Growing up, Callum Jones never expected that one day he would be a professional lacrosse player. In fact, for the longest time, he never would have expected to play lacrosse at all. Jones, a native of Burlington, Ontario, grew up playing hockey, as many Canadians do. It wasn’t until a chance run-in with the father of his friend, fellow lacrosse player Ryan Lanchbury, that Jones began his lacrosse career.
“My dad went to sign me up for hockey and then a good friend now, Ryan Lanchbury, who also plays in the NLL for Georgia, his dad was running lacrosse registration. He bumped into my dad, and they started talking and he said, ‘You should try lacrosse.’ My dad had no idea about lacrosse, so we signed up and the rest is history,” recalled Jones. “It was a great sport to play in the off-season. It paired really well with hockey conditioning-wise, hand-eye, and the physicality of it. But yeah, it was kind of just a fluke that I ended up playing lacrosse.”
It’s no coincidence that Jones highlighted the physicality of lacrosse. It’s one of the key parts of his game, an aspect he has incorporated since he first started to play.
“The funny thing about lacrosse is that once you start, it’s contact right away. It’s not like hockey where at thirteen or fourteen now they introduce contact in the sport. So, that aspect of it prepared me really well for the hockey side. I was, right from the start, pretty physical.”
Jones is a player you love to have on your team and hate to have as an opponent. He thrives when playing the gritty, physical roles.
“It’s a huge part of my game now. I think it’s what makes me a good player in the league. I don’t shy away from it,” agreed Jones. As a child, he was described as a ‘ball of energy’. When asked if ‘ball of hate’ could befit his game today, Jones didn’t shy away from the moniker. “I would say it’s a pretty good representation of me. I don’t think I’m too fun to play against. I would say I’m not the most-liked player for opposing teams.”
To get where he is today, Jones didn’t follow the conventional path most professional players take. At least, not entirely. Jones attended Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, where he played for the school’s lacrosse team. However, Jones also played for Norwich’s hockey team, making him a dual-sport student athlete. It wasn’t until the end of his time at Norwich that Jones made the jump to pursue playing lacrosse professionally.
“Hockey was my main sport at school, but I also did play lacrosse there. My fourth year, towards the end, I had to decide whether I wanted to pursue professional hockey or professional lacrosse,” Jones said. Ultimately, he made the decision to pursue lacrosse. “I thought there’d be more opportunity, and I’d have a little bit more enjoyment playing professional lacrosse. Lucky enough, I ended up in New York and now Ottawa.”
Making the leap from university lacrosse to professional lacrosse was a daunting one. But rather than shy away from the challenge, Jones took it in stride. “It was nervous,” he admitted. “It’s definitely a learning curve. The guys are bigger, faster, their IQ is so much higher. So, there were errors my first year, but the errors make you better. You learn from them and continue to move forward. It was a learning curve, definitely.”
Jones was drafted third overall in the 2023 NLL Entry Draft by the New York Riptide, a team he had been hoping for. “I obviously didn’t know what team I’d end up with, but it really ended up working perfectly. I wanted to play for New York, I think the culture, coaching, management, and then the players. Jeff Teat, playing with a guy like that, it was super exciting.”
Being teammates with a player as talented as Jeff Teat would be exciting for any player. “A lot of stuff he does, your jaw is just on the floor. What he can do with the ball, his footwork, his ability to move and make plays around him is insane. It’s crazy. I try to stay away from him in practice. It’s insane. He’s a human highlight reel.”
Many players would feel a certain type of pressure playing alongside someone with Teat’s ability, but Jones sees it as an opportunity to be a better player. “He makes everyone around him better,” he said of Teat. “He brings everyone up. He brings the standard up. He wants a lot, he wants to win at the end of the day, and I think people see that. So, I don’t think there’s pressure, it’s more just accountability and making sure everyone’s pulling the rope in the same direction.”
Away from the turf at Norwich, Jones majored in criminal justice with a minor in pre-law. “The criminal justice system always interested me. A lawyer was the kind of profession I wanted to pursue for the longest time and then being a police officer is something I still have interest in,” said Jones. “I don’t think policing, at the moment, will pair well with lacrosse. Both physically and the shift work would be difficult for the first couple years. But yeah, the criminal justice system is something that always has amused me and I find it very interesting.”
For now, it’s all about lacrosse for Jones. He will make his Black Bears debut along with the rest of the team in just 11 days as they take on the Toronto Rock in the team’s home opener. Fans can grab their tickets HERE to catch the inaugural game live.
