The Westlock Rock junior lacrosse team is looking for a repeat of its championship performance
Coach Mike Ivey said he’s looking to field a 22-man team this year, meaning for the first time he’ll have to cut some players.
It will by no means be an easy decision as there were close to 30 players on the floor for the last pre-cut practice last Thursday evening.
“I’ve never had to do cuts before, and everyone out here could make the team,” he said. “It’s going to be a difficult decision for sure.”
Difficult, but it had to be made last week as the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League season officially kicked off last weekend.
The Rock will have plenty of time to polish off their skills, though, as the team’s first action won’t be until the home opener.
“We usually get a pretty good crowd,” he said.
The original schedule had the Rock playing their first game against the Parkland Posse May 7, but that team had to drop out of the league for lack of players this year.
The club’s home opener is Friday, May 9 at 7 p.m. versus the Edmonton Wizards.
Westlock’s home crowd will have a lot to look forward to this year, as there’s a strong contingent from last year’s championship team returning to the floor this season.
“We lost some key guys, but we’ve got a good core group,” he said.
“There are a lot of good new guys coming onto the team this year, too.”
Ivey added he hopes to see a repeat of last year’s successful season, which saw the Rock dominate the competition at the league level and put up a strong showing at the provincial tournament.
“We’re setting some high expectations,” he said.
This year he hopes some new promotions will help build up the crowd and encourage more people in the community to come out to support the team.
Specifically, Ivey said he’s planning to have mini-tyke games take place during the intermissions, which will also help build some relationships between the youngest and the oldest lacrosse players in the Westlock area.
“These boys are kind of role models in the town,” he said.
