No time to chill for Friesen
There is no such thing as a summer break for Mia Friesen.
The 16-year-old Governor Simcoe student is spending the majority of July and August playing both field and box lacrosse for a variety of teams.
It leaves little in the way of down time.
“If I wasn’t doing all this I wouldn’t have anything to do and I would be so bored,” she said. “I grew up with this, not only for me, but also for my brothers.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Friesen recently returned from Kitchener-Waterloo where she helped the St. Catharines Athletics capture the C division title at the U-19 field lacrosse provincial championships.
“It was good for our team because we were really young. There’s not a lot of girls who are educated in lacrosse so for us the competition was good,” Friesen explained. “We went in ranked second in C and our second day played the first-place team and beat them by three or four so after that we thought we had a chance.”
The Athletics won all four of their games and topped it off with a win over Oakville in the final.
“Playing at this level helps me because I get to work on some of my moves I wouldn’t do when I play for Team Ontario,” said Friesen, who was utilized as a mid-fielder who took draws and was also expected to score. “For our team, it works very well for the girls who are just learning how to play lacrosse.
“Our division is so good for them because they can catch and throw back and forth for a little bit and if they drop the ball they have time to pick it up because everyone in the division is doing that.”
Friesen barely had time to catch her breath from that experience before heading out on the road again, this time to participate in the Summer Games in London.
The top 108 girls from across the province at the U17 level were selected and split into six teams that will play seven or eight games.
“It’s sort of like a provincials with mashed up teams,” Friesen said. “We have a big range of girls on my team. It will be a lot of fun.”
From there, it’s on to Whitby with the Athletics for the box provincials and then off to Calgary for the nationals with the Team Ontario U19 squad.
Friesen gives her mom, Jeni, a huge amount of credit for helping her sort through so much lacrosse.
“My mom drives me everywhere. It’s just me and my mom,” she said. “She is so supportive. When I’m laying in bed on a day off, she leaves me alone because she knows I am so tired.
“Everyone in my family is so supportive like that so that helps me balance that out. When I don’t know where to go or what to do I will go to mom or dad.”
Apart from the rest, Friesen works hard on eating properly to keep her strength and stamina up.
“I have days where I don’t balance my nutrition but I get better at it as the season goes on,” she said. “It’s hard. I have to watch what I eat before practice. I don’t like to eat too much before. I end up eating pasta at 11 p.m. in a dark kitchen.”
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