Wiikwemkoong player named top rookie on Nipissing University lacrosse squad
By Sam Laskaris
NORTH BAY – Bo Peltier was able to have an immediate impact in the university men’s field lacrosse ranks.
Peltier, a member of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, averaged more than a goal per game this past fall in his inaugural season with the Nipissing University Lakers.
Peltier, #18 on the field, netted 12 goals and added four assists in 10 regular season outings for the North Bay-based Lakers, who compete in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA).
Peltier was rewarded for his efforts by being named the top rookie for the Lakers’ field lacrosse club in an online ceremony this past week.
Nipissing University announced all of its athletic award winners online for the 2019-20 year over a four-day Virtual Athletic Awards that started Apr. 20.
“It was a little surprising,” said Peltier, who moved to North Bay with his family when he was in Grade 5. “It was a humbling experience. But it was nice to feel appreciated.”
Peltier added he was unaware that the university was planning to recognize its athletes via an online ceremony.
“I didn’t even know it was happening,” he said. “I just knew [the in-person banquet] had been cancelled.”
Peltier added he only found out he had captured his team’s top rookie award after he was tagged in an Instagram post.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions not only cancelled the Lakers’ banquet but also forced Peltier, and all other post-secondary students across Canada, to complete their school years online.
For Peltier, a plus of suiting up for the Lakers this past fall was the fact his older brother Kieran, a fourth-year Nipissing student/athlete, was also a member of the team.
“That was fun,” Peltier said of playing on the same club as his brother. “I had last played with him for a Sudbury intermediate rep box lacrosse team, probably five years ago.”
Bo Peltier is planning to return to the Lakers’ lineup for the 2020 CUFLA campaign. Though his brother is graduating from Nipissing’s Bachelor of Physical and Health Education program, he could return to the university for additional schooling and thus continue to play for the Lakers as well.
Though he has not seen his other teammates, Peltier, who continues to train on his own by primarily throwing and catching a ball against a wall at a nearby school, has kept in touch with his Lakers’ teammates.
“We have a couple of group chats going,” he said. “We’re always in the loop with each other.”
Due to restrictions imposed by COVID-19 concerns, it remains to be seen whether any box lacrosse will be played in Ontario this spring or summer.
The Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA), the sport’s governing body in the province, currently has a directive that all of its in-person activities are postponed until May 15.
Peltier said he has a couple of options that he is considering if any of the OLA leagues do indeed proceed this season.
He could stay relatively close to home and try to suit up for either the North Bay Titans or Sudbury Rockhounds, a pair of new franchises that had been accepted into the Senior Series Lacrosse, the OLA’s Senior C league which kicked off in 2019.
Peltier has also considered contacting the Six Nations Rivermen, the defending national Senior B champions.
“I was going to send them a message,” Peltier said of the Rivermen, who participate in OLA-sanctioned Ontario Series Lacrosse. “I’d like to think I have a decent chance of making that team.”
Peltier is no stranger to playing box lacrosse for Six Nations teams.
In 2016, he split his season between the Six Nations Arrows, a Junior A club, and the Six Nations Rebels, a Junior B squad.
Peltier then spent his 2017 and ’18 campaigns with the Rebels.