Family First: Jonathon McConvey
October 6, 2022 – National Lacrosse League (NLL) – Halifax Thunderbirds News Release
When he was a kid, Jonathon McConvey and his younger brother, Thomas, were channel surfing when they stumbled upon a Toronto Rock game on TV. Immediately enthralled, they told their dad they wanted to play lacrosse after the game ended, and their lacrosse journeys started there.
“That was kind of how we were first introduced to the sport, and it’s never stopped,” Jonathon said. “Never put a stick down since.”
Playing with his brother growing up, Jonathon’s box game started out the front door. He eventually shifted out the defensive end with the Mimico Mountaineers in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL), rounding his game into one of solid defense with pistons for pushing in transition.
With guidance from former Catamount and St. Michael’s College School colleague and current NLL pro Warren Jeffrey, Jonathon committed to the University of Vermont, playing all four years as an offensive midfielder. Joining him was Thomas, who had also played for Mimico growing up.
For four years, Jonathon and Thomas played for the Catamounts, starting as impact rookies in 2019 and helping the team win back-to-back American East Championships in their final two seasons. And while Thomas decided to transfer to University of Virginia for his fifth season of eligibility afforded by the pandemic, Jonathon elected to go pro.
The 2022 NLL Entry Draft took place on Sept. 10, the league’s first in-person draft since the pandemic started. The overall consensus No. 1 pick, Thomas, was quickly snatched up by the Rochester Knighthawks.
While he walked up the stage at The Carlu in downtown Toronto, Jonathon had to wait, uncertain of when his name would be called. He had played for the Mountaineers for five seasons, his fifth being the condensed 2021 OJLL season at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre, but that was his last season of box lacrosse. Having not played this past summer, it was up in the air when his name would finally be called.
Roughly halfway through the draft, that wait dissipated. The Halifax Thunderbirds used their third-round selection to call out his name, adding the Etobicoke, Ontario native to the storied franchise’s ranks.
“It was pretty surreal, honestly,” Jonathon said. “It’s kind of like a dream come true when you hear your name called. Obviously, it was a bit more set in stone of where (Thomas) was going to go, kind of No. 1 there, but later on, I wasn’t too sure where I was going to go or what team. But to be drafted by such a great organization, as well, it was just such a surreal experience. I had a lot of family there, especially my brother and my parents and some cousins and stuff. It was a great night, and it was awesome to be able to do it in person, as well, instead of over Zoom like in COVID years.”
Like his brother before him, Jonathon walked up on the stage at The Carlu and donned the Thunderbirds jersey and draft hat. He then met the team’s front office and coaching staff, including Owner and General Manager Curt Styres and Head Coach Mike Accursi.
It’s just the start for Jonathon. Training camp for the Thunderbirds takes place this November, and there, the 23-year-old will show the Thunderbirds staff why he deserves to don purple and orange this upcoming season and help the team win a championship.
While he likens his game to the Buffalo Bandits Ian MacKay, another Catamount, Jonathon is hoping to develop his abilities further, improve his defensive chops and ability to push the ball up the floor as quickly as possible for the O to get a quick advantage. If there’s one thing Jonathon likes to do, it’s push in transition, a match made in heaven for a Thunderbirds team that can run with the best of them.
“It’s a nice fit, and to be able to go somewhere and hopefully have a little bit of free – not free reign, but be able to have a little freedom and push the ball up and try and create some opportunities to get the ball to the offensive guys,” he said.
Learning from the likes of Graeme Hossack, Jake Withers, and Luc Magnan, to name a few, will be a masterclass for the young defender hungry to get back in a locker room and play some lacrosse.
Jonathon knows he has to make the most of the opportunity afforded to him. Cracking a roster as talented as the Thunderbirds won’t be easy. But it’s impossible to not revel in this next step in his lacrosse journey.
From randomly landing on a Rock game on TV as a kid to playing and training constantly with his brother in junior and college to the NLL draft, the McConvey lacrosse journey has been parallel for a long time. But with Thomas heading to Virginia for one last college go, Jonathon gets to forge his NLL path on his own.
“It definitely will be a really cool experience,” Jonathon said about getting to run onto an NLL turf. “Just always growing up, dreaming of that moment of running out on that floor, it will be really cool. Hopefully, I can teach my brother a few things, maybe, but just getting that experience under the belt, I just think it will be really cool. I’m just looking forward to doing whatever I can to help out and try and get some experience under my belt and learn from as many of the guys as I can. I’m just really excited to get back out there.”
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