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highbuttonsports · 5 years

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Nova Scotia: A Lacrosse Powerhouse?! A blogging attempt

What’s up everyone? Millsy here. I always knew the day would come when I would stop doubting myself and actually give this writing thing a try. I’ve always loved to do it.. and while I don’t usually share my writing with others, I have been complimented on the work I have shared. I have always found it to come naturally to me. I’ve told my wife in the past that I’m going to make a living off of writing… “that requires you to start writing something” was her last response. Touché.

So here I am, shooting my shot. No experience, not a clue at all. I’m just hoping I spell everything correctly and use some decent size words. But before I do dive into this and without sounding too much like a life coach. Please don’t doubt yourself! If you’re reading this and you want to pursue something, please pursue it. It’s what I’m doing right now! You can be your own worst enemy if you let yourself. Regret is an ugly thing and I hope that this helps someone else…So if you’re still reading this, thank you! I hope you enjoy it. Let’s give this a friggin whirl wha?

I reached out to Justin at The High Button about maybe doing some blogging for the brand, after seeing a post that they were looking for people to do that type of content. I am looking to cover sports locally, at the amateur level and professional leagues as well. I love all sports and I thought I could tie my passion for writing into that. Hopefully I can post more of me rambling on so I can give some MLB picks and NHL as well. I’m completely obsessed with golf but don’t like to bet it for the most part. Tiger for the next two majors though..cash it in! Big cat baby let’s go!!

I’ve known Justin for some time now through Lacrosse. We both played locally in the minor leagues here in the Halifax region, myself for Dartmouth and Justin with Halifax Northwest. We played against each other all the way through the Metro Minor Lacrosse League and eventually in the Junior A league here locally, the East Coast Junior Lacrosse League (ECJLL). Growing up, I always knew who Justin was.. this kid Belly has some sick mittens with a lacrosse stick let me tell ya. Absolute sniper.

I definitely have been fortunate to see lacrosse from all angles. From playing the game until 21, then transitioning into coaching at the Junior A level. Most recently though I have been spending the last several years refereeing the game at the Junior and Senior level, along with all minor lacrosse. This game has exploded in this province and I thought I could shed some light on that growth. I’ve seen a lot over the past 20+ years of being involved with this great game. Going to try string a couple paragraphs together here about that journey.

I was first shown lacrosse by my father Kevan Mills. Big Millsy. What a legend. He showed me the game at a young age and I was obsessed right away. However back then in 1997-98 it wasn’t really a sport that any kid was pursuing as their main sport. Even in early teen years, it was always just the summer sport to hockey. A lot of the guys just picked up their sticks and went to the rink. I however could never get enough of it. My dad would take me when he was refereeing and I would always have my stick for in between periods to throw the ball around. This was when we had a six team senior league in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. I would go to the games for those ten minute intermissions so I could get a free floor to myself, I loved it.

That Senior league (MSMLL Maritime Senior Men’s Lacrosse League) was my first taste of high end lacrosse in the area. At single digit years old it was obviously the lacrosse I wanted to play when I got to be that age. What I failed to realize at that age is that the minor leagues were just not growing at the grass roots level. This makes it hard to maintain any sort of high caliber leagues. Eventually the MSMLL folded, and sometimes Junior A benches had no more than 10 runners on them. The bantam and midget leagues were scary. Dark times for high end lacrosse in Nova Scotia.

Guys like Steve Brown, Sean Harrison, Wayne Finck and Bruce Hamilton and many, many others deserve a lot of credit for keeping lacrosse on life support during those dark times. Those names were a huge part of my young lacrosse life and also a big part of why lacrosse has seen the growth it has here. If you would have told me when I was 15 or 16 that in 15 years Nova Scotia would have players playing for NCAA titles, top Canadian universities or in the top Junior leagues in Ontario, or that we would send teams to national competition and compete with Lacrosse juggernauts. Abso-fucking-lutley not! But here we are.

Year after year there are more players I am hearing about who are pursing lacrosse collegiately. Whether in Canada or in the United States. Either that or they exploring their options for better box lacrosse in Canada. Or both. This is ultimately putting Scotia on the map. In addition to the individual success, Team Nova Scotia is also always well represented at the national level. From Peewee all the way up to the Presidents cup (the Canadian national Senior B championship) along with sending multiple talented teams to the Founders cup in recent years (the Canadian national Junior B championship) having great success there, hosting the tournament in 2014.

With so many options available to these Nova Scotian players now; I’d like to highlight some of the local players who have taken their lacrosse skills on to get an education and play at the highest level they can.

Brian Huyghue:

Brian is product of the Halifax Hurricanes Lacrosse association. As an ECJLL alum, he plays his college Lacrosse as a senior attackman for the Divison II powerhouse Limestone College Saints in South Carolina. The Saints are 5 time DII champions most recently in 2017 in Brian’s sophomore season. In 2019 they came up short on a sixth title, losing to Merrimack in the national championship game. Brian tallied 28 goals and 24 assists in 21 contests this season at Limestone. Brian has an phenomenal outside shot, great stick skills and is very quick and deceptive in the way he beats defenders.

Jordan McKenna

Jordan played all his minor lacrosse for the Dartmouth Bandits. He was granted exceptional status to play in the ECJLL in 2016 as a midget putting up 34 points in 13 games. His true rookie season in 2017, Jordan spilt time between the Junior B and Junior A Northmen in Orangeville, Ontario. 2018 saw McKenna return to the ECJLL for 6 games notching a very impressive 40 points. The Junior A Northmen are lucky to have Jordan for the 2019 box lacrosse season. Jordan has finished his high school lacrosse this season at Westminister in Connecticut. He has committed to Bryant university; a D1 program in Rhode Island for the 2020-21 season. The Halifax Mooseheads also drafted him in the 2016 QMJHL draft. His lacrosse IQ and his vision on the floor make Jordan very lethal offensively.

Zac Carrigan

Zac played his minor lacrosse for the Sackville Wolves and is currently a member of the Sackville Sportswheels Junior A Wolves of the ECJLL. During the school year Zac plays his college ball as a midfielder for the Mars Hill University Lions. A Divison II program in North Carolina. During Zac’s sophomore season this year at Mars Hill, he was named an All South Atlantic Conference honorable mention. Carrigan tucked a team high 34 goals, adding 14 assists. His 48 points was second on his team in scoring. Zac is an excellent outside shooter and his offensive upside makes him a threat to score or create a scoring chance every shift.

This a just a small sample size of the lacrosse talent in this province. It’s insane. I referee all three of those players and the difference in their games since going away is amazing. American coaches have embraced the fact that Canadian players have a certain skill set that can be very helpful to the outdoor game. The three players above are prime examples of that.

I am not even mentioning the many players who currently; or have played at the university/college level outside of Atlantic Canada throughout North America. We also have some local players trying out…and making some of the best box lacrosse teams in Ontario at the Junior level. It’s been pretty cool to see our talent stack up with the rest of Canada, and now with American schools as well.

It’s been a hell of a ride watching this sport grow to where it is now. I’ve seen it go from not even knowing if we would have teams to fill certain divisions. Eventually it moved into having some select leagues and tryouts. More kids started playing the game, opportunities were capitalized on and so much hard work went into it. Currently our Junior A league now has six teams with one in New Brunswick, one in Truro and 4 locally in HRM. We have a four team Senior league again, the NSSLL. Which by the way is no joke. The word senior is misleading eh, these boys can BALL. I see you boys. Some of the best lacrosse you can enjoy for free. I will post more about this league but Tuesday’s and Thursday’s at the RBC centre in Dartmouth is serious lacrosse. The best players around over 21.

Some of the senior guys around here, and the odd junior player have even competed internationally in Prague, Czech Republic. The Nova Scotia Privateers are a travel team, that have been attending the Aleš Hřebeský Memorial Lacrosse tournament in Prague for over 10 years. This team has enjoyed great success placing second in 2018. Nova Scotia native Mitch Hannigan was named top goalie of the tournament in 2018 along with Matt Dunbar being named a defensive all star. Taking home a defensive all star in 2019 was former Halifax Northwest Rebel Jasper Goodwin. Local guy Luke Parker, and Coach Rod Humphreys deserve a little butt tap as well. Parker is a staple on the Privateers roster and a dominant senior player. Check out episode 197 of The High Button for his story. Humphreys deserves tremendous credit for his work with senior lacrosse, and making the Privateers competitive every year. So yeah, we’re competing globally now. I think that’s decent?

Also a huge shout out to the female lacrosse in Nova Scotia which is kicking butt at all levels! Way to go ladies. The peewee, bantam, midget and junior girls divisions have gotten extremely competitive. Female players from the area are now also exploring their options to play and continue their education. We are also competing nationally with Team Nova Scotia at most age groups for female. My oldest daughter is excited to get started! So awesome to see.

As if the growth of the game in this province wasn’t awesome enough, come December this whole damn city will be playing catch on their lunch breaks. December 2019 marks the inaugural season of the Halifax Thunderbirds. The National flipping Lacrosse League is here boys and girls! It was confirmed in February that Halifax is set to receive the NLL franchise which will be relocating from Rochester, New York. The Knighthawks have been very successful in Rochester winning three consecutive Champions Cups (2012, 13 and 14). The Thunderbirds are set to begin play in December at the Scotiabank Centre, where they will have 9 home games. With 9 games played on the road as well. This is monumental for the game of lacrosse in Nova Scotia. With all the success the province has had; I can only imagine what adding a professional team in our backyard will do for new registration. The Thunderbirds are pouring gas on an already fired up lacrosse community. I encourage all lacrosse fans new and old to get tickets and check it out. The atmosphere is amazing, they play music the whole game and of course serve booze. I promise you will love lacrosse when you watch it at this level and in this environment. Fun for the whole family!

So I guess if you asked me to describe the evolution of lacrosse over the last 20 years in Nova Scotia: I could have just told you it’s been incredible. But then I wouldn’t have gotten to write all this and embarrass myself. The state of the game is in a good place here, and I’m in a good place with how I’m involved with it. Officiating has given me a better outlook on the game. It puts a little money in my pocket but more importantly it keeps involved with a game that I love and has given me so much. Most of the coaches in the ECJLL I have either played with or against. Most of the players in the NSSLL I have either played with or against, and I love seeing the new faces come into Junior every year. I think most of the guys will tell ya that when I’m reffing the communications lines are open. Im going to always let you play lacrosse and deal with everyone the same. So yeah, I love how I’m involved, hope the boys love seeing me!

So there ya have it. My first attempt at any sort of writing for an audience. Hopefully that audience isn’t all related to me. There’s way more where that came from though. I’m hoping to turn this into maybe a weekly thing; to give you guys all that’s going on in local and professional sports. Feedback is much appreciated!

For now I’m signing off, thanks for scrolling.

Millsy

Jun 7th, 2019

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