The past president of the Westlock Lacrosse Association has been honoured for her contributions to the lacrosse community in the Edmonton area.
Liz Roberts was presented with the Club President award at a meeting of the Greater Edmonton Lacrosse Council — the league Westlock plays in — last week in Edmonton.
“It’s quite an honour to be recognized for your past contributions,” she said. “To be honest, I was very, very surprised. This is the first year they’ve given out an award like this.”
The GELC president has been pushing in recent years for more awards to recognize the contribution of volunteers, she said, and this new award is part of that recognition.
As president of the Westlock association from 2008 to 2011, Roberts has also spent time on the board of directors for the league.
“The intent of the award was to acknowledge someone they felt had a positive impact and whose contributions were quite valuable during their time as club president,” she said. “The comments that were made (at the award presentation) is they appreciated my input, and felt I contributed in a positive way to discussions.”
She added she believes the award is also, in part, a recognition of what the local association has accomplished over the past six years.
“I think it recognizes the good job Westlock Lacrosse has done over the past years,” she said.
Roberts has been involved with the Westlock Lacrosse Association since it started up in 2005. In that time, she has seen the club expand to include 151 players in 11 teams — with every age range being represented.
She said the appeal of the sport, for her, is that it is accessible and is a really good way to get kids active. When compared to hockey, it is much easier for kids to pick up a stick and just start to play.
“It’s just a fun game,” she said. “Most kids can run, and if you can run you can get out there and play lacrosse.”
While Roberts has been involved with volunteering for the association since its inception, she said she has seen the volunteer involvement increase and has seen the calibre of coaching rise to be among the best in the league.
“They really recognize that the quality of coaches in Westlock is great,” she said, noting coaches have always been able to keep a level head and not lose their cool.
Ultimately, she said she credits her ability to be an effective club president in large part to the involvement of the other parent volunteers and other members of the Westlock board.
She is no longer club president — that duty has been passed to Dan Basisty — but Roberts said she has no doubt the future of the club is bright.
For more information about lacrosse in Westlock, visit www.westlocklacrosse.ca.
