Lacrosse is coming back to Kelowna.
The Kelowna Raiders are ready to rejoin the Thompson Okanagan Senior Lacrosse League after a year long hiatus. The Raiders will rejoin the TOSLL along with the Vernon team, the Tigers to return the league it’s four team standings.
Four teams doesn’t seem like much, put Raiders’ president and GM Jules Morris, is happy to for the team to get back playing.
“I’m excited and I’m really optimistic that we can have some fun this year,” said Morris. “Our guys handled a couple seasons with a few wins very well; now it will be fun to win and play competitively.
Lacrosse has always kind of taken a backseat to the more popular Kelowna sports, especially hockey. The 2017 season for the Raiders didn’t receive the draw they wanted as intermediate teams in the Okanagan drew most of the interest of the local players, while other players headed to the coastal leagues when they came out of junior lacrosse.
Morris and the Raiders have been pushing to get the team back on track since December 2018, and were successful in gathering attention in terms of numbers. With Vernon reinstating their team, and the Raiders figuring out their roster, the TOSLL is almost set to start the 10 game season between the four teams which includes Salmon Arm and Kamloops.
“The teams are younger and faster, we know we have to pick it back up a notch and come back in better physical conditions. We’re going to have enough offensive power to be competitive in the league, we’re tough on defence, and we have strong goaltending. We’re optimistic,” said Morris.
The Kelowna home games will move to the Rutland arena for this season, which Morris said will be much better for playing in the summer heat.
The Raiders are still recruiting and finalizing their team for the 2019 season. They look to start the season in April.
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