Dawson Calfa admits it was a bit strange walking out with his lacrosse stick into Kin 1 arena this week for the start of the A1 midget provincial tournament.
The last time he was there, six years ago, he was living the moment every lacrosse player dreams about - at the bottom of a dogpile celebrating with his older brother and the rest of the Prince George Posse after winning the A2 peewee provincial championship.
Calfa was an underaged peewee back then, still a month shy of his 10th birthday playing against 11- and 12-year-olds.
His brother Daylen, then 12, was on the team and a guy named Brogan O'Brien - who now plays hockey in the WHL for the Prince George Cougars - was the tournament MVP, firing the winning goal in the final on the way to a 14-5 win over the Burnaby Lakers.
"I'm glad to be back in Prince George," said Calfa, who moved to Langley with his family right after the Posse's big win.
"I was really nervous coming back. I didn't want to come out and do nothing, I wanted to come out and continue to bring on that competitiveness I brought in the peewee finals. I was two years younger than everyone (in 2009) and I was brought up as the rookie on the team and everybody kind of looked out for me on the floor. It's a lot different playing now in my age group."
Now 15, Calfa is an assistant captain with the A1 midget Langley Thunder and he's got them right in the thick of things trying to win another provincial banner.
As the only P.G. boy in the A1 tournament, Calfa automatically makes the Thunder the hometown favourites in the top division.
The Thunder lost to Coquitlam in the A1 provincial final last year in Campbell River and Calfa would love nothing better than to end his minor lacrosse career on the winning side.
"We won our first provincial here and to come back home and win the second one would be unreal," said.
Langley is ranked sixth out of six teams in the A1 tournament but has so far proven rankings can mean very little when a provincial crown is on the line.
The Thunder opened with a 5-4 loss to third-ranked New Westminster, lost by the same count to top-ranked Coquitlam, then beat No. 2 Ridge Meadows 4-3.
Calfa showed his skill as a left-handed shooter on Langley's third goal, stepping around his check and bouncing a hard shot high off the floor into the top corner of the Ridge Meadows net.
He also scored a goal in Langley's 9-8 win Friday afternoon over Saanich, which evened the Thunder's record at 2-2.
The five-foot-nine, 160-pound Calfa has had to deal with hand and back injuries this season but he's healthy again. The Thunder rotates five or six players through its power play and the team plays off its strength on the left side to cash in around the net. That means Calfa often gets the ball for high-percentage shot opportunities.
"He's a key element on our power play, he's highly-skilled and one of our goalscorers," said Langley head coach Dennis Quigley. "He's a leader, he's well-respected by the guys.
"He has a good lacrosse IQ and has a real fire in his belly. Sometimes that gets him into trouble but he's certainly a tryer. He doesn't coast, ever."
Calfa played house league lacrosse in Prince George for two years with the players who now make up the A2 midget Posse. He moved up to the older age group after those two years and played with them until he made the move south.
"I think they're pretty good and I hope they do well." he said. "They're not the top team (in A2) and they just have to go in firing and keep working hard."
Calfa's three older brothers played lacrosse and all the boys in the family won provincial championships in various sports during their time in Prince George.
His dad Carlo, now 50, and oldest brother Darnell, 29, each won with their triple-A midget hockey teams.
Carlo coached Darnell's championship team in 2002. Brother Damon, 26, won a provincial roller hockey title in 1999 and still plays lacrosse for the BX Pub Bandits, who lost to the Westwood Pub Devils in the Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association playoff final and will be vying for B.C. senior C championship next month in Armstrong.
The women in the Calfa family - Dawson's mom Dawn and sisters Danielle and Danae - have been leading the cheers in the stands at the Kin Centre. Daylen, 18, who represented B.C. in the 2013 bantam lacrosse nationals, also made the trip.
Langley finishes off its round-robin play today at 1:30 p.m. at Kin 1 against Juan de Fuca. The top four teams advance to the semifinals tonight at 8 p.m. The A1 final is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. at Kin 1.
