The Victoria Shamrocks went local in the 2023 WLA graduating junior player draft.
All of the Shamrocks’ eight draft picks were from Vancouver Island teams playing in junior A, and seven of the players are from Victoria and graduated from Claremont Lacrosse Academy.
The draft took place Tuesday (Jan. 31), and Victoria had two picks in the first round after a trade which saw the Shamrocks swap the first and second-overall picks with the Burnaby Lakers.
Victoria selected Arthur Miller from the Nanaimo Junior Timbermen with the second pick.
Miller is a 6’1”, offensive player living in Nanoose Bay and was drafted first overall in the 2018 U17 draft.
The Shamrocks drafted Denton MacDonald from the Victoria Junior Shamrocks fourth overall.
MacDonald is a 5’10”, defensive and transition player who has been a key contributor to the recent success of the Junior Shamrocks
Victoria had one pick in each of the remaining rounds and selected Owen Russell, Trent DiCicco, Isaac Swan and Travis Pullan from the Junior Shamrocks.
“I thought for us, that was almost a perfect night in terms of the draft,” said head coach Mike Simpson. “Tons of island guys that are really just going to be able to step into the lineup.”
The Shamrocks started the process a week earlier with the protection of Patrick Dodds and Casey Wilson.
“It was a great opportunity to add some young Victoria guys to our mix and that’s exactly what happened,” general manager Chris Welch said.
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