It’s difficult to put into words the experience of winning a gold medal for your country.
Dane Dobbie summed it up succinctly.
“It was one of the most exciting moments of my lacrosse career.”
And that’s saying a lot, given that Dobbie has played twelve years professionally, winning two NLL titles with the Roughnecks in the process.
At 32 years of age, putting on the Maple Leaf and taking part in the recent 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship in Langley, B.C., was an experience he relished.
“I’m grateful I got the opportunity to do it at this stage in my career,” Dobbie said. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to put on the Canadian jersey for the first time in my career.
“It was in my own backyard, I was close to home so my family got to be a part of it. All in all it was a fabulous experience and it’s something that I’ll never forget. And it’s very exciting that I got to do it with some Calgary Roughnecks teammates as well.”
Those teammates being Christian Del Bianco, Zach Currier, and Curtis Dickson.
“There were four guys from our Calgary team that got to play in it and there could have been more,” Dobbie said. “For us to be a part of Team Canada as a group and show Calgary that we belong there was special. To share that with them was really awesome.”
Especially with Dickson, who has played alongside Dobbie for nearly a decade. The deadly Roughnecks duo brought their elite skill to the worlds,with Dickson leading Team Canada in scoring throughout the round-robin and playoffs with 40 points (20g, 20a) and Dobbie second with 39 points (15g, 24a).
“I was just going out there and doing whatever I could to make us successful and my stick got pretty hot in the last game there,” Dobbie said of his 10-point performance in the gold-medal game against the Iroquois Nationals. “I’m very familiar with Curtis; we’ve played together for nine years so to be able to be successful together during Worlds is something I’ll never forget.”
Winning was the ultimate goal, of course. However, the experience alone of the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships has left an indelible impression on Dobbie
“Just that whole atmosphere and what went on for those ten days there was a very, very cool experience,” he said.
“There are so many guys that have watched the NLL overseas and in their home countries, and they’re just so excited to meet NLL players. And to actually physically sit down and watch a few of the games was pretty cool.
“If you haven’t seen it, in four years from now make sure you watch it because it’s pretty special to see people from across the world compete for their countries.”
