Victoria visits Burnaby on Friday night
Andrew Kew remembers crying and wanting to go home when his dad signed him up for Peanuts youth lacrosse at age four in Oakville, Ont.
“I hated it,” said Kew.
“But it ended up becoming the sport I love.”
And the Victoria Shamrocks are loving having him on the team as Kew scored five goals and added an assist as the Shamrocks edged the Nanaimo Timbermen 11-9 in a Western Lacrosse Association game late Wednesday night at The Q Centre.
The six-foot-three attacker Kew, 29, played NCAA field lacrosse at the University of Tampa, and plays box in the winter for the Georgia Storm of the pro National Lacrosse League. He leads the Shamrocks with 14 goals in just six appearances heading into tonight’s game in Burnaby against the Lakers.
Playing in Victoria was always on Kew’s lacrosse to-do list: “I have heard so many players who have played here say unbelievable things about the organization and the fans and it’s all turned out to be true.”
Despite being a professional player in the NLL — with 273 career points in 57 games for the New England Black Wolves, Albany FireWolves and the Swarm of Georgia — the Senior A Mann Cup remains something cherished by Kew and is what every Canadian boxla player wants to win at least once in his career.
The defending WLA champion Shamrocks appear locked and loaded for a run at the cup, so the timing seemed right for Kew to make the jump to play on the Island this year.
“There’s no question the Mann Cup is special, especially for Canadian players, but is a hard trophy to win,” said Kew, who also operates youth lacrosse clinics across Georgia.
“I believe we’ve got a real chance to do it this year.”
That optimism appears borne out by the standings as the Shamrocks are 9-1-1 atop the WLA table. Despite that, the last-place Timbermen (1-11) gave Victoria all it could handle Wednesday in the Island derby and the next-to-last Lakers (2-8) hope to do the same tonight in Burnaby.
“There are no easy games in this league,” said Shamrocks GM Chris Welch.
“Nanaimo always gets up for the Island-rivalry games against us and they never go away and are always tough to beat. Both Nanaimo and the Lakers are playing for pride right now and beating us would be the highlight of their seasons. So [tonight] in Burnaby is another potential trap game that will test our depth.”
But when you can cue Kew to the rescue, the Shamrocks have the antidote.
After NCAA in Tampa, Kew continued playing field lacrosse professionally in the U.S., but the box game is more ingrained in Canadian players.
“You grow up playing it, and the large NLL crowds [most teams play in NHL rinks], makes for a great atmosphere. And the Shamrocks fans here at The Q Centre also provide a great atmosphere,” said Kew.
“But I also like field lacrosse, and with sixes coming into the Olympics [in 2028 at Los Angeles], that will be great exposure for the sport as a whole, regardless of format.”
Kew is himself proving he can get it done on the floor or field.
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