Teddy Jenner knew he needed to make a better impression to get onto Sportsnet Drafted.
After four years of failed attempts, Jenner has cracked the reality show’s final 24 and will attend a four day bootcamp in Toronto beginning Aug. 11.
Audtitions took place in Vancouver during a weekend in May, and Jenner was in the area with the Juan de Fuca pee wee A2 boys lacrosse team, which he coached. Auditions took place on a Saturday, but Jenner’s first audition didn’t sit well, so he went back on Sunday.
“They were surprised, but I didn’t need any prep time. I talked about what the Canucks need to do to succeed, which is not my team. I had to show them I’m more than just a one-trick pony.”
His trick, if you can call it that, is lacrosse. But anyone who knows the former Victoria Shamrocks Mann Cup winner and six year National Lacrosse League player knows he is passionate about sports, and isn’t confined to box lacrosse. It just so happens, however, that he’s become one of the go-to McKenzie of box lacrosse in Canada. He hosts a weekly radio show Off the Crosse Bar, which features the games’ top athletes, coaches and general managers.
The lacrosse community isn’t big, but it’s tight, and he’s constantly under the microscope. Now he’s out to prove that he can handle the same pressure as a Sportsnet sportscaster.
When he got the call in June it came from last year’s winner, Matt Drapel, and it didn’t come easy.
“He called me ‘five-time Teddy,’ and actually had me convinced I wasn’t on the show, but was just toying with me because I want it so bad.”
Jenner is second in online voting, which would give him immunity into the final six. For a month he’ll live in Toronto and compete against 24 other contestants including Victoria’s Justin Kelly, who was featured in the News recently.
Visit Teddy Jenner’s Drafted Facebook site to vote for him.
sports@vicnews.com