Lacrosse community mourns ‘great kid’
$84,000 raised for Olivia Malcom Kindness Bursary after New Westminster teen’s death
Olivia Malcom loved lacrosse. Lacrosse is showing a lot of love for her right now.
A member of one of the game’s better known families, Malcom was killed one week ago coming home from watching a New Westminster Jr. Salmonbellies game in Ladner. She was 19.
The vehicle Malcom was travelling in pulled into a bus stop on the side of Highway 17A just north of Ladner Truck Road. Malcom and a friend got out to look for something in the trunk. They were hit by a northbound Jeep. The driver of the Jeep remained at the scene.
Malcom died at the scene. The friend was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The Olivia Malcom Kindness Bursary was set up on GoFundMe.com on Monday, with hopes of raising $1,000 to help candidates pursue a post-secondary education, something Olivia intended on doing.
As of Friday, more than $84,000 had come in. Reading the donor list, you recognize a lot of names with connections to the sport.
“It’s a tragic loss for a special New Westminster lacrosse family,” Curtis Hodgson, captain of the New Westminster Sr. Salmonbellies, explained via text. “The lacrosse community is an extended family and it is banding together to offer all their love and support.”
That was his first text. His second was even more telling.
That one stated of the first message: “That took 30 minutes … it’s tough to put something together.”
On Sunday, which would have been Olivia’s 20th birthday, there will be a celebration of life at Queen’s Park Arena, starting at 2 p.m.
It’s a facility Olivia knew well. She played lacrosse growing up. Her sister Erica, 16, still plays.
Olivia’s boyfriend, Jake Stott, is a member of the Jr. Salmonbellies. Her cousins, Brandon and Justin Goodwin and Anthony Malcom, play for the senior Salmonbellies. Brandon and Anthony were both part of the Vancouver Stealth of the National Lacrosse League.
Her father Tony had been her coach for much of her time in the game. Lacrosse people remember him when he was a diminutive dervish in the Western Lacrosse Association with the Vancouver Burrards, but he grew up in New Westminster in a peer group that includes several names familiar to a lacrosse aficionado: Steve Goodwin, Russ Heard, Troy Poelzer, Jamie Stewart.
They’re all still close. Goodwin and Malcom are now brothersin-law, having married sisters Brenda and Bridget. Bridget was a longtime volunteer with New Westminster Minor Lacrosse.
Stewart routinely coached alongside Malcom with the girls teams.
“Olivia was a beautiful person,” said Stewart. “She was a great, great kid. It’s shocking what happened. It’s very hard.”
Part of why it’s so difficult is that lacrosse is a close-knit fraternity, and New Westminster lacrosse is a smaller, even closer fraternity tucked inside of that.
Tony is a soft-spoken type who has shunned attention, but he has a reputation for being one of the sport’s good guys, with Dan Stroup, a former WLA player who now coaches girls lacrosse extensively, explaining, “Tony could be coach of the year every year, and even in years he’s technically not coaching, because he’s so helpful to so many people.”
“I’ve got a daughter the same age as Erica, so that’s who we played against most, but Olivia was always around,” Stroup added.
“Great young lady. Comes from a great family. This is such a tragedy.”
It had been a difficult year already for the lacrosse community. Les Wingrove, the longtime general manager of the Coquitlam Adanacs who is best known for spearheading their 2011 Mann Cup victory, died in late April.
Langley Thunder volunteer Dean Recsky also died recently.
Police are asking witnesses or anyone with footage of the incident to contact Deas Island Traffic Services at 778-290-2400, quoting the file number 20181802.
Olivia was a beautiful person. She was a great, great kid. It’s shocking what happened.
It’s very hard.” Jamie Stewart