Estevan Lacrosse has shifted its plans for this season in an effort to still have something available for local youths in 2020.
Their emphasis will be on outdoor field lacrosse rather than the indoor box lacrosse that it has offered in Estevan for nearly 20 years. President Misty Hall said they will teach skills and drills for those in the U12, U14 and U16 age groups.
It is not known if they will be able to have games this year.
“With the season being much later than it usually is, people have made other plans for their summer, so competition is unlikely for Estevan this year,” said Hall.
Thus far, in the three age groups, they have 18 players registered. They are still accepting registrations for the field lacrosse season, as they can have a maximum of 25 kids.
Youths will learn all of the skills and strategies associated with field lacrosse. There won’t be contact in the drills.
Practice sessions will be Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Pleasantdale School at 7 p.m., and the first session was scheduled for July 7. All three age groups are to be on the field at once. If they have enough interest, and they have more than 25 kids registered, they might look at splitting up the age groups and having additional sessions.
Hall pointed out there is quite a bit of difference between field lacrosse and box lacrosse. The field version has more players on the surface and the game isn’t as aggressive. There are also differences in terms of the rules for offence, defence and goaltending.
“We had a couple of kids try it out last season. They went to a festival and they really enjoyed it, so we thought this would be a good opportunity this year to maybe get some more kids involved in it,” said Hall.
The goal would be to eventually offer box and field lacrosse in Estevan. It’s become more common to have both forms of the sport in Saskatchewan communities.
Hall said it will be difficult to not have box lacrosse this year.
“Our players are missing it, our coaches are missing it and our parents are missing it terribly, and we can’t wait to get back in the rinks next year,” said Hall.
Parents and players have been very patient this year, and Hall hopes the association can provide something enjoyable and beneficial for those who are part of field lacrosse.
The age rep. teams that compete under the Estevan Voltz name won’t be competing this year. Also cancelled is the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League, which includes the juvenile Big Dogs and the senior Impact for Estevan teams.
