Pursuit of hockey career has Medina goalie playing in Vancouver

Photo Contributed courtesy of Damon James – Medina’s Lawson Fenton in action for the Coquitlam Express of the British Columbia Junior A Hockey League.

The pursuit of education and career goals can often take one far from home. That is certainly the case for Medina’s Lawson Fenton whose very promising hockey career has seen him journey far to the west to Vancouver, British Columbia in a quest to attain his goal of earning a Division 1 college hockey scholarship.

Lawson, a talented goalie who last year helped the Rochester Junior Amerks win a regular season conference title by posting a 25-2 record between the pipes, is in Vancouver playing for the Coquitlam Express of the British Columbia Junior A Hockey League.

“I love it. It’s great to be in Vancouver,” said Lawson in a phone interview this week. “It’s just a great experience and the competition is amazing. It is insane.”

Long a fertile ground for National Hockey League talent scouts, the Canadian Junior A leagues are now also a prime talent search are for major U.S. college hockey programs.

“It’s top notch,” said Lawson’s dad, Chris Fenton, of the league and the Express organization. “The whole reason for Lawson going there is to get a lot of looks from colleges.”

“Absolutely”, added Lawson. “My goal is to get into a D1 college program and at every game we have a number of college representatives in the stands so there are plenty of opportunities to get looked at. In fact, our team captain just got a scholarship offer from Princeton.”

Lawson, who is living with a host family, has found daily life as a Junior A hockey player to be a busy one which includes three hour practices on the ice, workouts off the ice, meetings, film sessions and community service.

“He’s enjoying it but it’s a lot of work,” said his dad. “It’s constant and it’s pretty intense. I have a lot more respect now for what the pro hockey players go through after seeing the work the players put in at the Junior A level.”

Lawson, who has played in 9 games already earning 3 wins is the most enthusiastic about his team and his teammates.

“I’ve been on good teams before but not as dedicated and focused as this team,” he said. “This team is a big family. Everyone has the same competitiveness and drive.”

He may be playing in the Mainland Division of the B.C. Junior A League now but for Lawson his long trip to Vancouver and all of the hard work on and off the ice that he is putting in is focused on the goal of playing hockey for a Division 1 college team on the U.S. mainland.