Canada’s national summer sport has been predominantly ignored at the college level in Western Canada, but a recent push to establish a lacrosse league amongst Western Canadian universities is providing many University of Saskatchewan lacrosse players with a second opportunity to play the sport they love.

Western university league in works

Although the league is in its early phases — the University of Victoria and the University of Alberta have teams established and some schools, like the U of S, are in the developing stages — it is possible that a Western university league independent of Canadian Interuniversity Sport could be established by next school year.

Ryan Spencer, a local lacrosse player and student who is spearheading the creation process of the U of S team, is optimistic about both the league and the team.

“This initiative is backed heavily by the Canadian Lacrosse Association. What we want to do is set up a league for Western Canadian students to showcase their lacrosse talent,” said Spencer. “Lacrosse is our national sport and it is disappointing that there is no representation at the collegiate level. Lacrosse is a very exciting game and is growing rapidly all over the continent.”

Leagues in the Maritimes and Ontario have gained momentum and Simon Fraser University is in the process of moving to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Spencer hopes to build on the success of such lacrosse programs so Western Canadian students can showcase their talent.

While Spencer volunteered to take the lead role in establishing the team, he is aware of the impending task’s difficulty.

“Lacrosse has always succeeded by a push at the grass roots level and this will be no exception as it is based primarily on the dedication and hard work of the students at the U of S.”

Right now the team is in the process of registering as a club under the University of Saskatchewan Student’s Union and preparing to attend a preliminary trial tournament from Feb. 26 to 28 in Victoria, B.C.

It is Spencer’s hope that by next year the team will be fully functioning within a well-established western league — which will be independent of CIS.

“The long term goal is to establish a country-wide league with teams represented throughout the nation and to eventually look at CIS sanctioning,” said Spencer, who stressed that CIS consideration — although a possibility in the distant future — is not a primary concern for the league right now.

In the past, for players who desired to stay in or return to Saskatchewan to attend school, there had never been an option to play competitive lacrosse. With the establishment of this league, players now have the opportunity to play the game they love for their home schools.

When U of S Huskies athletic director Basil Houghton was approached about a potential Huskies lacrosse faction being established at the university, he remained positive but stated there was no concrete time line. Though Houghton hinted that handfuls of sports have been suggested to become apart of Huskies Athletics, the fact is that a CIS lacrosse league in the near future is not financially feasible due to CIS not accepting any new sports because of the economic downturn. And without a CIS lacrosse league there can be no Huskies lacrosse team.

Houghton went on to say that lacrosse players first need to establish a team under the USSU as a club to put the wheels in motion.

NCAA lacrosse woes

Jessie Bazylinski, a local lacrosse player and U of S kinesiology student, has lived in Saskatoon his whole life. At an early age he started playing both box and field lacrosse and it quickly became evident that he had a particular talent for the sport. Eventually, the Saskatoon Scorpions lacrosse club — an elite field lacrosse program created to develop Saskatoon’s best lacrosse players into college level athletes — discovered his talent.

At first, for Bazylinski, this team was just a place to play better, more competitive lacrosse. However, relative to the program’s overall success — which has produced players that have gone on to colleges in New York, New Hampshire, Kentucky and North and South Carolina — he quickly realized that playing in the NCAA at a Division I level was an available option for him.

Bazylinski’s lacrosse resume is an impressive one. In the Adrenaline Showcase tournament in California, which is scouted by NCAA coaches and features the best lacrosse prospects from the U.S. and Canada, he received an all-star award as a top defenceman. Along with this, he was in the final cut for the Canadian Junior team — meaning he was one of the top 50 lacrosse players in Canada under the age of 19. With these two accomplishments combined, Bazylinski received numerous scholarship offers from many NCAA colleges.

“I received a ton of scholarship offers from over 25 schools. Most notably, I talked with one of the assistant coaches of Ohio State (University),” said Bazylinski.

Unfortunately, Bazylinski no longer plays field lacrosse.

“I really wanted to play lacrosse in the States, but being born and raised in Saskatoon I also wanted to attend the University of Saskatchewan,” explained Bazylinski.

“I plan on becoming a physical education teacher, and when I looked at the programs offered in the States, the requirements and money just didn’t work out.”

These seem to be the most common limitations for Western Canadian lacrosse players when it comes to playing lacrosse in the NCAA — they cannot financially afford it and the academic programs in the U.S. do not match Canadian career or academic requirements.

For example, even with a $20,000 scholarship to a Division I school, it will still cost anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 per year to attend. This is not a viable option for many lacrosse players who operate on a student’s budget.

Kale Wudrich, who played with Bazylinski on the Scorpions, also chose to stay at the U of S because of academic and financial limitations.

“I was worried about balancing (finances) on my own,” said Wudrich, who decided that the financial expenses of playing in the NCAA were not worth it. His future plans hinge on the acceptance into the College of Dentistry here at the U of S and the option of the NCAA was just not feasible. So, like Bazylinski, his field lacrosse career was forced to stop.

Mike Ripley had the same academic worries as Bazylinski and Wudrich, but was able to continue playing lacrosse by attending Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. SFU is the only university in Western Canada where lacrosse is played at the college level. Unfortunately, they are forced to play against teams from the States due to a lack of Canadian competition.

For Ripley, the choice of a Canadian school as opposed to the NCAA centred around his academic needs.

“It was important to my family and me that I get a quality education first and foremost,” said Ripley. “I had a few offers to go to some smaller colleges in the States, but could not be sure how well, if at all, my degree would be recognized after I was done my time at school. It’s important to have my education to carry me through my life.”

For most Saskatchewan lacrosse players, however, SFU is not necessarily an option. Although it may remove the barrier of high American tuition and satisfies most Canadian scholarly needs, moving to B.C. — especially Vancouver — can be an expensive and impractical move for some Saskatchewan students.

With the establishment of a Western league, players like Bazylinksi and Wudrich have an opportunity to continue playing lacrosse.

CIS lacrosse?

Corey Hayward, who graduated from the Scorpions program and went on to play lacrosse at Limestone College in South Carolina, recently returned to Saskatchewan to pursue medical school and also acknowledges that competing with the NCAA will be difficult.

“When you get to that level you want to play against the best and right now the Mecca (of lacrosse) is the U.S. — particularly the East Coast,” said Hayward.

“There just aren’t many options in Canada for college lacrosse and certainly the opportunity for scholarships is tough to match. The young player growing up still dreams of playing down south, but that doesn’t mean Canada can’t eventually compete for that talent,” added Hayward.

For Hayward, however, the important aspect of establishing a western league is not so much about competing with the NCAA as it is about providing student athletes, who have the desire to stay in or return to Saskatchewan, with an opportunity to play lacrosse for their home school (much like the Huskies men’s hockey program that brings ex-WHL players back to the province).

“Seeing as I’m back here, now I wish there was at least a Western league. Having that would obviously give more players a chance to continue playing after high school, which I think a lot of them would embrace,” said Hayward, who has since signed up for the U of S team.

Bazylinski, who is also now playing with the team, is very excited about the opportunity to play the game he loves so much.

“A U of S team would mean a lot to me,” concluded Bazylinski. “It’s our national sport and there is no reason not to have a team. We could attract many fans to the physical, fast-paced game and could help promote the game of lacrosse within not only our city, but all of Canada West.”

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If you are a competitive lacrosse player and current or future U of S student interested in playing lacrosse for your school, information about the team can be found under its Facebook group, the University of Saskatchewan Lacrosse Team. The team has yet to be named, but is gladly accepting suggestions. Team organizers will aslo be hosting an un-Valentine’s pubcrawl on Feb. 13 to raise money and awareness for their cause. See the Facebook page for more information.

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photo: Robby Davis