Chris Gill grew up with a lacrosse stick in his hand.
His dad, Sohen, is a member of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame for his efforts as a coach and general manager to promote lacrosse, and Chris needed no prodding to walk across the street from their home in Burnaby to the lacrosse box. He practically lived there and in the process became one of the most skilled lacrosse players this province has ever produced.
What Gill didn't have 30 years ago when he started playing was a couple of former pros showing him their tricks of the trade in a skills clinic similar to the one the Prince George Masters Lacrosse Association and Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association are co-sponsoring this Saturday at Kin 3.
Gill and Dan Stroup are head instructors at the clinic, which runs Saturday at Kin 3 from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
"It's a good way to kickstart the season," said Gill, a 41-year-old Vancouver firefighter. "We'll start off with a refresher of what they know and by the end of the day we'll hopefully raise their level to something they weren't at before last season or this season.
"You can do regular drills at practices with your own team but sometimes it's nice for any kid in any sport to get a different perspective from somebody who's played at a higher level. Hopefully they'll walk away from the weekend knowing at least two or three things they didn't know before."
There isn't a lot Gill doesn't know about the game. He played 14 seasons as a pro in the National Lacrosse League, collecting 557 points in 173 games for the Baltimore Thunder, Ontario Raiders, Toronto Rock, Vancouver Ravens, Calgary Roughnecks, Edmonton Rush and Colorado Mammoth before he retired in 2010. Included in his career were NLL titles with Toronto (1999 and 2000) and in Colorado (2006).
He also played 13 seasons in the WLA with the Maple Ridge Burrards and New Westminster Salmonbellies. He's now an assistant coach for the Salmonbellies.
Stroup, an NLL Hall of Fame member, five-time NLL champion and veteran of 13 seasons with the Thunder, Raiders, Rock, Ravens, Mammoth, Rush and Portland LumberJax, retired in 2009. He's now an assistant coach for the NLL's Washington Stealth.
The Kin 3 clinic was an rapid sellout, with 96 players aged 7-16 registered. Gill and Stroup have put on skills camps in Prince George twice before, most recently in 2006.
