Saturday, August 31, 2019
Jacklyn Hooey-Lacrosse PlaYER
I must
confess that I am always on the lookout for a great story,
especially
one that just lands in front of me. That is the case for this
particular column.
My wife
and
I were doing a short tour of “The County”, and decided on
lunch
at Lake of the Mountain. I imagine I have visited that area
hundreds
of times, and yet I am continually fascinated by the area. The
vista
from the top of the “mountain” is spectacular, including the
coming and going of the Glenora Ferry.
Lunch
was
excellent, and our server, Jacklyn Hooey, took good care of
us. In
fact, once I had asked the usual questions, I knew I had a
column in
the bag. She was spending her summer in the area, but had
finished
her first year at Colgate University, and was returning there
in the
fall.
Jacklyn
attended M.J. Hobbs Public School near Toronto, and played
every
sport imaginable while she was there. She particularly enjoyed
badminton and volleyball. She then moved on to Holy Trinity
School in
Courtice.
When
she was
11 years old, she developed a great interest in lacrosse. She
played
for the Oshawa Blue Knights, under coach Rob Dyment. Part of
her
interest in the sport came from her older brother Garrett. He
went on
to become a fine hockey player, and spent a couple of years
with the
Belleville Bulls.
Jacklyn
spent many hours practising the skills required to play the
game
effectively with her brother and her good friend Julie
Cryderman.
Julie was an accomplished lacrosse player, and was pursuing a
spot on
the Canadian National team.
Jacklyn
entered Grade Eleven at the Hill Academy in Vaughan, an
institution
that specializes in developing athletes. She focused on
lacrosse,
with the intent of obtaining an NCAA scholarship at an
American college or university. She had the opportunity to
travel throughout
the States at that time, under the watchful eyes of scouts and
coaches from the American schools.
Her
“Blue
Knights” team won the provincial championship five times.
While
still in high school, she played on Team Ontario, and won the
Canadian Championship twice. She was on a short list to become
a
member of the national Team, but was the last cut. She is
using that
disappointment to motivate herself to make that team in the
future.
This
fall,
she will begin her second year of studies at Colgate. She is
the only
Canadian on the team, and was fortunate to earn a position as
a
starter last year. She played in al 18 league games, and led
the
school's freshmen in scoring, with 15 goals and 3 assists.
Colgate
plays in the “Patriot League”. Other teams in the league
include:
Lehigh, Bucknell, Army, North American University, Holy Cross,
Navy,
Loyola, Boston U., and Cornell. Last year the team played
Mercer in
Georgia. Prior to signing with Colgate, she visited “about ten
schools” when she was being recruited.
Jacklyn
told
me she normally plays as a “midfielder', but that she tried
out as
an “attacker”because her mobility was limited, due to a broken
foot.
She
comes by
her interest in sports naturally. Her mom played all sports in
high
school, and her dad also played in the Ontario Hockey League
with
Oshawa and Windsor.
Jacklyn
heads off to school in a week, and classes begin on August 27th.
For
many
years, I was led to believe that lacrosse was Canada's
national
sport, coming from an edict in the House of Commons. Not so
sure
about that; however, it is a great game that thrives in a few
areas
in Ontario (Oshawa and Peterborough, in particular), and in
British
Columbia.
Continued
success, Jacklyn!!
James
Hurst
August
15,
2019.
-- James Hurst 613.399.2278 sportslices.blogspot.ca
# posted by James Hurst @ 11:39 AM 
