Shamrocks Acquire Three in Successful Junior Player Draft

Victoria - The Shamrocks had another successful draft Thursday night with the 2026 Graduating Junior Player Draft taking place virtually. 

The Shamrocks had picks in the second, fourth, and fifth rounds this year, taking Ryan Colsey from Coquitlam Junior A, and Ty Pilkington and Josh Verhagen from Nanaimo.

Colsey is widely regarded to be the steal of the draft, averaging 4.1 points per game over 20 games in the last two seasons of the BCJALL. The 6’ 3”, 200lb left-handed offence player combined 30 goals and 52 assists for a total of 82 points in 2024 and 2025.

“He’s one of the best players in this draft,” said General Manager Chris Welch, “and to get him at 12th overall, with eleven players off the board, in addition to territorial protection picks, we were shocked but jumped on the opportunity.”

Pilkington, a 6’ 3”, 220lbs right-handed offence player originally from Saanich was a strong everyday player the last three seasons in the BCJALL for Nanaimo, averaging two points per game and tallying 41 points, 32 of those from assists, in the 2025 campaign.

Verhagen, a 6’ 1” , 200lbs, left-handed defence player, also originally from Saanich and also played last season in Nanaimo, but played four seasons in Victoria prior to that. He is a solid defensive player and a strong addition to the back end of the depth chart.

“We’re excited that we have a super talented player fall into our lap, along with two great local Victoria players,” said Head Coach Bruce Alexander. “The guys that I’ve talked to and seen throwing the ball around recently are excited about the upcoming season, we’re fired up and ready to go for May.”

Prior to the draft the Shamrocks protected Junior A Shamrocks players Grayson Peskett and Koen Block, and as the draft got underway the league announced it had approved a trade that saw the playing rights of Zach Manns move to Victoria on a permanent basis in exchange for Noah Manning going to Nanaimo.

The Victoria Shamrocks will be opening their 2026 season in late May, with a full schedule to be announced by the Western Lacrosse Association in early February. Season tickets are on sale now with all the information at VictoriaShamrocks.com.