P.A. lacrosse players join bantam Rush at Junior NLL Tournament

Two young Prince Albert lacrosse players will be suiting up with the Saskatchewan Rush this weekend. Well, sort of.

Shortly after winning provincial bantam gold with the P.A. Trappers in July, Tyson Perreault, 13, and Thomas Ratt, 12, were both asked to join the bantam Junior Rush for the upcoming Junior National Lacrosse League (NLL) Tournament.

The competition, now entering its fifth year, is being held at the Toronto Rock Athletic Center and Glen Abbey Community Center in Oakville, Ont. from Friday, Aug. 25 to Sunday, Aug. 27. All nine NLL teams, as well as junior clubs from Edmonton and Philadelphia, will be represented at the peewee, bantam and midget age levels.

Although the Junior Rush held tryouts, Perreault said he was picked based on his provincial performance.

“After our provincial game was done I got asked and I was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I was real happy,” he said.

“And then they needed one more, so we were like, ‘Maybe Thomas wants to come.’”

Ratt didn’t believe it when he heard he would be joining his Trappers teammate.

“I was like, ‘Are you lying, mom?’ Because I was at a sleepover with my friend and then I came home and she called me outside and I thought I was in trouble,” Ratt said.

“I’m like, ‘Oh no,’ and she’s like, ‘You just got asked to play Junior NLL.’ I’m like, ‘Woah.’ I was just shocked.”

The P.A. pair agrees that joining the team together was helpful. Perrault said, “It made it a lot easier because I had someone to play with because I didn’t really know anyone on the team.”

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