Lucas Oswald

The Route That Brought Him Here

A former goalkeeper finds a new way to compete—and a community worth representing.

Lucas Oswald once watched a volleyball game between the Alberta Golden Bears and MacEwan Griffins and recognized something he wanted: the chance to compete in university sport.

He just didn’t know which sport would get him there.

Volleyball seemed possible. Soccer did, too. Badminton, which he’d enjoyed since Grade 7 phys ed, eventually became the answer. The route changed. The ambition stayed.

Now entering his first year of eligibility with St. Mary’s badminton, Lucas brings lessons learned in a very different position: goalkeeper. His youth soccer team won 60 consecutive games across Grades 8 and 9, including two provincial championships. He remembers the first title most clearly—the satisfaction of sharing it with teammates he’d known for years, and the relief of knowing he had done his part.

Goalkeeping taught him about pressure and resilience. He wants both to travel with him onto the badminton court, where his targets are steady tournament improvement, helping teammates develop, and eventually earning a placing.

The two sports ask different things of his hands and feet, but the emotional experience has a familiar shape. In goal, Lucas felt responsible for making sure his team could count on him. Winning that first provincial title gave him evidence that he could handle the responsibility. It also showed him how much better an achievement feels when everyone celebrating understands the years behind it.

That is the part he wants to keep. His tournament goal includes making people around him better, because individual progress feels more useful when the group is moving forward, too.

He’s also preparing for another kind of leadership as a future educator. His parents’ example informs the professional and personal life he hopes to build.

At St. Mary’s, he already feels a sense of belonging. That matters to someone who values openness about mental health. Having experienced loss and his own struggles, Lucas wants people to know they can speak honestly and seek support.

“It’s okay to not be okay,” he says.

He values the feeling of being welcomed at St. Mary’s, where arriving for class has already become part of a larger community. The campus offers a place to learn, but also people to know and a team to represent. For a future educator who wants to help others grow, that distinction matters.

His parents provide the example he comes back to when imagining success. He admires the professional lives they have built through hard work and the care they have given him as parents. The kind of life he wants includes both. A placing in badminton would be a good achievement; becoming someone others can trust would make that achievement part of something bigger.

His lighter rituals have travelled well, too. Left sock first. Left shoe first. Pokémon Go whenever a walk offers the opportunity. Zach Bryan when a soundtrack is required.

Underneath those details is a simple motivation: make his younger self proud.

The boy watching collegiate volleyball got the university sports opportunity he wanted. Now Lucas gets to decide what he’ll do with it.