WESTLOCK — Jenna Snyder is definitely no stranger to competing at the provincial and national level in both volleyball and lacrosse. In 2022, for instance, the R.F. Staples student returned to Westlock after winning the bronze medal at the Canada Summer Games in Niagra Falls.
A year later, she joined the Team Alberta U16 girls’ volleyball team and competed at the 2023 Canada Cup and came away from the national competition with a silver medal.
The summer of 2024, however, will be a new challenge, as Jenna was selected for two provincial lacrosse and volleyball teams heading to their respective national competitions.
Jenna, who recently finished Grade 11, has once again been named to the Team Alberta U17 girls’ volleyball team, which is preparing to enter the 2024 Canada Cup at the Tsuut’ina Nation near Calgary from July 23-28.
Were that not enough, she has also been named to the U22 female girls’ box lacrosse team, which is set to compete at the Carol Patterson Trophy nationals in Regina, Sask., from Aug. 10-17.
When asked if that’s going to be a lot for her to handle, Jenna simply replied, “It is. It very much is.”
The story of how Jenna was named to both teams is very similar in a couple of respects. First, getting on Team Alberta meant going through a three-step process of submitting video profiles and getting selected to two different selection camps.
However, Jenna missed the third step because she had to attend national lacrosse team tryouts in Ontario. So she had to reach out to the coaches and ask if she could still be eligible.
"They replied, ‘Definitely, we’re still considering you,’” she said.
Roughly the same thing happened with the U22 box lacrosse team. The process of getting on the squad involved attending a camp, but Jenna was busy with those national team tryouts, so she ended up reaching out to one of the team coaches afterwards.
“He said, ‘Sure, we’ve been watching you for a while now, I saw you play last year, I love your work ethic and would love to have you on the team if it works out,’” she said.
Obviously, the first priority is preparing for the Canada Cup, which will involve taking part in intensive daily practices from roughly July 7 to July 22.
That also means she won’t be able to take part in lacrosse practices until the Cup is over; while she might make it to a practice simply to watch, she can’t risk playing and potentially suffering an injury.
Still, all this preparation is worth it to go to the Canada Cup yet again.
“I’m excited and looking forward to ... the family we get to create as a team and to experience the Canada Cup and the nationals once again this summer,” she said.
Then there’s the matter of the Carol Patterson Trophy, named for an influential figure in the development of international lacrosse.
Jenna noted she has been asked to play defender/defence on the team, but also to transition the ball up the floor.
While it is a U22 team, which implies that it is mostly older girls, Jenna said this squad includes many girls who are still in high school, just like her.
When we went to the nationals last year, Jenna said she got to watch Team Alberta win the gold medal at the U22 level, which was both exciting and history in the making.
“Alberta had never won a gold medal at the U22 Nationals, so we plan to recreate history this year,” she said.
