Long-time friends and sportsmates, Caleb Creasor and Jason Knox, have both made it through the first round of cuts for the Canadian Men’s U19 Field Lacrosse Team.
After attending an intense evaluation camp in October, the pair recently learned they made the cut from 73 players to 32 players and have been invited to attend a second evaluation camp in the spring where the top 23 players will be selected to play on Team Canada’s roster at the 2020 Men’s U19 Lacrosse World Championships in Limerick, Ireland.
Both Creasor and Knox are playing NCAA Division 1 lacrosse on scholarships, after graduating from St. Andrew’s College in 2018.
Knox had a record-breaking freshman year at Hobart William Smith in Upper State New York last year. Creasor played with the Hill Academy in Vaughan for his post-grad year before starting at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
They both also play box lacrosse during the summer months. Knox plays with the Burlington Jr A team where he was drafted from during his Midget year in 2017. Creasor played with the Huntsville Jr C Hawks in 2017/18 and then joined the Barrie Jr A team in 2019.
Knox and Creasor had to apply to be considered for the Team Canada evaluation camp. The 73 players that were invited to participate in the weekend tryout came from across Canada.
Knox saw the talent at the camp from many of his old friends and said he is honoured to have the opportunity to compete against his previous teammates for the chance to play for his country.
He added that it was his team play at Hobart that got him prepared for the tryout in October. “I’m very excited and am looking forward to the next camp in May,” he said.
Despite the stakes, Creasor said that the first tryout weekend was fun. “There were lots of familiar faces of guys I had played with and against,” he said. “Coaches were excited and the energy was high.”
He added that he is “excited to keep pushing for a spot on the roster and represent Canada in Ireland. I think it’s an amazing opportunity. I am focused on being prepared for the tryouts in May as well as excelling in my first collegiate season with Lehigh.”
Team Canada head coach Matt Brown said that he and the coaches will be watching the final 32 players this spring during their school lacrosse seasons before the final May tryout where the last nine difficult cuts will be made.
“All 73 players who attended the evaluation camp should be extremely proud of their efforts. They represented themselves and Canada well. This is a talented group and getting to 23 won’t be easy,” said Brown in a release from the Canadian Lacrosse Association.
The 2020 World Lacrosse Men’s U19 World Championship will take place in Limerick, Ireland from July 9-18, 2020.
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Your grandfather would have been so proud! Here is to making it all the way Jason
Why am I not surprised. Seems like yesterday these lads were running circles around most whether it was timbits soccer or upward basketball. WTG fellas and proud moms and dads, keep up the hard work and best of luck!
Two more great young lacrosse players as products of Huntsville’s great lacrosse legacy…it’s vital to support local youth in sports as Caleb and Jason make Huntsville proud…whether lacrosse, hockey, baseball, soccer, or alpine or cross country skiing, we have a tremendous sports tradition in Huntsville…another reason to support local businesses that sponsor our kids in sports…WalMart and Amazon do not!!!
Nice going gents! Best wishes for much more success.
This is incredible! Amazing to see young talent driven and working so hard to reach their goals. Great work!