"It’s kind of hilarious how it happened," quips Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School student Taylor Beiers, who recently signed his letter of commitment to play NCAA lacrosse in West Virginia.
Beiers formally committed to Wheeling University earlier this week to pursue both academics and to play within an ultra-competitive NCAA program. Despite having offers to play for several Ontario universities, Beiers said going State-side was the best decision for him.
There are a lot of things the soon to be 18-year-old had to consider when committing to Wheeling, but none more important than a good education. Beiers was fortunate enough to visit the campus in early December; he not only was able to acquaint himself with some of the Wheeling players and coaches but was able to reassure himself that the academic program was also the best fit for him.
“They had the exact (courses) I want to take,” said Beiers, referring to the Bachelor of Business Administration program as well as the Engineering and Construction Management program offered at the West Virginia school.
He made it clear he was “going for an education… not for lacrosse,” which remains consistent with his academic approach to the ‘student-athlete’ role.
Though finding success in the game of lacrosse, Beiers used to be a phenomenal dual sport athlete. At the age of 13, he played with the North Central Predators AAA hockey program as a goaltender while competing with the Orillia Kings lacrosse program in the summer.
All was going very well until a very unusual, somewhat comedic crossroad appeared in his path.
“My mom accidentally signed me up for (lacrosse camp) thinking it was just a one-week training camp,” recalled Beiers. Soon after, he received a call with life altering news: he had made the Evolve Elite lacrosse roster.
Evolve Elite is a team that participates in showcase tournaments south of the border. Beiers says they make it very clear from day one that the goal of Evolve is to develop their players enough to play at the college level. This was something Beiers says he hadn’t even considered until then.
Although Beiers looks back on the misunderstanding of what he was registered for as "hilarious", it ultimately led to a very tough decision for him. In the end, Beiers decided to leave hockey, the sport he claims he felt he had more potential in, to pursue a college career in lacrosse.
At that point, Beiers’ development really took off as he established himself as a standout talent. In his Grade 9 year, Beiers earned a spot as a starter for the Patrick Fogarty Flames varsity field lacrosse team. He helped his team qualify for the OFSAA, the provincial high school championship, where he and his teammates captured a bronze medal.
Unfortunately for Beiers, as well as countless Canadian student-athletes aspiring to compete at the college level, pandemic-related lockdowns forced athletes to put on hold the sports they love.
Though Beiers did his best to stay in shape, he admits the lockdowns negatively impacted his ability to showcase his skills, let alone improve upon them.
If not for Beiers’ determination to keep with lacrosse despite the adversity thrown his way, it is likely his aspirations of being a collegiate athlete would have suffered the same fate as many other Canadians due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
He considers himself lucky to have all the support he did from past and current coaches, most notably teacher/coach Dave Pellerin of Patrick Fogarty for instilling confidence in him and Bill Fitzpatrick of Evolve for dedicating the time to refine Taylor into the player he is today.
Taylor also gives a lot of credit to Rich Marwick, who coached him when he played for the Orillia Kings.
“Rich helped a lot with developing my skills early on,” says Beiers, who added Marwick influenced him to become the offensive playmaker he is today.
Standing at 5’10" and weighing 135 pounds, Beiers learned at a young age that what sets him apart as a player is not his size or strength, but rather his intuition and ability to read the game.
As the lockdowns continue to negatively impact sports in this area, Beiers is doing his best to prepare himself for next August when he travels to West Virginia and officially begins his time as a student athlete with the Wheeling University Cardinals.
