Home for the Holidays, Giving Back: Running Into Kellen LeClair at the Downtown Mission

By Bob Bellacicco

Christmas Day has a way of reminding you what really matters. This year, that message hit a little closer to home while volunteering at the Downtown Mission, where I happened to run into a familiar face — Kellen LeClair.

LeClair, a defender with the National Lacrosse League’s San Diego Seals, was home for the holidays, trading flights and faceoffs for a volunteer shift at the Mission. Between cutting up potatoes and sharing a few laughs, we caught up on life, lacrosse, and what it means to come home.

“It’s awesome not having to travel for the holidays and having a few weeks off,” LeClair told me. “I just hang with friends at home. It’s the best.”

For someone in the midst of his sixth NLL season — and a decade removed from draft day — those quiet moments don’t come often. The Seals play an 18-game schedule that stretches coast to coast, with players constantly bouncing between cities.

“Once the season gets going, you’re flying all over Canada and the U.S. every week,” said Leclair, who lives and flies out of Windsor. “San Diego’s a great city, but Vancouver is the furthest because you always have to connect there in the winter.

Being at the Mission on Christmas Day, it was easy to forget that LeClair is a professional athlete. The Brennan grad was giving back — something that feels distinctly Windsor.

Playing against Clippers' grads in the NLL

A Windsor Clippers graduate and former Windsor Lancers football player, LeClair is part of a growing group of locals making their mark in the NLL.

Source: San Diego Seals

“There are like five guys from Windsor active in the league right now,” he said. “A lot of weekends, I'll be lining up against someone from Windsor that I grew up knowing or playing with, and then you're just beating the heck out of each other out there. Even me and my brother (Liam, who plays for the Calgary Roughnecks), sometimes I'll have to line up next to him off the draw or something, get the ball, and he's just chasing me around, slashing me."

He’s also watching closely as the next generation comes up through the Clippers system, encouraged by renewed grassroots efforts in the city.

“They have a really young team right now and a new coaching staff,” LeClair said. “Trevor Learn (head coach) is awesome. He's been doing a lot of stuff like running camps in the city and just getting more lacrosse going year-round which I think will help the development of the younger players big time.”

Extended Season

What many people might not realize is that the NLL isn’t the only place LeClair competes at an elite level. Like many Canadian pros, his lacrosse calendar doesn’t stop when the winter season ends.

“In the off-season, a lot of guys play in other leagues,” he explained. “I play Major Series Lacrosse in Ontario. It’s one of two leagues that make up Canadian Men's Senior A, and we compete for the Mann Cup — which has been around since the 1910s.”

That history isn’t lost on him — especially considering the success he’s been part of in recent years. LeClair and his club have won three straight Mann Cups, and this summer will chase something even rarer.

“We’re going for a four-peat,” he said. “Two other teams have four-peated in the whole history of 100-plus years so that's the goal.”

Grateful for the Game

For LeClair, still competing at a high level into his 30s isn’t something he takes lightly — it’s something he appreciates.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for more out of lacrosse. I think I went on two flights before getting drafted and now it's like I've travelled all over Canada and the U.S., met so many people and had so many cool experiences. I couldn't have gotten more out of it."

Running into Kellen at the Downtown Mission felt fitting — a reminder that no matter how far the game takes you, Windsor has a way of pulling you back, especially during the holidays. And sometimes, the best stories don’t happen in arenas or locker rooms — they happen while lending a hand, right at home.