National lacrosse player bringing game to St. Andrew’s College

September 9, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

It’s been a career year for lacrosse player Felix Cote, and he’s only 16 years old.

Already a steady fixture on the provincial scene, Cote earned three goals and five assists in seven games with Team Ontario last month, capturing the national crown in Whitby. He quickly moved to tryouts for the national team, where he earned a spot on Team Canada’s U17 roster to compete at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in New York later this month.

He will also be vying for a spot on the junior varsity team at St. Andrew’s College (SAC), in his first year of acceptance and entering Grade 11.
Cote has developed under the Evolve Elite Lacrosse program, designed to evolve and showcase the best of the best Canadian lacrosse talent. The program, which holds practices on SAC’s lower fields, has connected Cote with varsity lacrosse coach Greg Reid, who is also on the Evolve coaching staff.

Reid coached Cote in two tournaments this weekend in Pennsylvania and New York.

“Athletically, Felix is a beast of a midfielder who is able to run around, through or over defensive players at will,” says Coach Reid. “He is a legitimate scoring threat at all times and yet is very unselfish with the ball, preferring to set up his teammates rather than score himself. He is a consummate team player and highly coachable. He is already a dominant player in his age group and is continually getting better.”

The Sudbury native first made a splash in the lacrosse world as a grade six student when the became the first Sudbury player to ever be selected to a Team Ontario roster.

Last month’s provincial gold medal was his third time representing the province, but he admits it was the first time he really felt comfortable.

“It was amazing,” he said of nationals. “The peewee year, I didn’t feel I belonged, I just showed up and there were all these guys from top programs, so I made it but I didn’t think I played my best. Bantam was better, but this year I was confident and I knew I belonged. In peewee and bantam, I was so nervous but this year I played my best because I knew I belonged.”

His new-found confidence has him eager for the world championships.

“It’s just going to be really cool to go to worlds,” he said. “It’s happening the same time as the men’s worlds and Team Canada is filled with National Lacrosse League players and teams from Finland and all over. Our team is on the back side of the tournament, and it’s just us and Czech Republic and a Canadian native team and there might be a U.S. team, so we’ll play those teams and get to stay and watch the men and it will be cool with so many lacrosse fans and to spend a week there.”

He hopes to continue his success at SAC after spending some time on campus this spring watching the varsity team play. He also attended Roger Neilson’s hockey camp held at SAC a few years ago.