Gould Rush: Saskatoon’s Zach Gould ready for NLL debut

A supporter suiting up for his hometown team is a dream for pretty much any sports fan.

For Zach Gould, that dream becomes a reality when he takes to the field as a member of the Saskatchewan Rush Saturday for a National Lacrosse League (NLL) pre-season tilt against the Calgary Roughnecks.

Nervous jitters are common for any rookie making his debut, but those feeling are amplified when 25 friends and family are expected in the crowd.

“(I’m) pretty anxious, but super excited,” Gould said following morning practice, just hours ahead of his debut.

“I’ve come here since the start (of the team’s move to Saskatchewan), been to most of the games. Super excited to get started and finally live out my dream of playing in an NLL game.”

Gould, played his junior lacrosse the with the Saskatchewan SWAT before he was selected as the Rush’s final pick at 74th overall in the 2018 NLL Entry Draft.

It wasn’t too long ago that playing lacrosse in Saskatoon got a surprise reaction, but thanks to the arrival of a professional team and three straight trips to the NLL finals, more people than ever are playing lacrosse in the province.

The 21-year-old is hoping a Saskatchewan-born lacrosse player making it to the NLL ranks is noticed as a trend in a few years rather than a phenomenon.

“That’s pretty crazy,” Gould said of the rare opportunity to play for a team he’s grown to idolize.

“Obviously Saskatchewan doesn’t have very many people that have went this far in lacrosse, so it’s pretty good to kind of be a stepping stone for this league. The SLA (Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association) and the Rush have done a great job of making lacrosse so known around Saskatchewan.”

With collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations delaying the start of the NLL season, Gould’s first training camp has been a whirlwind as teams try and condense camps into few weekend sessions.

“We didn’t have much of a time frame to get started, so training camp last weekend was high-tempo, and today’s practice was full gear, we made it high-tempo and we’ll be ready for the game tonight.”

While the Rush roster is set up for another run at the NLL Cup, head coach Derek Keenan says the short camp will impact the younger players looking to snag one of the few remaining roster spots.

“It makes it tough on the coaching staff to make those decisions. I think that’s the biggest thing, especially for us from a defensive perspective because we need new bodies” Keenan said.

“It’s tough to evaluate this quickly.”

While Gould is hoping to have an impact offensively, he knows stealing a roster spot from an unchanged cast of forwards that led the league in nearly every statistical category is a daunting task, so he’s just doing his best to soak up the experience.

“These guys are just unbelievable lacrosse players — all of them,” Gould said. “They all know so much, so I’ve just been picking their brains as much as I can.”