Two Huntsville players have been selected to play next year in the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse league.
Brett Handsor was drafted by the league champion Orangeville Northman while Jason Knox was picked up by the Burlington Chiefs.
“Since there are only a possible 22 players who do get drafted in all of Ontario, it is great to be noticed,” said Knox who is balancing a busy school schedule at St. Andrews College in Aurora.
“I didn’t play more than six box games last year due to a broken collarbone I received in the U17 Field Provincials in May. So I didn’t have any stats to speak of for box this past year. I was following the draft on Twitter and I was hopeful, but not expecting it and then I saw my name as the 17th pick.”
The draft also capped off quite a year for Brett Handsor.
“I have always wanted to play Jr. A lacrosse,” he said reacting to the news, “and dreamt of being drafted. Going in the first round and 11th overall was an honour and being selected by the Orangeville Northmen topped it off. This will give me an opportunity to play for a first class organization that won the OLA Junior A championship last year and nearly won the Minto cup, losing in the final to the western champion Coquitlam Adenacs.”
There were many highlights this past season for Handsor.
He was on the Ontario team that won the Canadian midget Lacrosse Championships. He helped out the Huntsville Jr. C Hawks this past season, scoring three goals in 16 seconds in a playoff game against Cornwall.
Handsor has also made a commitment to play NCAA Division 1 lacrosse at Johns Hopkins University winning the InterAc Championship Challenge tournament with his high school prep team and being selected the tournament face-off specialist.
Meanwhile, Knox’s fortunes turned around when he was given medical clearance to play contact lacrosse again after ten weeks recuperating from his broken collarbone.
“For some lucky reason an extra tryout was held for the Team Ontario U18 Men’s Field team that week and I made the team,” he said. “We won the National championship in September from where I was listed on the All Canadian Team as the 1st Midfielder and Team Ontario also qualified for the Brogden Cup in Tampa Bay which we won at New Year’s.
“I was also able to showcase in Maryland, Michigan and Colorado with my Evolve Elite Team on weekends to gain scouting interest from NCAA schools. I was also named the MVP of the NXT Michigan Showcase by Inside Lacrosse Magazine. I am now finishing a tour of six NCAA Division 1 schools that have interest in me playing for them. They are all great options for me in the classroom and on the field. I am looking forward to seeing what will come next.”
The draft results are also proud moments for Huntsville lacrosse.
“As the Junior C President and past minor executive member for 17 years, I am extremely pleased to see our system doing this well to allow for such high calibre players to come from Huntsville and make their mark in the lacrosse world,” said Jocelyn Knox. “They will always be Hawks at heart.”
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