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Team Canada veteran ‘drops in’ on girls lacrosse

Naomi Walser to join Oceanside Minor Lacrosse session Jan. 23
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Former Team Canada player Naomi Walser, left, drills with young students during a girls lacrosse clinic at Port Alberni’s E.J. Dunn Elementary School in November, 2016. Walser will appear at the Oceanside Minor Lacrosse girls drop-in session at Springwood Elementary in Parksville from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23. — Alberni Valley News file photo

Oceanside Minor Lacrosse will have a bit of star power for its next drop-in girls session at Springwood Elementary.

Four-time Field Lacrosse World Cup veteran and former Team Canada member Naomi Walser will join the Tuesday, Jan. 23 session at Springwood, from 6-8 p.m.

The local drop-in sessions are open to any girls from six to 14 years old who play or who are interested in learning more about lacrosse.

Walser hails from Beausoleil First Nation G’Chimnissing, in Georgian Bay, Ont. She grew up playing box lacrosse for the Midland Minor Lacrosse Association. As a teen, she began playing girls field lacrosse along the box lacrosse season for Team Ontario, and represented Canada in the 1994 Commonwealth Games. She went on to play in four Field Lacrosse World Cup competitions; two for Team Canada, and two for the Haudenosaunee Women’s National Team.

Walser has a passion for indigenous history, and obtained an associate of arts degree from Langara College in Aboriginal Studies. She began coaching with the goal to be able to help develop the game in Aboriginal communities. Along the way, she met many girls keen and eager to learn more about lacrosse, too.

She has coached all disciplines of lacrosse; box, men’s field, women’s field, and inter-crosse, and continues to share with anyone willing to learn. Walser was the 2015 recipient of the Bobby Steen Legacy Foundation award for her contribution to Women and Sport, and thoroughly enjoys her days as a Cultural Presenter sharing lacrosse in schools.

— Submitted by Oceanside Minor Lacrosse