The junior A Nanaimo Timbermen strengthened their foundations with the addition of nine draft picks.
The city’s B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League club is happy with how it made out at the midget draft earlier this month. The team added nine prospects and was able to address some areas of the floor it had targeted, said Dave Bremner, coach and general manager.
“We probably had one of our best draft classes we’ve ever had…” he said. “You try to do your homework and try and get the best possible players at the positions you need.”
Nanaimo’s top pick was Jackson Bowie, out of Peninsula minor lacrosse, who was taken in the second round, ninth overall.
“He’s a very talented, rugged, in-your-face, gritty, left-handed offensive player that’s going to score a lot of goals in this league,” Bremner said. “And just a great kid.”
The junior A Timbermen had a series of choices bunched together and took Levi Verch 10th overall, Patrick Wong 12th and Riley Arsenault 13th. Verch, from Saanich, is described as a solid back-end guy with great size and good speed; Wong is a speedy left-handed transition defender from the north Island; and Arsenault, also from Saanich, is a big, strong offensive stud.
Nanaimo’s other choices were Riley Mace from Saanich, Jaden Bourne from Richmond, Wade Mason and Kalum Lachance from Cowichan and Nik Lepessis from Saanich.
Bremner said with some spots still to fill on the junior A team, there are potentially one or two draft picks that could be ready to make an impact at the next level.
“It’s so hard to tell how these kids are going to develop in the junior league coming out of midget,” the GM said. “They are all so talented [and] they are all playing lacrosse all year round.”
He said he will be continuing to try to add talent between now and training camp; there is a free agent camp coming up Feb. 24 and more information is available by e-mailing JrTimbermenManager@outlook.com.
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