This year’s Arena Lacrosse League (ALL) West Division draft was dominated by southern B.C. players, with all four first-round picks being Lower Mainland athletes.
As half of the ALL, this West Division represents some of the most talented up-and-coming lacrosse players in the country. And recently, the division held the draft for its upcoming second season, with the four teams going through 25 rounds of player picks.
#ALL West Draft results pic.twitter.com/OY3LHBuaWz
— Arena Lacrosse League (@ArenaLacrosse) October 26, 2022
Some major talent was signed in each of the rounds, but it was the first round that particularly stood out, with not one but two Surrey players being selected.
But before that could happen, forward Drew Kask from Maple Ridge was selected as the first overall pick in the draft.
The Black Fish snagged Kask after an impressive previous season with the Langley Junior Thunder, where he scored 23 goals and 40 points in only 13 regular season games, followed by another 11 goals and 28 points in the 11-game post-season.
It was this very same outstanding season that led to Kask also being drafted by the Vancouver Warriors from the National Lacrosse League (NLL) in the fifth round of the 2022 draft.
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The Grizzlies were given the second overall pick, which they used to sign defender Kobe Noda from New Westminster.
The last two spots of the first round went to Surrey players Spencer Bromley and Ty Ewen.
Bromley was selected by the Shooting Eagles after he helped lead the Ladner Pioneers to the Presidents Cup Senior B championship, where they won first place. During this prior season, Bromley was able to put up 31 goals and 55 points in only 16 games.
Ewen closed out the first round picks after being chosen by the Sea Spray. Like Kask, Ewen was also signed to the NLL in this year’s draft, being chosen by the Las Vegas Desert Dogs in the sixth round.
As first-round picks, these Lower Mainland athletes are now one step closer to playing in the NLL, which would allow them to follow in the footsteps of 18 players from the last ALL season who were given contracts with the NLL for the upcoming season.
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Several other Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows players were selected in the 2022 ALL draft, including:
• Isaac Ngyou - selected in round two by the Black Fish
• Ethan Quin - selected in round two by the Grizzlies
• Nathan Bell - selected in round three by the Grizzlies
• Gabriel Procyk - selected in round four by the Black Fish
• Trevor Funk - selected in round seven by the Sea Spray
• Ty Fisher - selected in round seven by the Shooting Eagles
Fans will get a chance to see all of these newly drafted players in action at the Nov. 13 season openers, which will see the Shooting Eagles face the Black Fish at 1 p.m. and the Grizzlies face the Sea Spray at 4 p.m. Every ALL West Division game will take place at the Langley Events Centre.
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