Two products of Cowichan Valley minor lacrosse were selected recently in the Western Lacrosse Association and B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League drafts.
Goaltender Colin Jeffrey was picked by the senior A Victoria Shamrocks in the WLA draft on Feb. 10, and runner Colton Gron was snapped up by the junior A Shamrocks in the BCJALL draft on Jan. 29.
Jeffrey was the first goalie taken, going to Victoria with the sixth pick of the third round. Previously taken by the Nanaimo Timbermen in the 2017 BCJALL draft, Jeffrey split his junior A career between the T-Men and the Port Coquitlam Saints, while also playing for Australia at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. He is currently in his fourth year playing field lacrosse at the University of Montevallo in Alabama.
“It was awesome to be selected by the Shamrocks and I’m thankful for the opportunity they’ve given me,” Jeffrey said. “It was a pretty cool feeling to be selected by a team that I grew up watching and a team that has so much history on the Island. They also have a couple Cowichan Valley Thunder alumni and some of my former high school teammates, so it’ll be nice to have some familiar faces right away. They’ll have a tough roster to crack, but I look forward to fighting for a spot.”
Recent Cowichan Valley products picked by the senior A Shamrocks include Mathieu Jung and Brian Robb in 2020, and Adam Golia in 2018. The 2022 WLA draft marked the seventh year in a row that at least one CVLA product has been picked.
Gron went 23rd overall to the junior A Shamrocks in the third round of the BCJALL draft. CVLA president Chris Claxton, who coached Gron from mini tyke to U18, describes him as a 6-foot-7 lefty with soft hands. Gron also plays in the field lacrosse academy at Royal Bay Secondary. This marked the fourth year in a row that at least one CVLA player has been picked in the BCJALL draft.