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By Sam Laskaris
Windspeaker Contributor
OHSWEKEN, Ont.
Vaughn Harris has already made his mark at the junior, collegiate and pro lacrosse levels. Now the 24-year-old Mohawk from the Six Nations community of Ohsweken is hoping he can soon also make a name for himself in the top pro box lacrosse league.
The Calgary Roughnecks selected Harris in the second round, fifteenth over-all in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) draft, which was staged on Sept. 19.
The draft was held at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre, which is actually located in Oakville, Ont.
“Words can’t describe how I feel right now,” Harris told the Calgary Herald moments after he was drafted. “I’ve been waiting for this all my life, so I’m going to take advantage of this moment.”
Though Harris is now hoping he will be able to crack the Roughnecks’ roster for the upcoming NLL season, he already has some pro experience.
Earlier this year he starred with the Ohsweken Demons, who competed in the Canadian Lacrosse League, more commonly known as CLax.
Though it was his first season in the pro ranks, Harris was able to step up and have an immediate impact with the Demons. He racked up 45 points (24 goals and 21 assists) in 12 games. Harris led the Demons in goals and points, rather impressive feats for a rookie. For his efforts, Harris earned some prestigious individual honours, including being named as the top rookie in the league. He was also selected to the CLax All-Rookie team and was also picked to the league’s second All-Star team.
Harris, however, does not have the option of returning to the Demons. That’s because the five-team CLax, which had been around for five years, ceased operations last month. And now that he’s been drafted by the Roughnecks, Harris is hoping he will be able to crack the Calgary roster right away.
“I want to show that I can do whatever the team wants me to do,” he said. “I don’t want to disappoint them.”
Roughnecks’ head coach Curt Malawksy was pretty pleased his organization was able to select Harris in proceedings. The bench boss didn’t believe Harris would still be around when it was time for Calgary to announce it’s second-round pick. “We didn’t expect him to slide down in the draft,” Malawksy said. “He’s a good transitional right-hander. He’s going to make a difference in our camp and battle for a spot.”
The Roughnecks also selected seven other players in the six-round draft held Sept. 19.
“Now they’ve (all) earned that opportunity to come to training camp and earn a spot,” Malawsky said. “It’s going to be very competitive.”
It wouldn’t be that much of a surprise if Harris, who is 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds, enjoys success in the NLL. After all, he has had plenty of success in other leagues during his lacrosse career.
Back in 2011, Harris helped his hometown Six Nations Rebels win the Founders Cup, the Canadian Junior B box lacrosse crown.
Then in 2013 and ’14 he was a member of the New York-based Onondaga Community College Lazers, who won back-to-back National Junior College Athletic Association titles in field lacrosse. In 2014 Harris also won his first Mann Cup, annually awarded to the Canadian senior men’s box lacrosse champs, with his hometown Six Nations Chiefs.
Harris captured his second Mann Cup crown, again with the Chiefs, earlier this month. Six Nations defeated the visiting Maple Ridge Burrards from British Columbia 4-1 in the best-of-seven national championship series.
Vaughn appeared in three of the five games in the series and earned two points, including one goal.
Harris has also represented the Iroquois Nationals on the international field lacrosse stage. And he has some hardware from those appearances.
For starters, he was on the Iroquois Nationals squad that captured the bronze medal at the 2012 world boys’ under-19 tournament staged in Turku, Finland.
And he was also a member of the Iroquois Nationals men’s team that won the bronze at its 2014 world tournament. That event was held in Denver, Colorado.
The upcoming NLL campaign will kick off its regular season on Dec. 29. The Roughnecks’ season opener is scheduled for Jan. 6 against the visiting Vancouver Stealth.
The nine-team circuit also includes a pair of other Canadian franchises, the Saskatchewan Rush and the Toronto Rock.
And the five American entrants are the Buffalo Bandits, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, New England Black Wolves and Rochester Knighthawks.
Calgary Roughnecks selected Harris in the second round, fifteenth over-all in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) draft