For Burnaby South’s Amie Morrison, earning a field lacrosse scholarship to a mid-west U.S. university was her way of giving back.
Ever since her father passed away when she was just eight years old, Morrison has had a special bond with the game that will carry her all the way to Tiffin University in Ohio to play NCAA Division II ball for the varsity Dragons this fall.
“My dad got me into the game and when he passed away, I felt I wanted to hold on to it (lacrosse) because it was something he was passionate about. I wanted to keep something of him – to keep him around,” she said.
With two older brothers, it was easy for Morrison to follow them into an active lifestyle. She also has a younger sister. First came soccer - basketball and lacrosse came later.
“I kept playing everything because it looked like fun. It wasn’t because I wanted to do it all, I just ended up doing it,” Morrison said.
She says she gets that trait from her mother, a single mom who works full time bringing up four kids, while also finding time to be a Girl Guides leader, work on the parents’ advisory council and take an active interest in her daughter’s sports.
And Morrison is the quintessential active young person – a standout student athlete at South, who has played varsity volleyball, basketball, soccer and cricket since her freshman years at the school. She is also busy off the pitch, dividing her time on the school’s sports council and volunteering in a host of other ways.
“I’m everywhere, all over the place. The community and athletics is something I want to be around at South,” she said.
Morrison has been so eager for so long, she still remembers a time at Nelson Elementary School when they tried unsuccessfully to slow her down.
“In elementary school, it just came out with a leadership class and I was all over it, but the teachers said, ‘Amie, we need to let some other kids try.’ I vividly remember that.”
Morrison made the B.C. Lacrosse girls’ team three years in a row, winning two gold medals in midget girls’ box. She also played field lacrosse with the Burnaby Mountain Selects program and in the small Lower Mainland league, while also finding time to coach youth box lacrosse for the Burnaby Lakers minor association.
But it was picking up spots on random travelling teams playing at select field lacrosse tournaments in the United States, where Morrison was finally noticed.
It was after one big recruiting tournament in Florida that Morrison first heard from Tiffin. Later, at a Palm Springs tourney, she met the Tiffin coach and chatted about how she might fit in to the lacrosse program.
“I liked what I heard and I thought it might be a team I’d like to play for. In February, I went out there,” Morrison said.
“I liked what I saw, … I definitely see it as somewhere I can fit in.”
At Tiffin, a city of approximately 18,000 inhabitants about 80 miles west of Cleveland as the crow flies, Morrison hopes to play in the midfield for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference runner-up, likely in a more offensive role on the team where she can expend her indefatigable energy.
“I can play on the ball, off the ball – I feel I have a good knowledge of the game, so I’m in position when the ball comes to me,” she added.
Playing a host of other sports also helped, Morrison said, but the most valuable lessons came from community, family and most of all mom.
“I just wanted to make it easier on my mom,” said Morrison. “I appreciate her so much. Everything I’ve got is because of her. She’s amazing.”
