Seals' veteran defender Cam Holding anchors team, community

By National Lacrosse League standards, San Diego Seals co-captain Cam Holding, 35, is a bristlecone pine tree with an ever-widening base, an Aldabra giant tortoise slowly traversing the Seychelles archipelago, and handprints stenciled on rocks in Argentina.

In other words, the Seals' 6-foot-1, 205-pound defender is old.

"There's not a lot of guys that have 10-plus years in this league," Holding told The Coast News. "I'm going season-by-season, and my body will likely tell me when I'm done."

In the life of a professional athlete, the erosion of skills and the body's decline are natural markers of time. But for professional box lacrosse players, longevity is more complicated than that.

"Since we aren't full-time athletes, you have a lot of guys working in finance or in various jobs," said Holding, who supplements his income as a realtor with the Guiltinan Group in Del Mar and offensive coach for the Santa Fe Christian boys' varsity lacrosse team. "At some point, you have to make that decision. You buy a house, have a wife, start having kids, and then suddenly you are talking about being gone 24 weekends out of the year, and you're not making a full-time wage to show for that. That's the biggest limitation for guys to have a prolonged career."

The cost of living in San Diego County makes it even tougher for Seals players than others around the league, which Holding says could impact the number of new talents coming to play for San Diego.

"I'm sure [the cost of living] plays a factor in free agent signings," said Holding, a native of Whitby, Ontario. "The other struggle is most of our league is Canadian-born players - I'm lucky to be a United States citizen - for a lot of players who may want to play in San Diego, it's crazy expensive and they don't have a green card, so what the heck are they going to do for work? Toronto [Rock] and Vancouver [Warriors] kind of have an advantage when they have their players who can live and work in-market."

According to Holding, ownership is the driving force keeping the Seals competitive while the team navigates the difficult path for players. Taiwanese-Canadian billionaire Joseph Tsai, owner of the WNBA's New York Liberty and NBA's Brooklyn Nets, took control of the Seals in 2017 after paying $5 million for a majority stake.

Despite Tsai also serving as a founding member and current chairperson of the Chinese multinational technology company Alibaba Group, the wealthy magnate is very involved with the Seals, Holding said.

In the last seasons, Seals left-handed defender Cam Holding led the team in loose balls and scored nine goals. Courtesy photo/Seals

In the last two seasons, San Diego Seals defender Cam Holding led the team in loose balls and scored nine goals. Courtesy photo/Seals

"In my time at Colorado, I never met [Mammoth owner] Stan Kroenke," he said. "[Seals owner] Joe [Tsai] is at our games and practices. He's in the locker room. He is so involved. You feel a different level of commitment from the top. He has a lot going on with Alibaba and the Brooklyn Nets, and he is giving us his time; I think that's pretty cool. Across the league, if you asked around, [players would say] Colorado and San Diego are the two best franchises to play for as far as being treated like a pro."

In addition to cross-checking opposing players, Holding has an active role with the Seals off the turf. He runs the team's Junior Youth Programs and manages the construction of the new

"Working for the team has really given me the opportunity to have a flexible schedule, so when I need to focus on taking care of my body during the week, I'm allowed to do that, and I don't have to stress about anything else," he said. "That's a big piece, but at the end of the day, I will always do whatever I can to keep playing."

Holding, drafted in 2012 out of Grand Valley State University, blew out an ACL in 2018, costing him the season. On why he keeps coming back year after year, he offered a simple explanation: "I love playing this game. I love being around the guys, I love being in the locker room, I love this brand. If I was to get traded tomorrow, I'd never play for another team; I love everything about the San Diego Seals."

Coming into Seals training camp the first week of November, being around his younger teammates has helped Holding tap into the fountain of youth.

"I focus on mobility and functionality," Holding said. "I feel like I did 10 years ago. That's credit to preparation. I work out with the young guys every day and that rubs off. Once training camp is done, I am feeling my age, but in the heat of the moment, the preparation pays off and I feel pretty good."

The uptick in explosive athleticism league-wide is one of the bigger changes Holding has noticed since breaking in nearly 13 years ago.

"The game has gotten so much faster," Holding said. "The kids coming up are 10 times more athletic than when I started. Canadians were first starting to go south to go to school, and now everyone has gone through the top level of college field lacrosse and had the strength and conditioning programs. They are all on a different level of athleticism and physicality."

The Seals' 2024-25 season opens against the visiting Philadelphia Wings on Dec. 1 at Pechanga Arena. Coming off last year's 13-5 regular season and a trip to the semifinals for just the second time in team history, the team's upcoming 18-game slate features home-and-away matchups with reigning NLL champion Buffalo Bandits in the last week of February.

Last season, the Seals proved nearly unstoppable on their home turf, boasting an 8-1 record after outscoring their opponents 124-90 at Pechanga Arena.

Due to the franchise's recent success and growing interest in the sport, Holding hopes the Seals' popularity will continue to grow and attract new fans.

"The fanbase is amazing, but we'd like to have more," Holding said. "Every single year, it's grown a little bit. Our game atmosphere is so loud and we thrive off that. I hear so often from fans: 'This is my first game; I didn't know this was here, but I'll be coming back.' It is an incredible environment to watch sports."