Wes Berg grew up in Coquitlam, British Columbia, and spent his college years at Denver University. A current member of the PLL’s California Redwoods and NLL’s San Diego Seals, he is one of the game’s most successful players, having won a Minto Cup, NCAA, MLL and PLL championships, and a world title in field lacrosse with Team Canada.
Though admittedly a novice in the hobby, Berg is also no stranger to trading cards and has been the subject of several lacrosse issues throughout his career. I caught up with Berg recently and got his background as a collector and thoughts on the relative explosion of lacrosse cards in recent years.
Todd Tobias – What is your experience with trading cards? Did you collect as a child?
Wes Berg – I remember when McDonalds issued some NHL cards when I was a kid. My parents rarely took us to McDonald’s because my mom was very big on nutrition, so I didn’t have too many of those cards. But every Christmas before we went up to Prince George, my dad would get my brother and I packs of cards. We had to wake up at like 6:00 to start our trip, and that was our dad’s way of getting me and my brother out of bed. He would get us each some cards to open on the way and look at. It was basically a way to keep us from complaining about getting up so early and having to make the long drive. We would also get cards for Christmas presents, as stocking stuffers and that sort of thing. I know at my parents’’ house we still have a binder full of hockey cards. From what I have learned about condition I don’t think there is anything that is worth a bunch, but you never know. There might be some hidden gems in there.
That was my first exposure to any type of sports trading cards. I remember there was a sports card company in Port Moody, a memorabilia type of place near us in Coquitlam. I would always walk through there and see the baseball cards in the glass cases. We’d wonder how in the hell a card was worth $500-$1,000. I remember trying to keep my cards in nice condition after that, and thinking I was going to be a millionaire one day because of my cards. I never really got into baseball or basketball cards, which seem to be the most popular types of cards.
But every once in a while in Coquitlam someone would produce some sort of legends cards. Maybe it was the WLA, but there would be Jack Bionda and some of the other older guys. They would give them out at games. I still have some of those somewhere as well. Those are probably the first lacrosse cards I’d seen. Then every once in a while there would be a one-off of something that wasn’t really professionally made. But back in the day we never saw any lacrosse cards that were made by the big companies like Topps.Â
TT – Your own first appearance on a card was on a 2015 Sports Illustrated for Kids card. Did you have any strong feelings the first time you saw yourself on a card?
WB – Yeah, I thought that was really cool. It came out as part of a magazine. I didn’t really realize at first that it was an actual trading card because it was something that had to be removed from the magazine page. I think that was the first time I was in a magazine. I was in an issue of Inside Lacrosse after that and then something with the NLL.
But back to the cards, I wish we had cards of guys I watched play like John Grant Jr. He was someone I watched growing up and then later I got to play with him towards the end of his career. Now he is coaching me with the Redwoods. Those are the kinds of guys that I wish I had rookie cards of when I was a kid. I later learned that is the kind of card I probably shouldn’t get signed, but I definitely would have when I was a kid. But it is great to now have cards of myself, even if it is just to give to my young cousins or if I have kids one day. But I do wish I had a nice collection of lacrosse cards, even if they weren’t worth any money. I’d love to have a Gary Gait Team Canada card.
TT – Let’s shift gears and talk about the PLL. What is the general feeling about cards among the PLL players? Do you know any teammates or opponents who collect?
WB – I think that especially in the lacrosse world, the guys are all supportive of anything that will bring more people into the sport, whether it is trading cards or something else. You look at the NFL and what they do with fantasy football. Even people who are not huge football fans might play in two of three fantasy leagues. Trading cards are such a cool thing to do. It is really neat when kids, instead of just having your jersey or t-shirt or hat, they have your trading card at the game and ask you to sign it.
When you look back at the cards that were produced by the cigarette companies, you realize they are more than 100 years old. Then you think forward that someone might still have my card in 100 years. That is pretty cool. I think a lot of the guys are excited about the cards and are supportive of the league continuing to step up and do things like the larger professional leagues from other sports. I don’t think any of the guys are hoarding cards and thinking they will become millionaires off of them, but for fan interaction and as a historic item down the line, I think cards are really cool.
TT – As players, what are your roles, if any, when a new card set is put out by the PLL? Are you notified ahead of time? Or is it a surprise for you guys as much as for the fans?
WB – We are pretty blind going into it. Obviously the guys who are asked to sign autographs for card production have a bit of an idea, but they still don’t have much info on what will be produced.
TT – Do you have teammates or opponents who you know are collectors?
WB – I know a handful of PLL guys who buy some packs and try to collect their own cards or build a complete set. Tre Leclaire, his dad is a big card collector, so he always buys cards. But I do know there are several guys who try to get a complete set from each year. I haven’t seen any trading going on in the locker room, but some guys also try to collect cards of their buddies. I think most guys at least like to open a few packs and see what is being produced. On the NLL side I know that Nick Rose is a huge card collector. I think he is really into MLB and the NFL, so I am sure that when the NLL cards come out he will be building every single set! It is cool having a guy like him who is not only a huge lacrosse advocate, but also a big card hobbyist.
TT – I know Brett Dobson is another collector.
WB – Yes, that’s right. The goalies seem to be into it! I was talking to Dobber recently and he seems to know a lot about the hobby. He will be a big advocate on both sides, PLL and NLL.
TT – The NLL recently signed an exclusive trading card deal with Leaf to produce cards beginning with the 2024-25 season. Has there been any talk about that? Were players given any information about new NLL cards?
WB – I really haven’t heard anything yet. I just know that the NLL signed a deal recently with Leaf, but don’t know any details at all..
TT – Ok, let’s change things up a bit and finish with a few questions that are more about your own thoughts on things, starting with box lacrosse vs. field lacrosse. Are they two different sports? Should players have rookie cards for each?
WB – That’s been a big issue with lacrosse. We obviously have women’s lacrosse that is much different than men’s. We have men’s and women’s box, which are basically the same but have a few different rules. Now we have sixes. I consider it all to be different. In rugby you have rugby and rugby sevens both are still rugby though they have different rules. For lacrosse I think it basically all falls under the umbrella of lacrosse, but there should be rookie cards for each version of the sport.
For me, I could have a college rookie card (Sports Illustrated for Kids) a MLL or Outlaws rookie card (2016 Denver Outlaws team issue), a PLL rookie card (2020 Topps Championship Series) and we didn’t have cards with the Roughnecks, but a NLL rookie card (2022 San Diego Seals team issue). And the cool thing about the way box lacrosse works is that if lacrosse cards did really well and blew up, then you could have Junior A and Senior A rookie cards, along with cards for the national teams and even for the Olympic teams coming up.
I think we have the opportunity to do a lot of really neat stuff. WIth the other sports like MLB and NHL, there is really only one prominent league for each sport and then they might do national team stuff. But we have a lot more opportunity with all of the leagues in lacrosse. We could have a guy with six different rookie cards from all different leagues! That would be really exciting for lacrosse fans, but card traders who are new to the sport would wonder what is going on? It would be a ton of confusion, which is also pretty classic lacrosse!
TT – If you were to begin a card collection today, what kind of sports would you collect?
WB – I would love to have something already in baseball, football and basketball, because they would already have a lot of value! But I think I would really enjoy lacrosse, but also something like soccer would be interesting because it is the most popular sport in the world. I think something from the cricket league or European handball would be fun to have. But my greatest interest would be lacrosse and hockey. Another cool one, and I don’t know if they make them, would be UFC cards. It’s like lacrosse where you have multiple leagues and people with different backgrounds like kickboxing and wrestling, and they have to learn things from different disciplines to be competitive. So I would pick up some of those as well.
TT – If you were to begin a lacrosse card collection today, what players would you collect?
WB – Ooh… Going way back, I would want Jack Bionda and Kevin Alexander. Some of the guys who were incredible back in the day. And then guys I grew up watching like John Grant Jr., Gary and Paul Gait and John Tavares. Maybe Josh Sanderson and Colin Doyle. Brodie Merrill would be cool as well.
For current players… We just traded for (Ryan) Benesch, which is pretty awesome. That guy should have the most trading cards because he’s been on the most teams! But he’s an awesome guy and has had an unreal career, so that would be a great one to have. Tom Schreiber is one of those guys who played in both leagues and is one of the best ever. I’d love to collect my buddies like Challen Rogers, Tre Leclaire, Ben McIntosh, Robert Church, Mark Matthews… There are so many guys I have been lucky to play with whether it was in junior, college or professional. A lot of the guys I’ve played with on Team Canada as well. I’d love to have all of their trading cards.Â
TT – Well, it sounds like you have the basis there for a great collection.
WB – Yep. And you can bet that when the NLL cards come out I’ll be reaching out to see how I can get specific cards and build my set!