Owning his own business was always the plan for Kyle Belton and lacrosse has proven the way to accomplish that goal.
It started by watching his father Cal successfully run his own business — Valley Car Colour, a car paint and auto supply company on the Langley/Surrey border — for more than 25 years.
“Growing up, watching my dad start a company from nothing, I knew that was something I wanted to do,” Belton said.
Belton was always a high-level lacrosse player as he went through the ranks of the Langley Minor Lacrosse Association. And he played well enough to eventually earn himself a scholarship to play field lacrosse at New York’s Stony Brook University.
“Lacrosse and being able to go to university, came hand-in-hand. I just took the opportunity to work my hardest and try and get a scholarship and live both dreams in that sense,” Belton explained.
And when he wasn’t on the field, he was in the classroom earning his degree in business.
Belton graduated from Stony Brook in 2012 but has continued in lacrosse, playing professionally during the winters in the National Lacrosse League and in the summers with his hometown Langley Thunder.
And last off-season, Belton was picked up in a trade by the Vancouver Stealth from the New England Black Wolves.
Now permanently in the Lower Mainland, it allowed Belton a chance to start putting his business acumen to good use by partnering up in a pair of business ventures.
His first business is a company called CurbSmart.
A friend’s dad, who worked for a concrete company installing parking curbs in the Lower Mainland, realized there were a lot of smaller jobs which were not getting done.
The company was started by Tanner Derrien, with Belton coming on board, providing his business knowledge to help revamp the website and company logo.
And now comes his latest venture, and once again, he is partnering up, this time with a former intermediate and junior, as well as university teammate, Jordan McBride.
The pair always talked about creating some sort of lacrosse company.
McBride graduated a year ahead of Belton and established Era Lacrosse in 2013 with Belton coming on board earlier this year once he relocated to the West Coast.
The company has a full line of lacrosse shafts for athletes of all skill levels.
McBride and Belton come up with the designs, send them to a graphic designer, and then get the sticks made overseas.
They rely mainly on online orders, although they have begun attending major lacrosse tournaments, selling their sticks on site.
“Jordan really laid the foundation for this company and I am just happy to be on board and be able to create shafts and (be) innovative,” Belton said.
“It is cool to have an idea in your head and to have it actually come to life and hold it in your hands is pretty satisfying.”
Belton compared being a business owner as similar to playing a game.
“Like lacrosse, you never really know what is going to happen,” he said.
“It is exciting; you get beat up and you have to pick yourself up.
“You learn a lot about yourself.”