The Vancouver Stealth announced that they have re-signed Coquitlam, B.C. native Matt Beers to a one-year contract, pending league approval. Beers, entering his fifth season with the Stealth, was originally selected by the Stealth 13th overall in the 2009 NLL Entry Draft and has played his entire career with the organization. In 62 regular season games, he’s tallied 42 points (10g, 32a) and 264 loose balls.
Beers is one of many Stealth players that’s coming home for the 2014 season and much like his local teammates, he can’t wait for his chance to play in front of some familiar faces.
“It’s going to be great to come back home and play in my hometown and it’s going to be a great to see familiar faces and kids in the crowd that I’ve coached over the years as well,” said Beers.
Beers has been working overtime on his training in preparation for another year as he’s currently training for the Fire Academy, so needless to say getting into shape has been a major focus this off season.
“We work hard here and we have 4 fitness leaders so I’ve been able to work with them to structure some work outs towards lacrosse,” said Beers. “I’ve been training every day for the last 3 months so I’m really excited to strap on the gear and play in front of the home crowd.”
Beers continues to work hard on improving his game as well and it’s been paying off as his presence on defense is only getting better. Following the 2013 NLL season Beers put together a strong summer season on defense. Beers’ skill on the defensive end has remained a constant throughout his career and it started when he was a junior in the BCJALL, winning back to back Junior Defender of the Year awards in 2009 and 2010.
“Matt Beers is not only one of the best young defenders in the game today, he is one of the best defenders, and has quickly become an anchor on our back end,” said President and General Manager Doug Locker. “He is also one of those players who everyone in the organization from top to bottom has the ultimate respect for and teammates love playing with.”
It’s clear that Beers will play an important role for the Stealth on their back end as the team prepares for another run to the Champion’s Cup final. The team’s expectations haven’t changed from the last few season as they’ve made three trips to the finals in the last four years.
“We are expecting to win in our minds and we’re going to work as hard as we can to achieve that goal,” said Beers.
