Hudson Hargraves is still a junior at West Ranch High School, but that’s not stopping him from showcasing his lacrosse talents across the country as he’s set to represent the U19 Dutch National team at the Heritage Cup, an international lacrosse tournament in New Jersey.
“It means a lot. You know, growing up and having two nations of being a citizen. And then just being able to represent one of them, it really means a lot to me,” Hargraves said.
Hargraves, who’s spent the previous two seasons with the West Ranch boys’ lacrosse program, helped lead the Wildcats to a California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section semifinals appearance during the 2025 postseason.
In the 2026 season, Hargraves tallied 11 goals tand recorded five assists as an attacker for the Wildcats.
With the success from high school, Hargraves was told to reach out to the Dutch national team after the junior’s club lacrosse coaches told him about the tournament and his chance to compete internationally.
“It really started back at my club lacrosse team because two of my coaches, they played for the Croatian national team. And I started to realize maybe I could be on the Dutch team,” Hargraves said. “Then I saw this form to join the Heritage tournament and an interest form where they look at it so I filled it out.”
Hargraves added that he waited two months for a call back after sending out the form and described the waiting as “stressful.”
But once he got the call that he made the team, he immediately told his dad, who’s from the Netherlands, to celebrate.
“The first person I told was my dad because he’s the one from the Netherlands,” he said. “But yeah, I was jumping for joy.”
From Friday through Monday, Hargraves is set to represent the Netherlands and play for the U19 Dutch team in a tournament with 35 other countries from around the world participating throughout multiple age groups.
The tournament is to be held at Rider University and although traveling across the country can be nerve wracking, Hargraves grew up in New Jersey as a kid and is excited to go back.
“I used to live in New Jersey,” he said. “I lived there from 5 to 10. And I loved living there and I’m really excited to head back there.”
With the opportunity to showcase his lacrosse talents on the world stage, Hargraves is excited to also represent the Santa Clarita Valley. He added that although the SCV isn’t a “lacrosse town,” he wants to show off the talent that can be produced here and from West Ranch High School.
“This means a lot. Santa Clarita is not exactly like a big lacrosse town, but it’s grown over the past couple of years,” he said in what he expects out of the tournament. “But also, just making new connections with new players, people that share my heritage and hopefully bring back some new knowledge to West Ranch.”
Hargraves and the Dutch national team begin the tournament on Friday with the first scheduled match a 7:30 p.m. local time contest against Korea.
