Jean-Luc Chetner wants to be a lacrosse player.
He proved that by how quickly he moved up the ranks.
The Penticton minor lacrosse product started in the junior B ranks with his hometown South Okanagan Flames.
Things then took off after the 16-year-old tried out for the intermediate level Coquitlam Adanacs, a team he joined once his high school year finished.
His season ended when the junior A Adanacs were swept by the Orangeville Northmen 19-6 and 9-4 for the 2012 Minto Cup Aug. 18 to 25. His success led to a scholarship.
What Chetner discovered about the junior A level is its speed.
“There’s no time to think, you’ve got to react before plays develop,” said Chetner, who earned a call up from the intermediate A Adanacs. “It’s a step up from intermediate A. The guys are older, the goalies are bigger and the defence takes away your time and space.”
In three regular-season games as a call-up, Chetner scored three goals in five games. During the playoffs, Chetner recorded nearly two points per game with three goals and nine points in five games. In the Minto Cup, Chetner scored once and added eight assists in five matches.
“Playing in the Minto Cup was an unbelievable experience,” said Chetner, by email from Vaughn, Ont. “We had a great team full of veterans who had already won the Minto Cup in 2010 and knew what it took to win. They made it a lot easier for me to settle in, they told me what it was like and how to prepare. Unfortunately we lost in the finals to Orangeville who were also a great team with a lot of veterans.”
Chetner feels he has become a better player. He credited his coaches for helping him become smarter with and without the ball on offence.
“I’ve become more patient and I see the floor better than I did at the start of this year and obviously these adjustments helped my stats this year as well,” he said.
Playing with the junior A Adanacs helped the Penticton minor lacrosse product get noticed. He was recruited to play field lacrosse by Hill Academy in Ontario, located north of Toronto.
“I was very excited that The Hill wanted me to play for them but I was also caught a little off-guard,” said Chetner, who is on the prep team. “I didn’t know a lot about the program but once I asked around and heard about their reputation for sending players to the NCAA I knew it would be good for my career.”
Chetner described the Hill Academy as a private athletic high school for lacrosse and hockey.
“It is the best prep school for lacrosse in Canada and one of the best in North America,” he added.