Hayden Sutherland of Innisfail has been named the Sunny 94/Strand 360 Athlete of the Month.
Sutherland is the all-time points leader for the Mavericks lacrosse team, with 98 goals and 85 assists in 60 games.
He said he got his start in the sport at a young age.
“I started playing lacrosse when I was around 8 years old. In the neighborhood there were a couple of kids with sticks, and I kind of just picked it up from there. And I guess that's where I've gotten now is just with lacrosse. It's gotten me from playing in the backyard to going to school in the states. So, it's pretty fun.”
He said lacrosse wasn’t a major sport in Innisfail, but there were usually enough players to field a team.
“Definitely growing I was never on any major teams or big teams. We would have probably 8 to 12 guys every year that would be new or who had never touched a stick. It was always kind of a hey, come play lacrosse, maybe you'll like it kind of thing. Every year we tried to have at least 12 people for our teams. It was pretty fun playing against Red Deer, Lacombe Olds, Blackfalds and Stettler. There weren't very many teams, but it was still enough to call it a league I guess.”
Sutherland said the competitive nature of the sport kept him interested.
“I just like the competitiveness about it. I had always kind of a win first mentality and I found that lacrosse was my best chance of winning in every sport that I've played. I've played basketball, I've even dabbled in hockey and I just kind of kind of got attached to it.”
He said playing lacrosse also gave him the opportunity to study and compete in the United States.
“I got a scholarship to go down to North Carolina last year. I spent my freshman year there this year and it was pretty fun. I played in probably the hardest division, and we won a few, lost a few, but it was by far a great experience.”
If you know a Central Alberta athlete who deserves to be nominated, send your submission here.