Zavitz commits to Drexel University
Keaton Zavitz was looking for something different.
The 17-year-old St. Catharines native felt he needed to broaden his horizons and think outside the box when looking at post-secondary school options.
Enter Drexel University, a private research school in downtown Philadelphia.
“Drexel is a very different university,” Zavitz said. “It’s in the middle of Philadelphia, almost like a city campus. I haven’t really been a city person; I hate cities. Everything about it was super-new and really cool to me.”
The final decision came down to Drexel and Robert Morris University in Chicago.
“I had an offer from both and I felt Drexel would have been more out of my comfort zone so I was ready to take it,” said Zavitz, a Grade 12 student at Hill Academy in Caledon. “I felt like I always stayed in my comfort zone so maybe it was time for a change.
“Let’s do something big.”
Zavitz recently verbally committed to the school on a lacrosse scholarship for the 2023 season. He plans to study sports marketing.
“I had a visit and they called me with an offer so I took it,” he said. “The coaches there were a big thing for me.”
Zavitz said he received favourable feedback from Drexel head coach Brian Voelker and his staff.
“They like the motor I have when I am on the field,” Zavitz said. “They like how I play both ways. I play my defence and then I go play offence. That was their biggest thing for me.
“They did a really good job telling me how much they wanted me.”
Zavitz said he leaned heavily of his father, St. Catharines WMKL Junior A Athletics treasurer and former St. Catharines Falcons sniper and all-time Golden Horseshoe leading scorer Todd Zavitz, for advice during the process.
“My dad went away for junior B hockey and had a career that doesn’t happen, ever,” Keaton Zavitz said.
Keaton Zavitz said once the decision was made, it felt like the weight of the world was off his shoulders.
“It’s a crazy stress relief, it’s insane stress relief,” he said. “It’s everything you’ve worked for as a kid and now I finally know where I’m going.”
With his future mapped out, Keaton Zavitz plans to finish off his schooling at Hill.
“We work out and practice every day,” he said. “It won’t be a step back for me. I’ll keep pushing and in the spring we have a full season against the best schools in the States.”
Keaton Zavitz was a member of the St. Catharines Junior A Young Guns squad which participated in conjunction with the Ontario Lacrosse Association Iroquois Cup championships in Oakville, won by the Athletics.
“The Young Guns kind of felt like minor lacrosse again but it was nothing like when I was called up to the junior A games,” he said. “I played two or three games and the pace and the IQ and ball movement was really faster.”
He hopes to follow in older brother Carter Zavitz’ footsteps and suit up for the A’s this summer.
The younger Zavitz said he keeps his constant contact with Carter, a senior at Princeton University.
“It helps a lot. I text him everyday always asking him a bunch of questions,” Keaton Zavitz said.
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