2014 ULTIMATE CANADA AWARDS Mark Lloyd - 2014 Ultimate
Canada Male Athlete of the Year STORY BY: SCOTT HASTIE
Mark Lloyd’s 2014 season started mere hours after the completion of the 2013 season in October when he made a commitment to me to spend the offseason in the gym in order to raise his game to new heights. Certainly lots of commitments are made at the end of the season and not all get followed up on with the same zeal that this one did. The good thing was that it was contagious and a number of his teammates followed up with similar efforts in the gym. At one pre-season gathering at Jeff Lindquist’s place I found myself having trouble negotiating the space around the Condo due to all the muscle on the squat butts that had been developed in the gym during the previous months. This base of strength and power served to support Lloyd’s goal of raising his game for 2014.
A season for Lloyd doesn’t just start with the work in the gym or at the first pull of the season opener. In his role as the GM of the Toronto Rush and with his responsibilities with the playing roster of the Vancouver Riptide, the winter was filled with tryouts decisions and planning. The effort here is evident in the strong seasons that both teams completed in 2014.
Once the season starts, the fun continues as Lloyd adds playing points and on field leadership to his GM responsibilities. Whether this effort entails interacting with the coaches on strategies or motivating the team in that difficult portion of that second game of a road trip, Lloyd exhibits fantastic
timing and insight. Certainly the play that Lloyd delivers on the field is well documented. From come from behind D’s on strikers to circus grabs in tight games, it is all exciting. Leading one of the top teams in the league in points, assists and Ds is certainly an accomplishment that any player would be proud of. It was fun to play a number of playoff games with the Rush in front of our home town fans. I know that Lloyd was proud of our season but was crushed that we did not perform well in the finals versus the San Jose Spiders. That loss seemed to add further fuel to the fire that feeds Lloyd’s competitive ambitions.
Not content with his contributions to his Toronto- based teams, Lloyd also joined his hometown crew on Winnipeg General Strike at WUCC in Italy, where they turned their 33-seed into a top-10 finish. Lloyd was of course a huge on-field component of Strike’s success at the tournament, but also made major positive contributions to team chemistry, all while representing the squad and his country with the class that he’s known for.
After Worlds, Lloyd came to practice with a renewed sense of leadership and helped add diversity to GOAT’s offensive strategies. These were the same
Mark Lloyd plays in the AUDL Semifinal Male Athlete of the Year 2014 18 Ultimate Canada Magazine -
www.canadianultimate.com
Photo: Ed Kung
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