By Ottawa Sports Pages, for Gloucester Lacrosse Association
He’s now playing at the peak level of the sport, set to compete in his first National Lacrosse League playoffs, but what Georgia Swarm star rookie Nolan Byrne loves most about lacrosse these days hasn’t changed at all from when he was growing up with the Gloucester Griffins.
“Some of the most fun I’ve ever had playing lacrosse just comes from the little stuff that you don’t even think of, like road trips with your buddies,” Byrne reflects. “It’s been amazing (playing in the NLL), but what you might not realize from the outside is it’s just so much fun to have like 25 brothers to hang out with every weekend.”
Byrne always grew up playing Canada’s national summer and winter sports.
“My dad was always a big hockey guy. He was never a lacrosse player at all, but he got my brother and I into it, and we loved it,” recalls Byrne, whose sister Kendra also played for Gloucester’s U22 women as well as Team Ontario. “There was a certain point where I was a lot better at lacrosse than I was at hockey, so I stepped down from hockey and I started taking lacrosse more seriously in my junior years, and just kind of grew from there.”
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Byrne was the Ontario Junior ‘B’ Lacrosse League Rookie of the Year in 2022, scoring 44 goals and 69 points in 19 games for the Griffins. The Osgoode Township High School grad improved his per-game production with 35 goals and 57 points in 11 games in 2023, and then joined the Brampton Excelsiors and the Whitby Warriors to play Jr. ‘A’ in 2024 and 2025, finishing third in league scoring in his last season with over 50 goals.
Byrne also played NCAA field lacrosse with Lafayette College and was a World Junior Lacrosse Championship gold medallist with Team Canada.
That made him a highly-sought prospect come the 2025 NLL Entry Draft, where he was selected in the first round, eighth overall by Georgia. His friends, family and lacrosse family all gathered for a draft party at his house, and then immediately circled March 28 on their calendars for when Byrne’s Storm would visit the Ottawa Black Bears at Canadian Tire Centre.
When Byrne fired in two goals for the visitors, there was an audible roar over the groans of the home Black Bears fans from Byrne’s supporters, who numbered in the hundreds.
“I heard them alright,” smiles Byrne. “A bunch of them had my old jerseys on and some of them had their shirts painted. It was pretty cool.”
The 12-7 contest was a key win for the Swarm in their chase for a spot in the playoffs, which they open on Saturday night against the Buffalo Bandits on April 25.
“This meant the world to me,” adds the 21-year-old. “It was really a full-circle moment. It was really cool to be looking around, seeing all my friends and family that have supported me for so many years to get to this point.”
Byrne put together an exceptional rookie season, finishing as Georgia’s top goal scorer with 36 goals in 18 games.
“I love it,” he highlights. “I think it’s the perfect team that I fell on. It’s an amazing, tight-knit young group with some great older leadership guys. I think it’s the perfect dynamic for me to be able to step in, and the coaching staff have dealt with me so perfectly – they allowed me to develop at my own rate, and at the start of the season, they were kind of letting me do my thing and grow at my rate. Now they’re pushing me more and more and trying to get me to the height of my game.”
Most games, Byrne will look across the floor during warm-up and recognize fellow players from Ottawa, past junior teammates, or players he’ll shoot around with during the summer. He says there’s a bond among the local players even if they’re pitted as rivals.
“It’s good fun. Maybe we’ll bash out it on the floor, but at the end of the day, we will be buddies off the floor,” signals the sniper from Greely. “It’s pretty cool as a younger player in the league to already have friends in the league.”
Byrne has no problem keeping up his local friendships either since he still lives and works in Ottawa during the week before flying out to play with the Swarm on weekends. He’ll usually try to take the day off after a game to focus on recovery and regeneration, and then he’ll often train after work the other days, although his job demands he be in good shape too. Byrne works as a contractor, so the task can be different every day – carpentry, finishing, roofing or the occasional demolition job.
“I love working with my hands,” underlines Byrne, who sometimes joins local Black Bears players to shoot around during the week. “I’ve always said I don’t think I’ll ever be able to work in an office. That kind of leaves me with only a few options and I guess that’s lacrosse and working in the trades, so I love it.”
Keeping Ottawa as a home base also allows Byrne to help coach his former Griffins Jr. B team, which opens its regular season Friday evening at the Navan Memorial Centre, the club’s new home arena. He and his brother Cole, who plays Sr. B lacrosse in Ottawa and for Carleton University, are assistant offensive coaches under head coach Martin Legault. Fellow NLL player Cam Wyers is a defensive assistant, pushing forward a strong culture of many of the biggest NLL stars continuing to coach youth players.
“I just love being able to give back to the community,” Byrne indicates. “We’re probably the youngest coaching staff that’s in the league, but I’m really thankful that the organization trusts us, and it’s gonna be a fun year.”
Likewise, the Gloucester Lacrosse Association certainly loves having a star in their midst.
“Nolan’s journey from our local floors to the National Lacrosse League is a testament to his work ethic, passion, and dedication to the game,” the GLA wrote on social media after Byrne scored his first (highlight-reel) NLL goal. “Watching one of our own make an impact at the pro level is something the entire Griffins community can be proud of.”
Learn more about the Gloucester Lacrosse Association at Gloucester-Lacrosse.com and follow the GLA on Instragram here.