NLL Insider

When the subject of Jr. A lacrosse comes up, all too often it begins and ends with Ontario and BC. But over in Alberta, there’s a young league playing a steadily-improving brand of ball and if you’re looking for a good reason to pay attention to the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League, look no further than Simon Giourmetakis. The Captain of the Edmonton Eclipse has spent the last two years leading his league in scoring and gearing up for what could be the most important season in the history of his team. The sharp-shooting lefty talks league set-up, where he’s headed, and how the boys in Alberta don’t get a whole lot of respect.

Looking at your schedule, you guys play both the Jr. A and Sr. B teams. Could you explain how that works?
This year one of the Sr. B teams dropped out because they couldn’t get enough people out, so it’s a little different than it was last year. The last two years that I’ve played in Jr. we played only the North Sr. teams, the teams from Edmonton. This year we play both of the North Sr. teams once, and then we play both of the South Sr. teams as well. We play all of the Jr. A teams four times this year.

How do the standings work?
For the points towards individual player statistics they count both the Sr. games and the Jr. games, but for our team standings they only count the Jr. games.

What games do you find more challenging?
Well the Sr. B teams are always bigger and stronger, right? So in that aspect it’s harder to play against them. But the Jr. teams are usually more fit.

Are the Jr. games a bigger deal to you because they count towards the standings?
Oh yeah. If someone has to miss a game or something I’d rather they miss it against the Sr. teams than the Jr.

What team do you see as the biggest threat to the Eclipse?
I’d say the Jr. Mountaineers from Calgary. I know the Calgary Raiders lost a lot of players, them and the [Edmonton] Miners have been rebuilding this year. I guess it’s a toss-up though between the Mountaineers and the Miners.

You’ve already beaten the Miners this year, what can you tell me about them?
They have a fairly strong defense, they’re pretty big, hard to penetrate. Their offense is kind of lacking right now because they’re still missing a couple guys from school.

What would you say are the strengths of your team?
I’d have to say…I don’t know! The whole team, really. Our defense is playing really good this year. Some of our offensive guys may be struggling a bit right now but we’re just starting up.

Who would you advise fans to keep an eye on this year?
Carson Barton, he’s a new player this year and he’s really showcasing his skills.

I hear some NCAA schools have been asking about you.
Yeah, I really want to pursue that and go to school in the States. If I can do that for four years I’d really like to but if that sort of falls through I was thinking about going to school here and maybe entering the draft early and playing in the NLL. That’s ultimately what I want to do. I’m more of a box type player than field but I still love playing both.

A player of your calibre in Alberta…have you given any thought to going and playing Jr. ball in BC?
Yeah. I mean I wanted to stay here and try to get Alberta lacrosse on the radar, but three years into junior…I guess if we can’t make it to Minto that’s something I’m looking into. But it’s not for sure.

Considering the question I just asked you, do you feel like the Alberta teams don’t get taken as seriously?
For sure. When people think of lacrosse in Canada they think of Ontario and BC. But we’re on the floor three times a week. We’re really trying to make progress. I think we need one year where we can really impact the Minto. If we had a year where we even got a silver medal that would make a big difference.

• Note: any Jr. A player from B.C., Ontario or Alberta that would like to participate in weekly player polls please send a quick email to lauren.ward@nllinsider.com

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