Two young St. Albert athletes and St. Albert Rams Lacrosse Club teammates, Auley Hilkewich and Jack Champagne, helped Team Alberta North reach a second straight gold medal in the Prairie Cup Regional Championship.
Hilkewich, 14, has played with the St. Albert Rams for around the last 10 years. His love of the sport traces to when his brother was gifted a lacrosse stick from their dad.
"He was cradling around with it and then I wanted to try it," Hilkewich said. "I wanted to try it and then I got used to it and just loved it ever since."
The young forward took part in the round robin tournament from July 18-21 in Brandon, Man. He said the opportunity to play for his province was a great experience.
"It just felt super great because I was going to be playing with a bunch of great players and just knowing that we could do a lot of good things out on the floor," he said.
His teammate Champagne said it was special to play with his friend in a tournament like that.
"We play in school, we're pretty good friends. We hang out all the time and were on the same box lacrosse team during the regular season and it was pretty awesome to play with him in the Prairie Cup," Champagne said.
He said the experience allowed him to learn a few new skills, like his awareness and knowing when to pass.
The path for the U15 side's gold medal took some unexpected twists. They won their first game 8-2 against Team Alberta South, before losing their second game against Manitoba by a goal.
They lost their first game against Team Saskatchewan 6-3, before meeting them again in the final. There, they were able to build off an early 3-1 lead and cruise to a 6-3 victory to claim the gold medal.
"I don't know if we had the first goal, but then we kept the momentum going," Hilkewich said. "Playing as hard as we could and eventually we just kept scoring and just kept making things work out there."
The tournament allowed him to meet a lot of new lacrosse teammates across Alberta, an experience he said was exciting and valuable. He said he thinks he made friends with the new players he met, who came from lacrosse leagues and clubs from around the province. He did enjoy getting to share the experience with his fellow Rams teammate and friend Jack Champagne.
"I just remember the feeling of the final buzzer ringing and knowing that we won a big tournament," Hilkewich said.
He added that he was grateful for the coaching staff and the time they put in for practices to help the new group develop as a team.
