‘I just love playing lacrosse’: Jr. Wings program heads to Canada for an experience of a liftime
The 10-13-year-old lacrosse players are playing this weekend in the NLL's annual junior box lacrosse tournament, where they will be coached by Wings stars like Ben McIntosh.
This weekend, the National Lacrosse League (NLL) is hosting its eighth annual junior tournament in Oakville, Ontario, and, after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the kids with the Philadelphia Jr. Wings box lacrosse program couldn’t be more excited.
“It’s a really big deal, representing the region and the city all the way up in Canada,” Mike McKeon, the father of player Mikey McKeon, told The Inquirer
Throughout the summer, the top local lacrosse players between the ages of 10 and 13 came out to the Wings Training Center in Voorhees to train for the tournament.
Former Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) MVPs Blaze Riorden (2021) and Matt Rambo (2019), and two-time Faceoff Man of the Year Trevor Baptiste helped make up the star-studded crew that coached the Jr. Wings this summer. While all playing on different PLL teams during the summer, the Wings trio came together in their free time to prepare these kids for this weekend’s tournament in Canada. Wings forward Ben McIntosh, who also coaches the kids, sees it as a dream collaboration.
“The kids like the big names, right? The kids love spending time with them [the pro players] and being around them and learning from them,” McIntosh said.
While Riorden, Rambo, and Baptiste will be busy preparing for the PLL playoffs, which are slated to start Sept. 3 in Boston, the newest member of the Wings, Joe Resetarits will join McIntosh and Wings defender Ian Llord as coaches in Canada. Resetarits, who led the NLL in goals with 47 and racked up 111 points last season with the Albany FireWolves, was the Wings’ major offseason acquisition.
Of the 15 teams in the NLL, 12 will be represented this weekend in Ontario across three different age groups. Only New York, Las Vegas, and Vancouver are not fielding teams. The Wings first participated in the junior tournament in 2019, so this will be just their second appearance at the event.
Local kids, international play
One of the Jr. Wings’ biggest assets is their goalie. She — yes, she — will be one of the only girls at the tournament.
“I don’t really think about it, I just love playing lacrosse,” 11-year-old goalie Emily Giaquinto said in an interview for the Wings’ official website. “I’m really excited to go to Canada and play against all the other Junior NLL teams.”
This weekend’s tournament is one of the elite competitions of its kind and the Wings team features some of the best lacrosse players the Philadelphia area has to offer in this age group. Although he is just entering the seventh grade, Mikey McKeon hopes to one day play lacrosse at the high school and college levels.
“I’m trying to use what I learned in box [lacrosse] on the field,” he said.
Despite captain Gavin McHale registering four goals, the Jr. Wings dropped the first game of the tournament, 12-7 to Albany.
“We did pretty good,” Mikey McKeon said. “We just didn’t do that good in the beginning. And then we became a team in the end.”
The Jr. Wings also lost their second game of the day, 18-1, to the Toronto Rock’s Under-13 program. They then beat Rochester, 11-10, in their third game. The Wings will finish out pool play on Saturday with games against Buffalo and Halifax. If they place high enough, they will qualify for Sunday’s playoffs.
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“Lacrosse has always been strong [in Philly] but it seems to just continue to grow and people are so passionate about it,” McIntosh said. “It’s fun to give back. It’s fun to be around the sport and be able to help in any way I can.”
Win, lose, or draw, the Jr. Wings are sure to enjoy a weekend — and summer — they’ll never forget learning from some of the absolute best players lacrosse has to offer.