Over the course of the past few years, the U22 Rockhounds have become the standard to which all remaining rep teams of the Greater Sudbury Lacrosse Association shall aspire.
A provincial “C” championship followed by back to back OLA (Ontario Lacrosse Association) “B” banners giving way to a sixth place overall showing will give rise to this kind of status.
A second version of U22 Rockhounds, this one of the female persuasion, has been launched this spring and while the ascendance of the men’s program might not be a realistic short-term target for the new initiative, one has to start somewhere.
As luck would have it, both teams were out at the George Armstrong Community Centre and Arena in Garson last Friday night, both laying the groundwork for tournament play later this month.
A handful of family ties to the sport and the happenstance presence of a female westerner in these parts blessed with a highly attractive resume in the sport converged to make this an ideal time for the GSLA to consider adding one more team to their stable of young Rockhounds.
“I would come to my brother’s practices and watched but never wanted to play a game with the guys,” noted 17 year-old Jayda McKee, her brother Ryder making the jump from the U15 competitive squad in 2024 to the U22 edition last summer.
Taking in one last set of provincials as a fan of the Rockhounds last August, McKee began to kick the tires of a possible gender-specific alternative. “I talked to Mike (Rockhounds U22 men’s team head coach Mike Miron) and he said he was thinking of starting a girls team and I said my name would be at the top of the list.”
A grade 12 student at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary, Jayda McKee leveraged a background in dance with a handful of years spent with the Northern Chill Volleyball Club – which somehow works in her favour as she tackles this brand new sporting experience.
“I find the catching a little bit easier because I can pull on my volleyball background,” she explained. “When you’re catching here, you have to absorb the energy of the ball, almost like a serve receive.”
Somewhat predictably, the U22 girls are spending a great deal of time in their early workout sessions focused on the core fundamentals of the sport, welcoming aboard lacrosse newcomers flush with a wonderful variety of athletic bedrock.
“We’re doing a lot of catching and stick skills,” said McKee. “Our coach really wants us to get comfortable with our sticks. We’re introducing different defenses and offenses now, but every single practice, we’re catching.”
“We’re catching and turning and getting used to our sticks.”
The young woman tackling the teachings involved with the skills is a fascinating story into herself. A native of Red Deer (Alberta), 24 year-old Cassidy O’Neill was exposed to box lacrosse as a youth, crossed over to the field game in high-school and earned a scholarship to play with the Converse University Valkyries (NCAA – Division 2) in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
A double major in biology and psychology during her time in the scenic town of 40,000 located at a near mid-point between Charlotte and Greenville, O’Neill has just completed the first year of her masters in Evolutionary Ecology at Laurentian University, her career sights set on working with endangered species.
Somehow, in the midst of all this, the lacrosse mentor whose parents are both from Sudbury found time to work in the coaching ranks with U15 and U17 teams, both male and female, both box and field, back in Alberta.
“Right now, it’s just about seeing where everyone is at and then working on their stick skills: shooting, passing, all of the basics – and then getting used to the contact,” said O’Neill.
For as much as she has enjoy working with both genders, she was thrilled when she reached out to the GSLA coaching coordinator to find out that her enquiry coincided exactly with the timing of this new all-girls offering.
“The girls tend to pick up stuff pretty quickly, especially if they are already athletes.”
Joining O’Neill and McKee on this new endeavour are Abi Barney, Ayva Levy, Bella Miron, Emma Huzij, Evany Ashcroft, Georgia Robertson, Hayley Turnbull, Leila Barsanti, Macey Gaudin, Maraina Savage, Mia Gunner and Randie Colasimone.
The first steps of this most recent U22 Rockhound men’s journey were taken in the summer of 2022 as the sport eased back from the Covid hiatus. Each and every year, veteran of the Sudbury box lacrosse scene age out from this team.
Just not Alex Hachez – or at least not just yet.
Dubbed a “pup of the litter” when he joined this squad at at the age of 16 four years ago, the second year Mining Engineering Technology major at Cambrian College is looking at things quite a bit differently as he suits up once again this summer.
“It’s nice to see all of these younger guys excited to play with us,” noted the 20 year-old graduate of E.S.C. l’Horizon. “I used to be the young guy. Now being the old guy and showing the kids how Sudbury lacrosse is, with more kids excited about lacrosse; it’s nice to see.”
“I’m excited to help out and improve lacrosse as much as I can.”
Truth is that Hachez and friends have seen a lot. He was one of four GSLA products who made their way to Australia back in March, part of the Canadian entry that participated in the Commonwealth Cup.
“It’s nice that just playing lacrosse allowed me to go all the way over there,” said Hachez. “It was nice meeting players from all over Canada to play with. We all speak the same language of lacrosse. It seems with lacrosse, all over Canada, everybody is kind of learning the same things and same concepts.”
In fact, Hachez has no reservation whatsoever in suggesting that the key to any U22 Rockhounds success this summer will come from following the same route as previous editions of this team.
“Listen to Mike (coach Miron) and stick to the plan,” Hachez stressed. “Everybody has got to e on the same page. Like Mike says a lot, you’ve got to be a family.”
The 2026 family of U22 Rockhound men gathers together Aleksander Duguay, Ashton Eadie, Austin Stephenson, Braeden Thibault, Brendan Force, Cody Wahl, Crawford Wiebe, Edward Galts, Jacob Barney, Jake Sudsbury, Kai D’Amour, Liam Ramalho, Luca Di Ciccio, Malik Jakubo, Matteo Di Ciccio, Noah Larcher, Ryder McKee, Samuel Kotsopoulos, Tucker Johnson and Xavier Esquimaux-Osawasmick.
