Most sports, including lacrosse, are team games; they are not necessarily driven by one individual, but by a group of players working together putting up a cohesive effort.

However, on most teams there are leaders, those that push their teammates to work that much harder, and who keep the team focused and ready for the win.

Defenceman Bayne Bosquet bears that responsibility on SFU’s lacrosse team. One of four players voted by the team to be captain, he now enters his second season carrying that honour.

It’s not a responsibility that Bayne takes lightly, saying, “It’s a big honour being the leader up here, I try to lead by example. I think a big role that I have to take on [. . . is] being a senior captain up here.”

He is one of two senior captains on the team, along with midfielder Sam Clare, and he explains how his role changed as he transitioned from a junior to a senior captain: “I think it’s just the maturity level, going from junior to senior you just have a little bit more experience, and a little bit more awareness of the game.”

As a senior, he has gone through many of the things that his teammates are experiencing, such as joining the team as a freshman, and having to learn to focus on the smaller details.

“When I first came to SFU, I was pretty raw — I’d say uncoached,” Bayne said. “I think there’s a lot of things that are just minor but have shifted my game to the next level.”

Elaborating, he adds, “[Like] just being aware of where everyone will be for your slide, in defence when [you] go to the net, someone has to fill your position, so just being aware you know who’s got your back and who doesn’t have your back, and just being able to do that without thinking about it.

“[I learned that] there’s shifts in the game, going up and down, that you just have to ride it at a common motion all the way through. There’s always a lot more time than you think on the clock,” Bayne explained. “Don’t rush things; there’s a time to go super hard, and there’s a time that you just have to sit back on your man and just wait for that opportunity to arise.”

He also remembers the process of bulking up as a young player: “There’s a lot of physical prep coming up here. I came into [SFU] 165 lbs and I’m 200 lbs [. . .] I think in my freshman year I gained 25 lbs, that’s a pretty good amount of weight to gain.”

He recalls the academic experience of being a freshman, having learned the importance of time management, saying, “I think going from a freshman thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got so much time’ and then realizing, ‘Oh no, I’ve got a midterm next week, or two days from now and I should start studying’, it’s been a big step up being like, ‘I’m going to prep for my midterm two weeks in advance.’”

Bayne tries lead by example in many ways, but his hard-hitting play stands out among these. “I feel like I play a pretty aggressive style of defence, I like to push out on the man, I like to get in their hands, I like to be a takeaway defender, really, with good body and I like the big hits.”

Despite the inevitable individual focus of an interview such as this, it became quite clear that Bayne greatly values his team, attributing his passion for lacrosse to the team environment.

“I think what really drew me to lacrosse was the fact that it is pretty close-knit, and a lot of the kids who were older than me played lacrosse,” he says.

It also doesn’t hurt that he comes from athletic parents: his mom was a volleyball player and his dad a golfer. As a tribute, he combined their numbers, two and eight, when choosing his own jersey number 28.

Rounding out the interview, Bayne returned to the benefits of team sports, explaining that  lacrosse has helped him academically: “Just being in a team atmosphere always helps, [it has helped me be] able to work with people, be a problem solver, and my people skills are definitely improved.”

FUN FACT:
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Initially, he said that the Boston Bruins are his favourite team. However, he was wearing a Vancouver Canucks hat, and when this was pointed out, he said with a laugh, “I know! They’re my two favourite teams!” He assures us, though, that he was cheering for the Canucks during the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.