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41 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,D ecem ber 20,2018 theifp.ca At his first Toronto Rock training camp, Sandy Chapman found himself looking up to the team's vet- eran players. He wasn't in awe of them - he didn't know enough to realize that he should be. To that point, Chapman had only seen one profes- sional lacrosse game; his minor lacrosse coach took his Acton Rams team to see a Buffalo Bandits game. Chapman, 11 at the time, and his teammates got au- tographs from the Bandits' stars like John Tavares and Gary Gait. But it would be more than a decade before Chap- man would see another pro game. And he wouldn't need a ticket for that one. He had never dreamed of playing pro lacrosse; be- cause the National La- crosse League didn't arrive in Ontario until he was playing junior, he had nev- er given it much thought. Instead, he hoped to play for the Brampton Excelsiors major team. But in his final year of ju- nior, his coach Eddie Co- meau told him that playing in the NLL was a possibility. Comeau was an assistant coach with Toronto Rock, and he told Chapman that he might not want to go too far from home on the night of the NLL draft. "It was only a land line then," Chapman said, laughing at a world without cellphones. "So, a group of guys came over to the house." Sure enough, the phone rang early in the evening: Toronto was certainly in- terested. They took Chap- man with their first pick, 12th overall. Four months later, the 20-year-old was in training camp, literally looking up to the players that would be- come his teammates. "The size of those men," Chapman said. "I'm going up against Dan Ladouceur, who is 6-6 - and at the time I'm 5-8 and probably 165 pounds. It was a complete eye-opener." Late in the Rock's train- ing camp, coach Les Bartley told Chapman that he had made the team. Two days later, he was on the floor for the second pro game he had ever seen. . . . . When the NLL season opens Saturday, it will do so for the first time since 2002 without Chapman. After 17 seasons, 283 games including playoffs (seventh most in NLL histo- ry), and five league champi- onships, Chapman retired. One of the top defensive players in the league, Chap- man said that he could see things coming to an end in the past year. "There are just parts of your game that you don't have the same confidence in," the 37-year-old said. "You see the old guard mov- ing on. I could probably go out and battle and do OK, but the guys coming out of college today, they are abso- lute athletes - with how physically fit and polished they are at 22." Chapman may not have had the polish of the players entering the league now, but he played an important role in helping his teams shine. His first two seasons in the National Lacrosse League ended with the Rock hoisting the champi- onship trophy; Toronto won again two years later. "Guys always say this, but when you win early, you don't really appreciate it. [Winning] seemed like the norm - it's what was expec- ted, and we found a way to be really competitive in To- ronto." After his fourth season, he was selected by Edmon- ton in the NLL's expansion draft, but was traded to Rochester. In his second season with the Knight- hawks, Chapman won his fourth championship. Reacquired by Toronto in 2010, Chapman was named a first-team all-pro and league's defensive play- er of the year. Chapman said that with so many strong defensive players on the Rock, it could have gone to any of them. But he said he found a niche in Toron- to's defensive system. "Before it was even a term, I was a grinder. It's the way I had to play, and it was the way I knew best. I had to play like I was a six-foot [tall] player," said Chap- man, who was the Rock's ca- reer leader in forced turn- overs and one of only 16 players in league history to scoop up more than 1,000 loose balls. "Things fell into place for me: all the way up, I played both ways, but I was never a goal scorer. I had very little offensive skill; I met all the right coaches at the right time. Toronto went to a pressure defence, which is where my skill set was needed." That year, Toronto lost the NLL final to the Wash- ington Stealth, and for Chapman, watching their opponents celebrate drove home how fortunate he had been in his career - remind- ing him that you never know when you'll get the chance to win again. He didn't have to wait long, though. In 2011, Chap- man pulled off a rare feat; the Rock returned to the NLL final, where they edged the Stealth 8-7. A week later, Chapman joined Team Canada in the Czech Republic, where he COMMUNITY CHAPMAN RETIRES AFTER DECORATED LACROSSE CAREER Acton native Sandy Chapman retired following a 17-year career in the National Lacrosse. Chapman won five NLL championships and was named the league's best defensive player in 2010. Ryan McCullough See CO-WORKERS, page 42 HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com 312 GUELPH ST., GEORGETOWN 905-877-2296 www.georgetowntoyota.com Saturday Dec. 22nd, 2018 7:30 pm at Mold-Masters SportsPlex Georgetown Raiders vs. Oakville Blades