"1999"

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1999 Masters Lacrosse tournament in Burnaby

'B' Division Winners, New West ( Sapperton )
Another year has gone by and here we are in Burnaby at the Bill Copeland and Burnaby arena's for the 1999 Masters Lacrosse tournament. This year, as in the past years, we are going with two teams, a 'B' and a 'C'. Dan VanOs came to play after missing the last couple of years and Gary and Pat McLaughlin talked their brother, Rocky, into coming out and playing with them on the New West 'B' team. Our 'B' team was coached by Wayne Bellwood, who at the start said it would be nice if we could make the finals as he had decided that this would be his last year as player/coach. The team worked hard and went on to win the final against Nanaimo in a really close game.

On our 'C' team we also had a couple of new players. Both Tom Berridge and Rick Henderson got a taste for the game and did very well for first year players. As like in the past, we seem to have trouble finding a goalie to play with us, (I wonder why?) but Don Brown came through finding a goalie from the Island who didn't know about us. Jeff didn't know what to expect when he started his first game but he soon found out what we were all about and then started directing us all over the floor, as far as he could throw. It would be nice if he actually came out again next year. The 'C' team missed getting into the finals when we lost to our arch rivals from South Fraser. Congrads to them for winning the 'C' final. Oh well, as we said last year, there's always next year.

Special note, in memory of Wayne Bellwood

It's now the middle of summer and we are just gearing up for the up-coming field year and IT IS WITH GREAT SADNESS that I have to add this next note into the history of the New Westminster Masters Lacrosse Club.

On August 7, 1999, after playing a field lacrosse game against Port Coquitlam, Wayne Bellwood, the founder of the New West Masters, died of a heart attack. For me, I miss more than the team mate who played 'big stick' beside me (he gave me my first defensive big stick.) I miss the 'coach' who got me started playing lacrosse in 1991 (he gave me my first wooden stick) and who constantly worked with me to understand the game and always said 'learn to catch and pass first and the rest of the game will follow'. I miss the guy who always fixed my sticks everytime I had a problem, even when I didn't know it, but most of all I miss the brother-in-law who treated me like a brother and always gave me to believe that I could have played with the best. He'll be missed but he will always be a part of every New Westminster Masters Lacrosse team.

The 1999 season of masters field lacrosse
Didn't get off to as great a start as we would have liked, we seemed to have trouble playing as a team. We need to figure out a way to get the guys out in the cold weather. This year wasn't organized as well as we would have liked, but we'll continue to improve schedule etc. A "well done" to Port Coquitlam for winning the final against us. Hopefully, we will have enough guys to play them properly next year.