Skip to content

Acchione doing it for dad, his family

Possibly playing for Team Canada and leading Hill Academy Pride lacrosse team to a championship title on Acchione's mind this year
2020-01-14 Matt Acchione
Photo supplied

For Matt Acchione, 2020 is shaping up to be a special year.

The Barrie lacrosse player is excited he's made it to the second Team Canada evaluation camp and is one set of cuts away from getting the opportunity to represent his country at the 2020 World Lacrosse Men's U19 World Championship.

Acchione is also focused on leading his Hill Academy Pride lacrosse team to a championship title and was recently selected in the Ontario Junior 'A' Lacrosse League Barrie Dispersal Draft by the Toronto Beaches, along twin brother, Cameron, and best friend, Jacob Power.

This fall, he and Cameron will together be attending the University of Delaware.

Acchione knows he's far from alone in this exciting journey. He knows his father, Anthony, is looking down on him. And he knows Anthony Acchione, who died of kidney cancer in the summer of 2015, is proud of him.

"For sure," said the 18-year-old, who along with Cameron and younger brother, Kyler, 12, all picked up their love of lacrosse from their dad. 

"I'm just doing this for my dad, my family, in that everything works out like it's supposed to," added the Grade 13 student at The Hill Academy in Vaughan.

It's all about family for Acchione. His mother, Vanessa, means the world to he and his brothers.

"She's absolutely incredible," he said. "I'm not sure how she does it. Manages three boys. Just everything she does. She goes out and does things she needs to do. She's always supportive. Just the best person. Caring, honest and just the best mom in the world."

She's been there for him every day.

"Big time," Acchione added. "Especially when I lost my dad. I can always count on my mom. She's the strongest person I ever met. I don't know how anyone can lose someone like that and is just so strong for three boys is incredible."

It's also been nice to have Cameron to lean on through all they've been through.

"He's my best friend," Acchione said of his twin. "We've been together since Day 1, obviously. We're always there for each other. It's pretty awesome."

Kyler plays Barrie minor midget lacrosse.

"He's a character," Acchione said, laughing out loud. "He's a great kid."

It's safe to say, thanks to Anthony, the Acchiones are a lacrosse family. Their father got the twins into the sport when they were just four or five and would coach them up to minor peewee before he got sick.

Anthony was an accomplished player himself, playing his minor lacrosse in Orangeville starting at the age of 12. He would go on to lead the Orangeville Northmen Junior 'A' Club to a pair of Minto Cup national box lacrosse titles in the mid-1990s.

In his memory, the Barrie Minor Lacrosse Association hosts the Anthony Acchione Memorial Classic tournament every year.  

"I always heard stories about that," Acchione said of his father's playing days. "It was pretty exciting stuff. I always wanted to be like him and I still want to."

Acchione found out in December he was just one of 32 players from the 73 in the first Canadian under-19 tryout held in Oshawa to make it through to the final evaluation camp expected to be held in late May.

Just 23 players will be selected to suit up for Canada at the 2020 world championships being held in Limerick, Ireland from July 9-18.

"It would mean the world," Acchione said of being able to represent his country. "It's definitely cool to think about. It's kind of hard to describe."

The two-way midfielder, a gritty player that can "get down big time" when the team needs him, just plans on playing his game at the next national evaluation camp.

"Obviously, to go out there and do your best, and do your thing," he said. "Be a good teammate."

Acchione and his twin brother announced their commitment to play NCAA lacrosse at the University of Delaware in December 2018.

"I'll have an automatic best friend," he said of having his twin brother there with him. "It will be awesome."

Though moving away from home to Delaware, he admits, won't be easy.

"I don't want to even think about that," said Acchione, who is grateful for all the BMLA and Hilly Academy staff have done for him over the years. "Definitely exciting, but leaving my mom. . . I'm hoping my little brother can take care of her. I'm sure he will."

He hasn't decided yet on what he'll be studying. 

"I'm going to take the first year to decide what I want to do exactly," Acchione said. "I'm thinking something in business."

Juggling a busy lacrosse schedule and school can be difficult, but Acchione says Cameron is always there to make sure he doesn't miss anything.

"Helps out a lot with skills like time management and having a twin brother," he said. "He makes sure you're always on top of things."

"I would say I'm more the character, where he's more the serious one," added Acchione. "Like, 'come on, come on' type of thing. It's good, we both have our moments."

While Acchione is sad to see the Barrie franchise fold in the OLA, the fourth-overall pick in the dispersal draft will have some familiar faces in teammates Cameron and Power making the trek with him to Toronto when practices start in April and the season opens up in May.

"That was exciting that we got to stick together," Acchione said of Cameron, who was selected by Toronto 14th overall and Power, who went third overall.

While Acchione is excited with what's ahead, he won't lose sight of what's important.

"A bunch of emotions are running through my head, but nothing is done," he said of making the Canadian national team. "My No. 1 goal is to win with The Hill Academy, have a great year. Start up box and finish strong at school academically.

"I just look forward to college next year and, most importantly, just taking care my family and making sure with my mom that everything is set with her."


Reader Feedback

Gene Pereira

About the Author: Gene Pereira

An award-winning journalist, Gene is former sports editor of the Barrie Examiner and his byline has appeared in several newspapers. He is also the longtime colour analyst of the OHL Barrie Colts on Rogers TV
Read more