Growing up, Reid Bowering made a habit of heading over to his neighbor’s house when he got home from school. There he had access to a courtyard, as well as the holy grail for any young lacrosse player — a wall.

“They had this surface, this uneven surface on the wall that I’d just throw the ball against,” said Bowering, a Coquitlam, British Columbia, native. “Because it wasn’t flat, the ball would bounce all different directions. I’d just react to that. Getting those reps in as a kid, growing up and all the time going there every day after school, it just kind of tailored my skills.”

Perhaps that’s how the 23-year-old Vancouver Warriors defender has already become one of the best at loose balls in the entire National Lacrosse League.

Bowering enters Week 13 of the NLL season ranked second among non-faceoff specialists in loose balls, only trailing Calgary’s Zach Currier. His 98 loosies, in addition to 12 points and solid defense, has him in the conversation for both Rookie of the Year and Transition Player of the Year.

The Warriors knew he’d be good when they traded up to select him second overall in the 2020 draft. But even they didn’t expect him to reach this level this quickly.

“He’s got this knack for coming out of a scrum or the corner with the ball in his stick,” Warriors coach Chris Gill said. “I don’t know how he fishes it out, but he always seems to kind of bring it out. I was telling people that the last time I saw someone do that was back when I was playing. It was Jim Veltman who could do all that stuff.”

Given Veltman’s Hall of Fame status and nickname of “Scoop,” that’s high praise. Bowering has earned it. He’s recorded three straight games with double-digit loose balls, maxing out at 15 against Panther City Lacrosse Club. He’s been so steady that sometimes Gill must remind himself that Bowering is a rookie.

So, what sets players like Veltman and Bowering apart?

“It’s the way people see the game, see the floor,” Gill said. “They slow the play down or can visualize something before it happens. When he’s on the floor and he’s kind of in his zone, he doesn’t have to think. It’s just natural. Not everybody can do what he does that way.”

Perhaps that comes from all those reps on the wall as a kid, or the additional work he got on the faceoff wing growing up. Even while walking around at practice, he made sure to not let an opportunity to grab a ball off the ground pass him by.

He also has the advantage of experience in multiple facets of the game. While he’s a defender indoors, Bowering played attack at Drexel and has a chance to do the same with Waterdogs Lacrosse Club in the Premier Lacrosse League this summer.

“I’ve definitely learned things about defense from playing offense and vice versa,” Bowering said. “Just knowing myself, stuff that I want to do on offense makes me stronger as a defender, especially when it comes to deception. I know what offensive players are trying to make a defender feel like.”

After all, Bowering is more than just a loose ball machine. Despite his defensive status, he notched a hat trick in his second career NLL game against Panther City. He’s become quite a transformative presence out the back door, too.

“His defensive positioning, his footwork and his knack of knocking passes down or shots down or even sacrificing his body — when somebody shoots it, he just steps up — it’s pretty awesome,” Gill said. “All those things put together, it says we’ve got a pretty good player on our hands.”

He’s the type of talent that has helped the Warriors turn things around this season.

The franchise, which hasn’t had a winning season since moving to Vancouver in 2014, sits in third place in the West Division at 5-3. Top draft selections in Bowering and Adam Charalambides have helped in the turnaround, but they haven’t been alone in changing the culture.

The Warriors have won three straight games despite playing all those games without star forward Mitch Jones. In Vancouver’s latest victory, an 11-10 triumph against the Calgary Roughnecks, it was also without starting goalie Alex Buque and top faceoff specialist Tyrell Hamer-Jackson.

“It just comes from our leadership core,” Bowering said. “No matter what, it’s just the next man up mentality. This is how I think a talented team operates. They don’t care who’s in the lineup. Your star player can be down like ours is, and you’ve got to keep going. No excuses.”

Bowering faced a personal challenge in that matchup with the Riggers. It pitted him against Currier, the only transition player ahead of him on the loose ball leaderboard.

“Him and Challen Rogers are guys who I feel I could do similar stuff to and guys who I want to be just as good as, if not better,” Bowering said. “Watching them is something that I have to do to be the best version of myself.”

Bowering was up to the test. With 10 loose balls, he tied Currier for the game high.

It was indicative of what should be a fun competition between the two for years to come.