After a four-year hiatus from the sport, a Conestogo teen has just wrapped up a Wild season back in the box.
A box lacrosse player, 19-year-old Tyler Townsend has just finished his rookie season with the Wilmot Wild after the team was eliminated from the playoffs by Fergus.
The Wild, part of the Ontario Jr. C Lacrosse league, had a strong season leading into the playoffs. The team had met the Thistles twice before during the regular season, dropping the first match but winning the second.
The playoffs were a different story, however, with Fergus sweeping the series in three games.
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“The season itself went well but playoffs didn’t go as we had wanted them to,” said Townsend. “They were all competitive games. They didn’t blow us out or anything – the last one, to be honest, I totally think we should have won. But it was still a fun year.”
Playing for coach Jamie Diebolt was a fitting entrance back into the sport for Townsend.
“Jamie was my coach in bantam, my last year that I played before I quit for four years, so it was awesome to come back and play for him again,” he explained, noting that the coaching staff helped teach him a lot about the sport.
Before moving to the area, Townsend learned the sport of lacrosse in Milton, with a brief stint in Kitchener before his four year gap. The young athlete took up golf in its place.
As for now, he is just happy to be back playing the sport he left behind.
“I am a golfer and that is what I started taking up after I gave up lacrosse, but it was nice to have a team atmosphere again,” he said. “To be honest, I missed the competitiveness. I gave up lacrosse and didn’t play anything competitive for years so it was nice to get that competitive edge back and it was really nice to get back to playing with the boys.”
Townsend is heading east for the school year to Newfoundland where he will be studying international business in Memorial University’s commerce program, but says he will be back next summer to play for the team again.
“I am moving back in the summer to get wild with the boys again,” he laughed.
