Caledon’s Camilleri won national box-lacrosse championships this past August 

By Robert Belardi 

Elyssa Camilleri helped lead Team Ontario U15 minor girls box lacrosse team to the national title this past August, having defeated Team BC 5-2 in the finals to take home the Rose Engemann Trophy. 

Speaking with The Citizen this past week, Camilleri said the feeling is still surreal one month later. 

“It's still surreal – having achieved the opportunity to represent my province at nationals was always a dream of mine, and now I can say that I will forever be a ‘national champion'!” 

The tournament, which took place between August 15-20, took part in Langley, B.C., at the Langley Events Centre. 

In their opening match, Camilleri – who played forward – helped the girls defeat Team Nova Scotia 6-2. 

However, in their next match, Team Ontario suffered a gruelling 5-4 defeat in their first meeting with Team BC, and Camilleri – who was switched over to defence – said this was an excellent lesson for the girls moving forward in the tournament. 

“I think for most of us, it brought us to a realization that it wasn't going to be easy to win. Before that game, we all just practiced when we're told to practice. It helped us want to do it to improve. We were more determined to win. It made us try a little harder on our own and made us focus a little more,” she said. 

In the next three matches, Team Ontario defeated Team Nova Scotia 8-1, Team BC 5-3, Team Nova Scotia again 11-0 before defeating Team BC in the finals, 5-2. 

“I think, on defence, we have a pretty rough team. I was on the penalty kill. Being on that line helped out for normal defence because it was easier to find positions and know where you had to be at all times. What also helped is we were given a playbook. It was easier to remember the plays in our offence and our defence and that helped a lot too,” Camilleri said. 

Heading into her sixth year of lacrosse, it has been quite the journey for Camilleri who will be turning 14 next month. 

At the age of eight, she first signed up for the Caledon Bandits and the Hardcor Lacrosse program. 

Under the tutelage of former NLL star and coach Troy Cordingley, Camilleri flourished at Hardcor, and was encouraged to continue playing with the boys to improve her game in box lacrosse. 

A year later, she made it to the Hardcor Lacrosse Travel Team for field lacrosse, that travelled south of the border to compete in tournaments held in Vermont and Ohio. As the only girl on the team, she helped the boys win both championships. To this day, she says she owes it all to Cordingley, for everything he has done for her and how he has shaped her into the player she is. 

“He's a good guy. Elyssa has to look at the reason she persevered through a lot of struggles in lacrosse, it always falls back on Troy,” Camilleri's mother, Benthe, said. 

“Hardcor lacrosse wrote a really nice write-up on their Instagram page when Elyssa's team won the national championship in August. You can see what type of organization they are.” 

This past February, Camilleri travelled and played with the Girls Rock Stars Lacrosse program, an elite level lacrosse program mentored by the Toronto Rock, and won the US Box Lacrosse Association Western Invitational that was held in Arizona. The Rock Stars defeated the Minnesota Stars 5-2 in the finals. 

Following this feat, she tried-out and was named to the roster for Team Ontario. She was also named athlete of the year and received the principal's award at Holy Family Catholic School.

Coming up this year, Camilleri will continue to play in Hardcor's U17 boys high performance box league on Monday nights and continue to play rep boys box lacrosse with the Brampton Excelsiors.

She will also be travelling with the Rock Stars next February and will aim to be part of Team Ontario's roster for girls' box lacrosse again next year. She is also entering her first year in high school at St. Michael Catholic Secondary School. 

A player of both box and field lacrosse, she hopes to one day advocate for the game in the future to show girls that anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it. She will continue to play and see where this sport can take her.