Category: Players’ Stories

Western Wheel: Roughneck rookie scores in debut

Lacrosse: DeWinton’s Holden Cattoni suits up for Riggers

READ Okotoks Western Wheel online posted Wednesday, January 11, 2017 06:00 am Click here

By: Remy Greer

DeWinton native Holden Cattoni, a former Okotoks Raider, is high-fived while making his professional debut in the National Lacrosse League with the Calgary Roughnecks Jan. 7 at the Saddledome. CANDICE WARD/Calgary Roughnecks
DeWinton native Holden Cattoni, a former Okotoks Raider, is high-fived while making his professional debut in the National Lacrosse League with the Calgary Roughnecks Jan. 7 at the Saddledome.
CANDICE WARD/Calgary Roughnecks
  • A lifelong dream was realized for one of the most talented lacrosse players to come out of the Foothills.

DeWinton’s Holden Cattoni got his long-awaited taste of professional lacrosse in the National Lacrosse League, suiting up in the Calgary Roughnecks season opening 12-11 loss to the Vancouver Stealth Friday night at the Saddledome.

“It was definitely an exciting experience for me and my family.”

With his parents, younger brother Taite, grandparents and family friends in tow, the sharp shooting lefty put on a show in hitting the back of the net in the second quarter on opening night with the Riggers.

“It was an awkward play. I kind of got sucked into a grey area and put it in a good spot and luckily it went in,” Cattoni said. “It’s good to get a little confidence and know what it feels like to score and definitely gives you that drive to score more.”

Confidence would be the operative word.

The Riggers first round pick in the 2016 NLL Draft, Cattoni brings high level experience as an NCAA standout with Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays field lacrosse program along with senior experience in Ontario.

“It’s my first season and a lot of things are going to go right and wrong. You just have to stay the course and keep a good effort and keep toeing the line.”

He will have some help from a talented group of offensive dynamos on the Riggers including the likes of Superman Curtis Dickson, veterans Jeff Shattler and Dane Dobbie and sophomore sensation Wesley Berg.

“It makes my life a lot easier, especially being a rookie, having some veterans to help you out and guide you along,” he said. “Especially early in the season when you don’t know what to expect. That’s one great aspect of our offence.”

Cattoni, who won two provincial championships with the Okotoks Raiders in three seasons before finishing his junior career with the Peterborough Lakers, has formed a bond with the Roughnecks since Okotokian Brad Banister founded the franchise in 2001.

As a youngster, Cattoni was a ballboy for the club alongside future Raiders teammates Mitchell and Raymond Banister.

“I had a personal relationship with a lot of the guys, especially Kaleb Toth and Tracey Keluskey and still have that connection with them today,” Cattoni said. “I was lucky enough to have that personal connection with some of the players which really drew me in even closer with the Roughnecks.

“Being involved as a ballboy, knowing Brad Banister and Ray when we were ballboys made the experience even better. I’m proud to be playing for the Roughnecks.”

For more information on the team go to calgaryroughnecks.com

Western Wheel:Sophomore Raider to wear the Crimson

 Lacrosse: Okotoks product Myles Hamm preparing to attend Harvard

By: Remy Greer

Okotoks Raider Myles Hamm gets sandwiched between St. Albert Miners Logan Brubaker and Bradley Watson during the Raiders’ 15-6 win on June 26 at the Max Bell Centre. Hamm is committed to Harvard University. Remy Greer/OWW
Okotoks Raider Myles Hamm gets sandwiched between St. Albert Miners Logan Brubaker and Bradley Watson during the Raiders’ 15-6 win on June 26 at the Max Bell Centre. Hamm is committed to Harvard University.
Remy Greer/OWW

You could say he was born to play lacrosse.

From family history to a priceless mentorship Okotoks Raiders sophomore Myles Hamm has parlayed his development into a scholarship to attend Harvard University.

“The first time I ever stood up was using a lacrosse stick at my mom’s field national game,” Hamm said. “I’ve pretty much been involved forever and started playing field lacrosse when I was six.

“I started travelling with a lot of (Raider) kids and kids on the Mounties and it has taken off since then.”

Hamm’s mother Courtney launched the Mustang Field Lacrosse program, now based in south Calgary, in Okotoks. That same program put Hamm and countless others in the collegiate spotlight.

Playing for the travelling Mustang Starz, now headed up Raiders assistant coach Jesse Fehr, the former Okotokian got on the radar of a pair of Ivy League schools in Brown and Harvard last year.

The intimate setting of the latter reminded him of his former hometown.

“It was the atmosphere, there weren’t too many kids there,” he said. “I grew up in Okotoks so I didn’t want a big environment, I wanted something where I could be close to everybody.”

Fehr and his disciple have more than the Raiders red in common as lefty midfielders with a tall, athletic build.

Like Fehr, Hamm attended Westminster Prep School in Connecticut before suiting up for the Harvard Crimson.

“I made my decision based on Jesse,” Hamm said. “He’s been a big inspiration for me. Pretty much everything he’s done, I’ve done.

“He’s been almost like a brother to me. When I’m home from prep school we go out for dinner and just talk about life.”

Hamm has been giving his coach plenty to talk about as a stellar second-year defensive/transition ace on the most stingy defence in Alberta.

The Raiders’ second round pick in 2015, Hamm has put on 25 pounds of lean muscle as a sophomore and continues to be one of the most athletic transition players in the province with foot speed that is unmatched in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.

“It’s easier to be a part of the team this year because we’re a lot younger,” he said. “Being bigger helps out a lot and I played all spring so just playing a lot more lacrosse at a higher level has helped me in box.”

Hitting the books both north and south of the border has been more than helpful.

Hamm, who held a 92 per cent average at Westminster, is making sure to have the student part of the student-athlete equation come first.

“I’m not that focused on going pro in lacrosse. I want to have an education, I want something to do after lacrosse,” said Hamm, who plans to study Law. “Harvard is the best for that. It’s an Ivy school.

“I would like to be all-Ivy. I know that’s not going to happen for a while. I want to be the third, second or even first midfield guy for Harvard in my freshman year. To try and play is my main goal. I’ve got to prove myself there.”

Western Wheel: Speed trumps size for Raiders

Lacrosse: Diminutive squad making their mark on offence for Okotoks

Okotoks Raiders attackman Brett McIntyre is once again among the league leaders in scoring in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League’s with 60 points in 11 games. Remy Greer/OWW
Okotoks Raiders attackman Brett McIntyre is once again among the league leaders in scoring in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League’s with 60 points in 11 games.
Remy Greer/OWW

There are two schools of thought when it comes to size in sport.

The widely held notion is you can’t teach or can’t stop size while on the other hand when it comes to trumpeting speed and skill you cannot hit what you cannot touch.

Place the Okotoks Jr. A Raiders firmly in the latter category.

“We pride ourselves on being athletic,” said Raiders assistant coach Jesse Fehr. “We want to generate a lot of shots in transition, we want to run. We would like to be the most athletic team on the floor every time we play.

“We don’t necessarily put a huge precedent on size when we’re drafting or looking for players, we want guys who are good athletes.”

There’s no shortage of talent out of the front-gate.The addition of 5-foot-7 Sean Tyrrell, a star in the NCAA with the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks, has been a major boon to the offence after the Calgarian spent years ripping up the Jr. B ranks with the Mountaineers. The 20-year-old is second in the province with 68 points and first in assists with 40.

Not far behind in the leading scorers table is 5-foot-9 sniper Brett McIntyre who already has a league scoring crown on his resume as well as the slender yet elusive Travis Getz.

Powerful fourth-year lefty Dylan Kinnear provides much of the bulk and physicality up-front.

Despite the long-term absence of three key cogs in its offensive wheel from one season ago, the Raiders (9-1-1) have put up 153 goals for in 11 games including 34 in its past two contests alone.

“On offence it’s making sure we’re able to spread the floor, move the ball and work together,” Fehr added. “We don’t have a ton of guys who just take it one on one to the net. We really try and work together as a team.”

The same philosophy holds true on the back-end where size isn’t necessarily characteristic of the majority of its defenders.

“We like to use our speed and athleticism to put pressure on the other team,” Fehr added. “Size isn’t a huge thing for us.”

Across town, the Raiders’ chief rivals boast a much meatier lineup .

The Calgary Mountaineers, with the likes of Okotokian Ryan McLean clogging up lanes on defence and sharp-shooting righties Laszlo Henning and Austin Jerhoff up-front, bring a different element to the floor.

“They’ve got a lot of talented players on offence who can really shoot the ball,” the coach said. “Defensively, they’re big, they’re physical, they’re an older team that understands what it takes to win in this league.”

The teams have split their two meetings this season.

Not a surprise given the constant shift in who’s on top in the province. Over the past five seasons, Okotoks and Calgary have alternated championships with the Raiders taking the crown in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Calgary boasts a one three lead in the battle for first in the division.

“Right now we’re looking at them as the team we’re chasing,” Fehr said. “Hopefully we will see them in the playoffs and have a chance to play them. We’re trying to prepare ourselves to play them later on in the season.”