For the second time in three years, the Semiahmoo Peninsula was well represented at the BC Junior ‘A’ Lacrosse League draft, as a handful of local players had their names called when the selections were made last weekend.
Six members of the Semiahmoo Rock Minor Lacrosse Association’s midget team were called, led by first-round pick Jacob Dunbar, who was selected sixth overall by the Port Coquitlam Saints. In the second round, two more Rock players were chosen – Francis LaRoue was drafted 15th overall by the Saints, who had acquired the pick in a trade with the New Westminster Salmonbellies, and with the very next selection, the Coquitlam Adanacs chose Addison Greffard to close out the second round.
Semiahmoo’s Kyle Hooper was the next local player off the board, joining Dunbar and LaRue in Port Coquitlam at the No. 22 spot on the board, and in three picks later, the Delta Islanders traded two draft picks to Victoria for the 25th overall selection – the first pick in the fourth-round – and plucked Semiahmoo goalie Ivan Rojas, Jr.
In the fifth round, at 39th overall, Semiahmoo’s Jacob Podgornik was also drafted by the Islanders.
Last year, there were no players from Semiahmoo chosen in the annual BCJALL draft, but in 2016, six players were selected, including seventh-overall pick Calvin Hafner and Dawson Bancroft, who went one spot later. The 2015 draft also featured six Rock players – led by first overall pick Tre LeClaire – while Carter Dickson highlighted the 2014 draft class, which also included a half-dozen locals.
Three players from Surrey were also selected over the course of the six-round draft – Nicholas Dos Santos was chosen in the fourth round (31st overall) by the Burnaby Lakers; Kevin Sobey went to Delta in the fifth round (33rd ), as did Liam Jackson-Weeks (40th), who was picked by Burnaby.
With a handful of Semiahmoo players were among the draft’s first selections, the first two rounds were dominated by players from Saanich and Maple Ridge associations. The first overall pick was Saanich’s Arthur Miller, and four of the first five picks – and seven of the first 13 – were from the same organization. Maple Ridge, meanwhile, had three players chosen in the first round and two more in the second.
