2008 Season
08.08.08

Division 1:  Barrie, Brampton 1, Halton Hills, Hamilton, K-W, Niagara, Orangeville, and Oshawa 1
Division 2:  Beaches, Burlington, Mississauga, Newmarket, Oshawa 2, Six Nations, C-W, and Clarington
Division 3:  Brampton 2, Oshawa 3, K-W 2, Mimico, London, St. Clair, West Durham, and Sun County

The schedule is being finalized, and will be issued once hosting locations have been finalized.
Sept. 7 -
Sept. 14 -
Sept. 21 -
Sept. 28 -
Oct. 5 -
Oct. 19 - Oshawa for D1/D2/D3
Oct. 26 - Provincials
_____________________________________________________________________________________
 

Barrie's Barnard a Scot, you say; To suit up for Scotland at under-19 worlds this summer

Posted By IAN SHANTZ
April 17, 2008

His loyalty to Barrie has led him to Scotland.

When Mitchell Barnard was presented an opportunity to play for Team Canada's under-19 field lacrosse team last season, he refused. Opting instead to stay with his Barrie Jr. 'B' Tornado teammates during their 2006-07 playoff run, which coincided with Canada's tryouts for the world under-19 field lacrosse championships.

"I'd already committed to the Jr. 'B' team," the 17-year-old Eastview Secondary School student said. "I didn't want to leave them hanging."

When a second opportunity presented itself earlier this year, though - a national tryout with the Scots - Barnard didn't hesitate.

The South Simcoe Minor Lacrosse Association grad has family ties to the country. His mom, Jan, and his grandparents are originally from Scotland.

A chance to pay homage to his heritage made perfect sense.

"I'm pretty proud of being Scottish. I look at myself as being Scottish, first," Barnard said. "And I wanted to do it for my grandfather (Dave)."

Barnard travelled to Edinburgh, Scotland, earlier this year, where he made the cut as one of a few non-passport carrying players.

He'll represent Scotland at the world under-19 field lacrosse championships in Coquitlam, B.C., July 3 to July 12.

"I'm very excited. Hopefully, I can go out there and do well," said Barnard, who has been playing lacrosse since age 9, and has experience in box and field versions of the sport.

"I'm really proud of what I'm doing," he added. "To represent a country is unreal. It's great."

According to Barnard, the sport's talent pool in Scotland is weaker than Canada's, but is gaining momentum. He said his team - which will compete in the tournament featuring 12 teams, including Canada - does feature plenty of talent, and even more heart.

"I was pretty surprised by the talent they have. Scotland has some great face-off guys," said Barnard, who is considered a specialist in that department. "And they love to hit. They're not finesse at all. They like to grind."

"They have a (huge) us against them mentality, and it's really good," Barnard added.

"It just adds to the competitive edge. We all want to win. We're all very driven individuals."

Barnard is no stranger to success on the field, as he was a component of the under-19 Barrie Tornado that won a provincial championship last season.

He figures that experience, along with the skills he's developed under the direction of coach and former National Lacrosse League player Brad MacArthur, have prepared him for the next level.

"Up until last season, I played more of a defensive role," the Barrie athlete said. "I started learning how to take face-offs, because of my coach, Brad, who was probably the best face-off guy in the NLL (National Lacrosse League).

"He taught me very well, and now I'm more of an all-around player." Taking his game to the world stage is a logical next step for Barnard, who hopes to take the sport as far as possible.

"It could open a lot of doors. It's a good opportunity," the multi-sport athlete said of this summer's competition.

"The main goal for me is to get an education out of lacrosse," he added. "And then, move on, hopefully, to bigger and better things, maybe pro."

With local lacrosse stars such as Bryan Riddell, MacArthur and Luke Wiles all catapulting to pro careers from the Barrie scene, Barnard said there's plenty of inspiration moving forward.

"There are a lot of great players coming out of Barrie," he said. "And (Barrie Jr. 'B' Tornado president) Mike Kloepfer started that training facility, and it's just spitting out unreal lacrosse players. It's helped me. It's what brought me to where I am."

As for B.C., Barnard said he's looking forward to his first trip out west. While lacrosse will be the focus of the two-week trip, Barnard will be making an adjustment when he takes in the sights this summer.

"If we go out with more than two of us, they make us wear a kilt," he said, adding he has no problem with that whatsoever.

Contact the writer at ishantz@thebarrieexaminer.com
Article ID# 987670

TORNADO MINOR GRADUATE & JR-U19 PLAYER TO PLAY FOR SCOTLAND
March 2008

Barnard Ready For Challenge

BARRIE- Mitchell Barnard did not envision representing Scotland when he began playing lacrosse in Barrie South Simcoe Minor Lacrosse Association at 9 years old. Last year saw the 17 year old graduate from minor lacrosse to play for the Barrie Tornado Jr. B's in box lacrosse in summer followed by a successful field lacrosse season this past fall where the Barrie Tornado U19 Field team won the Ontario DII U19 Field Lacrosse Championship.

The opportunity arose for the Grade 12 student at Eastview Secondary School to travel to Edinburgh, Scotland last month for their country's U19 Try Outs. He was successful in his bid and has been named to Scotland's U19 team which will compete at the World U19 Field Lacrosse Championships this July in Port Coquitlam BC.

Barrie Tornado Minor, Jr. And U19 Lacrosse are proud of his accomplishments.

For further information, please contact Tornado Lacrosse.
Tel: (705) 735-5214
Fax: (705) 456-7251
Email: tornadolacrosse@rogers.com

Ontario Field Lacrosse
click here

U-19 Field Practice
Thursdays  6:00 PM  -  Sunnidale Park, Barrie

U-19 Sponsor
Coach:  Brad MacArthur
Assistant Coach:  Dave Ree
Manager:  Cathy Kloepfer
 

	as at Oct 1, 2007		G	A	PIM	PTS
1	Jackson	Royce	0	0		0
2
3
4	O'Donnell	Kyle	0	0	1.5	0
5	Ree	Brandon	0	0	3.5	0
6	Leaver	Sean	0	0	3	0
7	Mitts	Jordan	4	5	1.5	9
8	MacDonald	Brandon	0	1	3	1
9	Fleming	Zack	4	1	.5	5
10	Kloepfer	Cory	2	2	3	4
11	Holder	Mike	15	13	1.5	28
12	Donato	Jacob	11	5	3.5	16
14	Tomkinson	Zack	13	0	2.5	13
15	Wilson	Liam	0	1	.5	1
16	Cowden	Thomas	0	0	3.5	0
17	Boucher	Colin	3	8	6	11
18	Leigh	Dustin	7	15	1.5	22
19	Robinson	Barna	1	1	4.5	2
20	Barnard	Mitchell	11	7	9.5	18
	Bench