Canada’s national sport is getting underway in the Key City as the lacrosse season is starting to ramp up.
Sticks, balls and nets are all getting set up as the Cranbrook Lacrosse Association have started practices for their box (indoor) league.
“We are really excited,” said Russ Sheppard, technical advisor, Cranbrook Lacrosse Association.
“We have had a big influx of players last season, and we are seeing some real benefit to this season because we are getting more numbers and more volunteers. We have been a sport that has doubled in the last three/four years.”
There are close to 200 athletes who are part of the indoor lacrosse program.
“We are starting to see our gameplay get a bit higher in terms of the skill level. We are seeing more and more kids coming out and having fun. We are seeing more lacrosse sticks around the community,” said Sheppard.
Lacrosse is similar to hockey in many ways, which Sheppard says makes the sport attractive to many athletes.
“It’s a great crossover sport with hockey because we are playing indoors, on the boards, there’s contact, so kids are learning early how to eat checks and how to give out respectful checks,” he explained.
“It is Canada’s national summer sport so there is a long history involved with lacrosse. But, the physical attributes and the discipline you need to succeed in lacrosse really tie over to lifelong lessons in general, and to sports like hockey, which is the other national sport that we share.”
Within the league, there are male and female teams for a wide range of athletes
“We have good female coaches that are on the path here to really build our female presence over the next three/four years,” said Sheppard.
The female program has started to grow and become more expansive, specifically at the midget age level.
This year Sheppard notes the association is running an extensive house league.
“We call it our ‘Champions Cup.’ That starts at the end of May and early June,” he said. “It’s going to be a two-week celebration of lacrosse, where we have all of our local kids put onto different house league teams and put them into a competitive league.”
On April 14 the association will host their first tournament of the season, the West Kootenay League Tournament, where teams will play at Memorial Arena and the Kinsmen Arena.
Cranbrook will also play host to the Kootenay Box Lacrosse Tournament from May 10-12.
“We have probably 20 teams from out of town coming in for that, and we run that division from seven year olds all the way up to 16 year olds,” said Sheppard.
Their first away tournament of the season will be April 26-28 in High River, Alta., for the Barn Burner Tournament.
“We are pretty excited about the upcoming season and all the new coaches and volunteers,” said Sheppard.
While box lacrosse has been in Cranbrook for many years, Sheppard says they really revamped the program four years ago.
“We went to tournament play instead of playing in a league, and we have seen some pretty significant growth because of that,” he said.
Once box lacrosse finishes in June, it will be straight into the field lacrosse program where it’s anticipated to have 75-100 athletes participate in it.
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