Sticking with lacrosse and building strong relationships with her teammates has been paying off for a local athlete.
Mackenzie ‘MJ’ Renaud is a Fergus box and field lacrosse player who will be going on to play NCAA Division 1 lacrosse at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. She has also played for Team Ontario in both box and field lacrosse.
While Renaud has demonstrated passion and dedication to the sport, she said it is the people within lacrosse who motivate her to keep going.
"Finding my people within that group of (field lacrosse) girls was something important and something I wanted to keep going back to," said Renaud, who trains 28 hours per week during the season and 20 hours in the off season through three different lacrosse teams.
Getting her start at the Centre Wellington Minor Lacrosse Association, Renaud began playing box lacrosse at the age of four. She said her parents signed her up for several sports until it was slowly narrowed down to lacrosse and hockey.
Playing in the CWMLA, Renaud describes the league as 'special' compared to larger lacrosse organizations.
"Everybody knows everybody, everyone's always at your game, everyone's supporting everybody, and it makes you feel like you're part of family compared to like, a set number in a program," Renaud said about the CWMLA. " And I think that tight-knit community, especially since it's in such a small town and association, makes it more special."
Abby Clayton, a former bantam coach of Renaud in the CWMLA, describes her as a ‘finesse player’ who can set up plays for others, but isn’t afraid to take a shot at the net.
“I think she was a highly skilled player, you could tell from the start,” said Clayton, who also played with Renaud before being her coach. "Her confidence has grown substantially and it's amazing to see how far she's come."
Renaud began specializing as a safety after transitioning to field lacrosse in Orangeville. As a safety, Renaud said she liked the shooting, skill work and stick work involved in the position. She also began leaning towards field lacrosse as there was an opportunity to go farther within the sport.
"For girl's box (lacrosse), it kind of ends after U22, but for girl's field (lacrosse), you can go to the NCAA, and now there's a pro league, which is very small, but there is something afterwards," said Renaud.
Going into high school, Renaud's experience playing both types of lacrosse gave her an unexpected advantage.
"My shot was a lot different than a lot of other girls, so I found it a lot easier to score, because goalies were not used to my release point, which made it a lot easier," she said.
In Grade 11, Renaud was invited to the Western New York showcase to participate in games and practices with other Canadian and American female lacrosse players. One of the attendees at the showcase was the assistant coach for Canisius College. After speaking with them, Renaud said it 'immediately clicked' she had to play there.
"We went down the next day for a visit and then I immediately committed with them shortly after that," said Renaud, who will be leaving for the U.S. in August.
With many lacrosse memories, Renaud said her favourite moment happened this past summer, where she got the overtime goal while playing field lacrosse for a new team.
"One of the girls passed it to me, and I shot and I scored, and the entire team came bolting from the sidelines and absolutely tackled me on the field," said Renaud, "they didn't know me that well, but that moment, there was so much love for me and I was like, 'This is the coolest moment for me of my entire life.'"
As a female athlete, Renaud adds surrounding yourself with the right people who will support you and having good role models can make a difference in your sport.
"It doesn't matter the situation you're in, it's people you surround yourself with that makes it so different," said Renaud, "because if I didn't have those same people, I don't know if I would've had the same goals or the same priorities."
Her interest in fostering relationships within the sport is part of the reason Renaud has begun to coach younger lacrosse players. Last year, Renaud said she did a lot of coaching and enjoys coaching players between the ages of 10-11.
"At Centre Wellington, we were such a small team, and everyone seemed so close, and it was like, 'That seems like so much fun, I want to be them when I'm older,'" said Renaud.
"I just love the relationships that we've had with our coaches, and I don't want to miss out on that, and I want to be on the other end of that when I'm older."
