After experiencing the thrill of qualifying for Team Alberta and playing his heart out at a national level, Westlock’s Zach Basisty returned to Alberta sporting another gold medal to add to his collection of lacrosse-related accolades and awards.
To be more accurate, the 15-year-old R.F. Staples student qualified for two provincial teams in both field and box (arena) lacrosse and brought home a gold medal from one highly competitive national box lacrosse tournament and a bronze from another equally competitive field lacrosse tournament earlier this summer.
The Canadian Lacrosse Association’s 2018 Midget Box Lacrosse National Tournament was held in Calgary Aug. 12-19 and Basisty was one of only three first-year midget players to make the team and the only rookie from northern Alberta to experience that gold medal winning sensation.
“It was a new feeling. It was a different kind of excitement compared to other championships I’ve had. It was a bigger tournament and it means more to me and everybody else,” said Basisty.
“I liked it being at home, more people came to support us and it got really loud. That clearly helped us I think. You definitely get excited with everybody cheering around you, with the music playing and knowing that everybody is there to cheer for you.”
Team Alberta finished with a 7-1 record, losing only their first game of the tournament to Team Ontario and breezing through the rest of the competition handily.
The Alberta boys defeated teams from Nova Scotia, Manitoba, British Columbia and Saskatchewan before handing B.C. another loss in the semifinals and redeeming themselves in the gold medal game against Ontario with a 7-2 victory.
“We knew we could beat Ontario. As the games went on we made an adjustment to our systems and we were definitely going to be ready for them in the final,” said Basisty.
He credited supportive coaches with the team’s gold medal success. They were very positive, instead of tearing the team down, he said.
“They really pushed us and they knew how we could beat Ontario and how to fix things after our first loss. We changed our defensive system and played a more man-to-man defense instead of zone. Our coaches always said the losses are on the coaches and the wins are on the boys.”
Basisty also represented Team Alberta at the Canadian Field Lacrosse Nationals Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 in Oshawa, Ont., managing to win the bronze behind perennial champions Team Ontario and Team B.C., who faced off in the gold medal game, which Ontario won.
Team Alberta defeated Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Manitoba, but lost to both B.C. and Ontario, finishing the tournament with a 5-2 record and beating the Quebec team a second time to win the bronze.
It was a much different experience than the box tournament as it was in Ontario and was filled with Ontario fans cheering on the Ontario team, he said.
With lacrosse season over for another year, Basisty said he plans on working out through the winter with an eye for trying out for the Team Alberta box lacrosse team next and concentrating on attending field lacrosse tournaments in the U.S. where scouts are known to recruit players for collegiate teams south of the border.
“I’m going to be working out a lot, possibly boxing and possibly going into some track and field and maybe some lacrosse camps. I’ll always have a lacrosse stick in my hand.”
