Ottawa's new pro lacrosse team hosting open tryouts
Ottawa’s new professional lacrosse team is hosting an open tryout this weekend.
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
The Ottawa Black Bears invited 35 free agent players to try out for the team at the Bell Sensplex starting on Saturday morning.
Among the players hoping to get a roster spot is 21-year-old Cornwall resident and women's lacrosse player, Alex Begbie.
"I've played Junior B, I've played Junior C, I've gone to women's Junior Worlds,” Begbie told CTV News of her experience in her six years playing lacrosse.
“This is definitely scarier just because this is the highest stage I've ever had the opportunity to play on."
The Black Bears say Begbie was the only woman that applied to the tryout process and was selected to participate.
"It was very new for me, it's definitely a huge challenge,” she said.
“Especially as a woman, being able to come on this floor and have the coaches and the management have faith in me that I'm good enough to run with these guys."
General manager Rich Lisk said in an interview that following the success of the first ever International Women’s Box Lacrosse Championships in Utica, N.Y. in September, it's only a matter of time before female offensive players break into the National Lacrosse League.
“It seems to be a position where there's been more there. [Begbie] has been the first offensive player we've seen in a very long time, if ever," Lisk said.
The Black Bears say a very small amount of players – maybe only one or two – will be selected from the tryout to attend the pre-season camp, where further cuts will be made.
"She's out here with a lot of big players, strong, fast defenders,” said Black Bears head coach Dan Ladouceur.
“So she has her work cut out for her. She seems to be doing a very good job sort of picking her spots and when to make cuts into the middle."
The Black Bears final squad will be announced days before the NLL’s opening night on Nov. 29.
Begbie is hoping her bravery to step outside the box at the Black Bear’s tryout will be enough to open the door for more local female players to chase their professional dreams.
“I take huge inspiration from those two female goalies who were at NLL combine camps and playing in actual games,” she says.
"I'm super excited about what's coming for female lacrosse players in the future.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than half of human trafficking incidents in Canada remain unsolved
More than half of human trafficking incidents remained unsolved in Canada by police as the number of incidents increased over the past decade, according to new data released Friday.
Human remains found in Markham, Ont. in 1980 belonged to prison escapee: police
More than 44 years after human remains were found in a rural area of Markham, Ont., police are revealing that the deceased was an inmate who had escaped prison just a month before his body was found.
WATCH 'It's mind-boggling': Drought reveals U.S. town submerged in the 1940s
Hundreds of people are flocking to see a rare site in Pennsylvania: remnants of a historic town that is usually underwater.
Manitoba RCMP identify infant human remains, asking public for help with investigation
Manitoba RCMP are looking for more information after the remains of an infant were identified.
Auto theft probe leads to arrest of 59 suspects, recovery of more than 300 stolen vehicles: Toronto police
Toronto police say 59 suspects are facing a total of 300 charges in connection with an auto theft and re-vinning probe.
'I couldn't stay home': Canadian with no prior military training joins Ukrainian forces
In the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Adam Oake, a Canadian with no prior military training, sold all of his Toronto Maple Leafs memorabilia to buy a plane ticket.
Meet Decoy Ohtani, perhaps the most valuable pet of the World Series
The Dodgers' most valuable pet: Decoy Ohtani, dog of Shohei, has become a fixture of Dodgers — and dog — fandom.
Those typing monkeys will never produce Shakespeare's works, mathematicians say
Talented though they may be, monkeys will never type out the complete works of William Shakespeare, or even a short book, a new study suggests.
Children's doctors reporting unusual increase in walking pneumonia cases in Canada
Children's hospitals across the country are seeing an unusual increase in the number of serious and more complicated cases of walking pneumonia affecting much younger patients, according to medical experts.