A strong contingent of players and staff from the Cowichan Valley helped the Vancouver Island Vibe bantam female lacrosse team to gold at the USBOXLA National Tournament in California this past weekend.
The Vibe included Cowichan Valley Thunder players Anikka Macdonald, Braith Williams, Brynn Williams, Brieanna Bone, Elora Waardenburg, Jordis Sinden and Alexis Quigley, along with coaches Naomi Walser and Gord Macdonald, manager Sheri Williams, and trainer Anthony Bone.
“The tournament challenged our players and assisted with their growth by competing with similar age groups across Canada and the United States, thus giving our players a once in life time experience,” Anthony Bone said.
The Vibe went 3-1 in round-robin play, along with an exhibition shootout win over a midget team from Denver. The Island team picked up wins over the Denver Pride, the Superstars and the Minnesota Stars, with their only loss coming against the Cali*Lax All-Stars.
The Vibe faced the Denver Pride again in the gold-medal game, which was close in the early going before the Vibe opened things up with two goals in the second period, eventually winning 5-1.
In addition to Cowichan, the Vibe included players from the Nanaimo, Victoria-Esquimalt, Semiahmoo and Richmond-Vancouver lacrosse associations.
Sponsors of the team included Wal-Mart, Bone Consulting, E-Zone Embroidery and Custom Apparel, Island Return It and many community members who gave bottles and donations to assist with travel expenses, registration fees and uniforms.