
August 4, 2016 · 0 Comments
Written By: Jasen Obermeyer
Jeff Henrick has played lacrosse since he was five, making many memoirs, though none can compare to his experience for playing with U-19 Team Canada Field Lacrosse Team, competing in the Federation of International Lacrosse World Championships.
From July 4 to the 19, Mr. Henrick, 18, was in Coquitlam, British Columbia, playing in the U-19 Men’s Lacrosse World Championships. The tournament was held from July 7 to 16.
Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) was established in 2008, a merging of the men’s International Lacrosse Federation and International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse Association.
Fourteen teams in three divisions (Blue, Green and Red) competed for the gold medal, with Canada in the Blue Division.
After submitting an application, Mr. Henrick along with 60 others, went to Tampa, Florida, competing in two separate tryouts, after which the final roster for Team Canada was decided.
A defenceman, Mr. Henrick says he likes lacrosse for the competition. “The feeling when you win, there’s nothing like it and just putting in the hard work, it’s fun.”
He says some of his lacrosse idols include Brodie Merrill and Josh Sanderson (both from Orangeville). He attended the “Mr. Lacrosse” sculpture unveiling in June at Tony Rose Memorial Sports Centre, saying it was very special, despite never having been coached by Terry Sanderson.
“All of my coaches have been coached by him and you can just see what he has created; all of these other coaches are replicating that and it’s just great for the program and it’s really helped the success of the Orangeville Northmen.”
Having now played for the Orangeville Jr. A Northmen for three years, he was the only player from the team or Orangeville to compete with Team Canada.
“Not many people get the opportunity to play in a tournament like this and just coming from a small town, looking up to Brodie Merrill and people that have made it before, it just means a lot because they’ve really had an impact on this community, it’s humbling.”
He says it’s very special being the only one from Jr. A Northmen and Orangeville to play on Team Canada.
“I play with a lot of really good players on the Orangeville Northmen and a lot of them haven’t really pursued field lacrosse, but I’m sure if they’re in the position that I was in, then they would be given the same opportunities and probably would’ve been on the same team as me.”
He played all six games in the tournament, and although he didn’t score, came close a couple times, including in a game against the USA when he got it “down right on the crease.” He says it’s rare for a defenceman to score, as their role is different from that of a hockey defenceman.
Team Canada began the tournament with a bumpy start on July 7, loosing to Team USA, 12-5. However, Canada responded with three consecutive wins from the 9th to the 11th, hammering Team England 24-2 and Team Australia 17-3, with a close victory in between against the Iroquois Nationals 12-9.
On July 14 they faced off against the Nationals in the championship semifinals. They beat the Nationals again, 14-11, advancing to the gold medal game on July 16 against longtime rivals USA.
Prior to the game, Team USA had won all seven gold tournaments since 1988. Canada has won five silver medals, including four straight since 1999. Unfortunately, the gold medal continued eluding Canada, losing to the USA in a tightly close 13-12 game.
Canada was up 8-2 at the half-way point, but the USA bounced back by scoring six in the third quarter, Canada only scoring half that amount. The fourth and final quarter saw Canada getting just one goal, while the USA continued with five, tying with only a few minutes remaining, then scoring the crushing game-winning goal with just eight seconds left on the clock.
Mr. Henrick says Canada dominated the first half, but things “just fell apart the second half.”
Although he was disappointed with the outcome, he says he’s proud of himself and his teammates’ efforts, coming out strong with high energy and playing a good game, saying Team Canada was the underdog.
“The team that played in the game when we lost 12-5 was totally different than the team that we played with in the gold medal game. Throughout the tournament we grew so much and it was awesome.”
Although “the better team lost,” he says the experience was great, “definitely a highlight of my career,” and is thankful for being given an amazing opportunity, as U-19 takes place only once every four years, making it a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, that’s for sure.”
“It was just humbling to represent your country. All the games were played with so much passion.”
Asked how he felt about playing for Team Canada, he said he couldn’t put it in words.
“There’s so many talented people out there, by them giving me the opportunity to play for them, it was amazing, to play alongside such good lacrosse players.”
He says the best part of the tournament was playing and competing alongside his friends.
“Some of my best friends were on that team and that’s actually probably the last time we’re going to play together, so it was a really good time to just send things off. We’re both heading in different directions, going to different schools.”
Mr. Henrick says he hopes to play professional lacrosse, but for now starting in the fall, will be living in the United States, taking business at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He also has a scholarship to play for Ohio State’s lacrosse team, the Buckeyes.
He says that along with making bonds with the players, he’s learned a lot from playing for Team Canada, gaining valuable information from the coaches to carry through his career.
“The coaching staff were really great and they really just emphasized the point of playing Canada lacrosse and just blue-collar mentality.”