Estevan’s Wyatt Haux has been a star in Saskatchewan lacrosse circles for a number of years.
Now he’s part of Saskatchewan’s most prominent lacrosse organization.
Haux, a graduate of the Estevan Lacrosse Association who plays the transition position on the lacrosse court, was selected in the sixth round, 92nd overall, by the Saskatchewan Rush in Thursday’s National Lacrosse League Draft.
He’s excited to be part of Saskatchewan’s team, and a little relieved. He was the second-to-last player selected in the draft.
“I was expecting to go a little bit higher in the draft, so when it was getting down to those final picks, I was quite a bit nervous,” he said.
Haux was ranked 38th in the Stamper’s Top 50 draft rankings, which is a highly regarded pre-draft publication. And he was No. 26 in one of the mock drafts. So it left him thinking he might be selected in the late second round or the early third round.
But it’s also given him a little extra motivation to prove everybody wrong.
“It motivates you to become a better player, and show them that they made a mistake on me,” said Haux.
He joins an organization that has been one of the best in the league for years. Since the Rush relocated from Edmonton to Saskatoon in 2015, the club has won the league title in 2016 and 2018, and made it to the final in 2017. They were leading the league’s West Division when the season was halted due to COVID-19.
The Saskatchewan club has also proven to be very popular with fans, as spectators drive from across the province to watch the Rush play in the Bridge City.
The Rush had been speaking with the GM of the Saskatoon Swat junior club, where Haux had been playing. He was scheduled to move to St. Catharines, Ont., this season, but those plans were also scrubbed due to the pandemic.
He has an extra year of eligibility, and hopes to head to Ontario next summer.
“I haven’t been playing much this offseason, but when I do play, it’s pretty much own ball or whatever I can get,” said Haux.
He expects he’ll need to continue to work on his ball-handling skills and his pace of the game as he continues to get ready to move up in play.
Haux is thankful to Estevan Lacrosse for not only the development he enjoyed as a player when he was in their system, but for helping him find his passion for the game. He is a former gold medallist for Team Canada at the World Junior Lacrosse Championships, and he was Canada’s captain in 2019.
“This is where I found out I loved what I did and they tried to push me to try to play at the highest level I can,” he said.
