Tyson Taylor
sports@pqbnews.com
It’s been a good year so far for Jory Clermont, a Grade 11 student at Ballenas Secondary School.
Clermont was in San Diego early in the New Year with his Vancouver Island Seaspray Lacrosse team in the American Adrenaline Challenge. The top teams from across North America travel there every year over the holiday break to take part in competition levels ranging from middle school to elite.
It was Clermont’s first time taking part and he will never forget the experience.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “We had about 100 teams in our division and I think there were close to 300 teams there all together. We got to play five games and I had lots of playing time being the faceoff guy out there so I was on the field for a good chunk of time.”
The Seaspray ended up coming in second in their division, an accomplishment that won’t be forgotten by Clermont for a long time.
“It was an awesome experience all around. It was fun for my first time there, I really enjoyed it.”
Clermont returned home to continue his education and passion for lacrosse, which was given an extra boost last week. Clermont drafted 29th overall by the Victoria Shamrocks of the B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League.
“I can’t even explain how it felt, it was so good to see that happen. There were only 48 guys that ended up being drafted, so to be in that group was amazing for sure. It’s going to open lots of doors in terms of scholarship offers and stuff down the line for me,” he said.
Clermont currently plays with the Oceanside Buccaneers Lacrosse team and will be playing field lacrosse until the box lacrosse season starts in March.
“I love box lacrosse more than field, for sure,” he said. “The nice thing about that too is it all ties in with being drafted by the Shamrocks. It’s a big deal for me because being drafted to play for a team where I’ll be playing box lacrosse means that much more for me.”
While with the Buccaneers Clermont will travel to Oregon in July with the Seaspray.
The Bucs are currently in second place in their division but Clermont said they could challenge for first.
“We’ve got a good team, we’re sitting in second right now and we could be doing better than we are. I think we’ll be able to turn it around and get some more wins under our belt here.”