Jerin Keough of Langenburg will be attending the two Lacrosse Canada National Championships, competing in both field and box lacrosse.
Field Lacrosse Nationals are being held in Charlottetown, PEI September 1st-3rd.
Box Lacrosse Nationals is hosted in Regina this year from August 14-19th with thousands of athletes and families travelling to participate and visit Saskatchewan.
This year Sask Lacrosse will be sending seven teams to Lacrosse Canada National Championships on home turf in Regina, Saskatchewan.
The team Jerin is part of that will compete in Regina consists of 21 players and 2 goalies, 3 coaches, 1 manager and 2 food parents. The anticipated budget is roughly $75,000 to $95,000 per team. This amount includes accommodation, meals, training costs, and team uniforms and apparel. The Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association, the team management and the players of the Team Sask Lacrosse Provincial Program are currently working hard to raise funds to help offset the costs for the players.
Speaking about his success at this level, Keough said, “Last year I was part of the U15 Team Sask Field team that brought home bronze from Nationals in New Brunswick, and was selected to the All Star Team”.
Jerin Keough has been playing lacrosse for 9 years now. He said, “This last year I have been training really hard and had the opportunity to play with teams that travelled to Las Vegas and Arizona during the winter. Our regular box season just finished with our Barracuda A team winning provincials and our house team getting bronze. I played field with the Regina Reign and we brought home the championship at provincials as well. At provincials the coaches vote for players that are then recognized as being part of the all star team. I received the all-star award at both the field and box provincials”.
Keough is noticing the increase in lacrosse participation in this area since he began his journey years ago. There are more people playing than before and more teams are competing around the province.
He gave an example such as the Churchbridge Kodiaks, who he helps coach. The team plays field lacrosse and draws participants to help develop from all around the area.
Jerin prefers field lacrosse to the box option as “it’s more spread out, you can do more, it’s kind of more individual than box lacrosse and more of a thinking game. You can make more moves and try to create space in different ways. It’s great”.
Jerin is also participating in a Canada-wide combine in Toronto next week that will bring together the best youth talent in the nation.
He said, “It’s a huge combine that gets put on for all of Canada to come down and they have high-end coaches there. There’s a select group of kids that get selected for an all-star game. Then there’s Team Canada that gets picked from that game.”
There will also be scouts from major Canadian and American universities in attendance at the combine. This is the first time Jerin Keough will attend the combine.
Speaking about his future goals, Jerin mentioned, “I want to get a scholarship down south in the States for lacrosse once I graduate”.
Jerin is looking for sponsorship towards the provincial team fees to help cover some of the costs and appreciates any support.
Thankfully, he has family and friends to support him with accommodations while he travels each weekend to Regina or Saskatoon to practise with his teams.
In closing, Keough mentioned to the area residents that he “would personally like to invite you to come and watch the fastest game on two feet during our nationals in Regina August 14-19. I would like to share my passion for this sport with everyone else”.