Craig Wingrove saw something at the inaugural Trevor Wingrove Memorial minor lacrosse tournament Sunday that he felt epitomized the spirit and sportsmanship his brother always exuded on the playing floor.
Class.
After the New Westminster Salmonbellies were bounced from the Midget medal hunt after falling 8-5 to Port Coquitlam in the bronze battle at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex, the losing unit gathered near mid-floor to watch the Saints get draped with their shiny prizes. The 'Bellies players then all proceeded to tap their sticks in applause as each PoCo player collected his medal.
"That is exactly the kind of thing the tournament is all about," said Craig, who travelled all the way from his Connecticut home to be on hand with his dad, Les, specifically to support the three-division, 24-team event. "It's much more than just lacrosse... it's the stuff that happens away from the games, too. I went over and shook the [New West] coach's hand and said how classy that was. Then he took his team back to the dressing room and I could hear him tell all his players what I'd just said. It was really something."
Formerly dubbed the Dogwood Invitational, the tournament pays tribute to Trevor Wingrove, who spent his entire stellar lacrosse career as an Adanac and lost his battle with cancer at age 42 last July.
Later a revered Coquitlam city employee, Wingrove was a first-team all-star in the B.C. Junior 'A' lacrosse league and was named Most Sportsmanlike Player in 1987 and 1988, also capturing the Most Inspirational Player honour the latter year.
As a Senior 'A' Adanac from 1989-94, he was twice named the Western Lacrosse Association's MVP and also took home the B.C. Lacrosse Association's Maitland Trophy, which goes to the player who best displays value to his team, good sportsmanship and contributions to minor lacrosse.
A large poster board with a colour picture of a uniformed Trevor and a long list of his achievements was situated near the front the rink, next to the stately, sparkling sterling silver championship trophy that was dedicated for the event.
Les Wingrove said he was thoroughly impressed by the exhibition that Coquitlam Minor Lacrosse and tournament director Deanna Procyk put together in tribute of his lost son.
"It was very good... certainly an honour for us as a family," Les said. "It was really neat seeing all the kids walking around with TW 23 hats on. I kept running into guys who played with Trevor or against him. It seemed every time we handed out an award, it [involved] somebody who knew Trevor.
"There were a lot of memories shared, to say the least."
Tri-City teams were medal magnets at the inaugural Trevor Wingrove Memorial minor lacrosse tournament last weekend at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex.
The host Coquitlam Adanacs grabbed gold in the Bantam A1 division after doubling Victoria's Westshore Bears 6-3 in Sunday's championship game.
New Westminster Salmonbellies earned bronze.
In the Midget A1 bracket, the Adanacs collared silver and the Port Coquitlam Saints nabbed bronze behind gold-winning Saanich. The Adanacs were spilled 5-3 by the island crew in the final, while the Saints bested New West 8-5 to place third.
In the Peewee A1 category, Coquitlam again secured silver after falling 6-4 to Ridge Meadows in the title tilt. Westshore won bronze after edging Port Moody 6-5 in the battle for third spot.
POMO WINS BARN BURNER
Port Moody Thunder out-scored the Edmonton Warriors 3-0 in the third period on way to a thrilling 10-8 triumph in the gold-medal game at the Penticton Heat Barn Burner Midget 'A' lacrosse tournament May 7-9.
The win avenged an earlier 8-4 loss to Edmonton for the Thunder, who rallied after that for a 7-6 semifinal victory over Penticton.
The Thunder opened the tourney with an 11-6 win over the host squad after trailing 4-0 in the first period, and then bounced Prince George 10-6 before falling to Edmonton.
The A2 Thunder's player roster included Cameron Bateman, Connor Clarkson, Jake Flood, Jordan Hum, Matt LaPointe, Jake McFarland, Cordel Maunder, Ben Miller, Robbi Minni, Christian Noorgaard, Lucas Polidoro, Aaron Schur, Kai Silver, Nick Taylor, Tim Turnbull, Peter Uzelac and Landon Wray.
POCO GALS TRIUMPH
Cassandra Gill whipped in three goals to guide the PoCo Peewee girls lacrosse team to a 7-4 victory Sunday over New West at PoCo Rec Centre.
Heidi Robinson added a pair of markers for PoCo, who got singles from Brienna Catermole and Haley McRae. Goalie Madeleine Ericsson blocked a penalty shot late in the game to secure the win.
