The Victoria Shamrocks will have a new captain this season.
Corey Small has decided to move back to Ontario to be closer to his family, so the two-time Western Lacrosse Association scoring champion is departing from the Shamrocks after seven seasons.
鈥淰ictoria has been my home for the past seven years and it鈥檚 with mixed emotions I say goodbye,鈥� Small said in a statement. 鈥淭he Victoria Shamrocks have given me the best years of my lacrosse life, and I will be forever grateful to this organization and the fans that support it. This is a tough decision, but one that I need to make to be closer to my immediate family at this time.鈥�
In seven years with the WLA club between 2011 and 2017, Small was a four-time WLA first team all-star and a two-time league scoring champion, achieving both feats as recently as last season.
He was a four-time recipient of both the Shamrocks鈥� team MVP award and the team鈥檚 most popular player award as voted on by the fans. He played a total of 190 regular season and playoff games, scoring 383 goals and adding 447 assists for 830 points.
The defining moment of Small鈥檚 Shamrocks career came in 2015, when he helped lead them to the Mann Cup championship and was named the winner of the Mike Kelley Award as the most valuable player in the Mann Cup series.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the end of an era for the Shamrocks,鈥� general manager Chris Welch said. 鈥淚n his time with us, Corey has built a truly remarkable record of accomplishments that is right up there with the all-time greats. I can safely say on behalf of everyone in our organization, and our great Shamrocks fans everywhere, that while we鈥檒l miss watching him play in the green and white, we鈥檙e so very grateful for all of his outstanding contributions and we wish him and his family all the very best.鈥�
The Shamrocks begin the 2018 WLA season on May 25, when the Burnaby Lakers pay a visit to The Q Centre.
