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ABOUT - Brandon Atherton

Brandon was born in Prince George, B. C. and first played lacrosse at age six. He said, “After two or three years no one else would play goal so I took one for the team. I was pretty good so they just wouldn’t let me not play goal any more.” He played all of his minor lacrosse in Prince George before being recruited by Nanaimo to play in their first year as a Junior “A” expansion team in 2005.

In his first season with Nanaimo Jr. A, the team went 0-21, but Brandon had 1001 saves on 1279 shots. He was named to a Second Team All-Star and earned the league’s Outstanding Achievement Award. After his second regular season he was traded to Victoria for the playoff run, starting in every game as the Junior Shamrocks swept Coquitlam. Victoria eventually lost in the final to powerhouse Burnaby which was 22-0 until Brandon & Co. handed them their first loss.

Brandon was drafted by Arizona in the NLL and scored a goal in an exhibition game against Toronto. He started his NLL career in Arizona and last year shared net minding duties for the Edmonton Rush with Adanac teammate Chris Levis. Andy Secore and Jason Wulder rounded out the Adanac foursome in Edmonton.

Brandon was the Adanacs’ second round draft pick after Stephen McKinlay and eleventh overall. He is a good “team player” and has earned the respect of his teammates with his solid play to date.

Brandon’s other sports interests include hockey (defense) and swimming; he also enjoys snowmobiles, hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, building and cooking. His specialty is “chicken torpedoes” which is grilled chicken with vegetables and sauce, wrapped in tortilla shells and baked in the oven. It’s a family recipe, sort of. His mother is a great hunter and fisher who “always goes out and gets a moose every year”. Brandon is an avid reader and devours at least one novel every week. His favourite novels are Pillars of the Earth and the sequel, World without End, by Ken Follett. His favourite films are “Braveheart” and “City of God”. Brandon enjoys his work for B. C. Hydro.

The people most influential in his lacrosse career have been Dave Jenkins (his coach from PeeWee to Junior “B”), his grandmother Bernice who’s “always been there for me, like an angel” and Robin Patterson, his goalie coach in Junior who “always has great advice to offer.”