Friesen thrilled to be a Thunderbird
Owen Friesen came within a few days of missing out on one of the biggest moments of his life.
The 21-year-old St. Catharines native was selected in the third round by the Halifax Thunderbirds in the National Lacrosse League draft recently but nearly didn’t opt into the eligible player pool on time.
The mix-up occurred when Friesen, who has spent the last four years with the St. Catharines Junior A Athletics, thought he wasn’t eligible to be drafted until next season since his junior eligibility was extended another year after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 Ontario Lacrosse Association season.
A last-minute call from A’s general manager Jeff Chcoski alerted Friesen the Thunderbirds were interested and to get his paperwork in order.
“All of a sudden, it turned into pronto-mode and we were running around for a couple of days trying to get in,” Friesen said. “It was a bit of a whirlwind a couple of days. I think I got my name in four or five days before the draft.”
Friesen thought if he did get drafted, it might be by the Thunderbirds.
“I knew Halifax had some interest and I spoke to Rochester on the phone,” he said. “To be honest, other than that, I didn’t have any inkling. I knew those teams were interested from talking to my general manager.”
Friesen watched the draft on line hoping for the best and was rewarded when he saw his name pop up with the 48th overall selection.
“I just sort of put my hands up in the air and my mom [Jeni) came rushing over,” he said. “Even though I put my name in late, it was a dream come true for me. It’s something every lacrosse player pretends when you are a little kid pretending to be in the NLL when you are in your backyard.
“It was still an absolute insane moment for me and my family. It was surreal.”
Seconds later, Halifax defensive coach and former Athletic Billy Dee Smith was on the phone.
“We know each other very well,” Friesen said. “We’re basically family. He reached out and we had a laugh on the phone. He told me to enjoy the night, enjoy the moment, but that the work starts now.
“I know with COVID it’s going to be very complicated with the next steps so he basically said to keep my e-mail and phone ready because we’re not sure when camps are going to be.”
Friesen, who has completed two years of schooling at Brock, took this semester off and intends to return in the new year.
The free time will give him ample opportunity to concentrate on working out for the season, whenever it starts.
He also has one year remaining with the A’s with St. Catharines slated to host the Minto Cup in 2021.
“It’s a phenomenal organization. We’ve been a top-four contender for the last couple of years,” he said.
He also gave props to the St. Catharines Minor Lacrosse Association, in particular coaches Dan Pilon and Sean Allen.
“Those two guys helped me and instilled character in me as a player and a person,” he said.
Friesen is also grateful to have another shot at winning a Canadian championship following a summer with no lacrosse.
“It was very hard. It was a hard pill to swallow because I know every guy wanted to be out there and wanted to play for the Minto Cup in front of our home town,” he said. “In the moment, it was really devastating for the whole team.”
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