2023 U17 Entry Draft Recap

Article submitted by: Muhammad Jomha 

2023 BCJALL Draft Recap

There were strong winds of change that swept through the BC Junior A Lacrosse League last summer at the trade deadline. It had been years since so many teams opted to mortgage so many future assets for the here and now. However that’s exactly what Victoria, Langley, Nanaimo and Burnaby all elected to do in a push to make a splash and secure a spot in the first Minto Cup being held in nearly three calendar years.

In turn that set up one major seller, the perennially contending New Westminster Salmonbellies who used the rare opportunity to reconstruct their roster and set themselves up for the near future with a plethora of moves. Those moves allowed New West to collect some current young talent as well as load the cupboard up with draft picks. In fact the 2023 draft would see the Salmonbellies select six times within the first two rounds and hold nearly half of the leagues top fourteen picks!

With those picks New West was able to hone in on the hotbed of Ridge Meadows taking Ewen Patrick, Parker Sorenson, and Keegan Laity from the Burrards Minor Lacrosse Association. Then in the second round, the Bellies shifted their attention to Vancouver where they made two of their three picks grabbing Torsten Blodgett and Damien Xiong from what was a strong A2 program in the big city.

Another seller at last years deadline, the Poco Saints had the luxury of the first overall pick where they went with Luke Neary out of Saanich and also lead off Round 2 by dipping into the Saanich pool and grabbing Hudson Jenner with the ninth overall pick.

Delta was the other major player in the early rounds after coming off a tough season with a young core. The Islanders also elected to go up the highway to Maple Ridge selecting Blake Young, Scott Williams, and Jamison Thomson.

Meanwhile Victoria, Langley, Coquitlam and Burnaby would combine for zero picks in the first two rounds and five total picks across the first four rounds of the draft. Needless to say it will be interesting to see what kind of divide there is between contenders and pretenders after a season of so many moving parts and a mass exodus of graduating players.

Most importantly as we transition into a new season, congratulations to all those selected in the 2023 BCJALL draft. The jump from minor to major lacrosse is a meaningful and memorable one. We look forward to seeing you put on your respective jerseys for the first time!