in the region) that I could go play with, but it’s hard being from Grande Prairie to have a team like that,” he says. “I went to go try out for a national team in Calgary. Had to go to multiple try-outs and training camps until they decided on a roster.”
The Junior NLL tournament takes place August 16th-18th in Toronto.
