WESTLOCK – The Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre will welcome teams from across the province when it plays host to the 2023 Alberta Major Female Provincial Lacrosse Championships July 7-9, the first lacrosse provincial championship hosted locally.
Among the four teams that will hit the floor this year are the St. Albert Drillers that includes young women ages 16 to 21 from St. Albert, Fort Saskatchewan, Spruce Grove and eight from Westlock including Brittney Howse, Madison Howse, Alisha Boulerice, Paytyn McNelly, Taylor Goller, Dakota Perkins, Ruby Kubinec and Georgia Sawchuk — on the 24-woman roster, the majority are returning vets with only two rookies, while behind the bench the coaching staff includes head coach Brooke Huber, assistant coaches Denice Boulerice, who’s from Westlock, and Stew Begg.
Team manager Stacy Howse, who’s also from Westlock, said the club, which finished fourth in the seven-team Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) this past season, made an appearance at provincials last year and missed out on the bronze medal by only a single goal.
“The whole league this year has been really good competition, which is not how it’s always been for the female lacrosse league. You often have your top teams that are far ahead of the pack and then you have your other ones who are really low on the bottom,” said Howse.
“But this year we had a lot of one-goal games and super close games in the whole league. The competition this year was exciting … give or take a goal is really what that came down to, so it’s pretty exciting for female lacrosse.”
Heading into provincials, Howse said the Drillers will rely on their strong defensive play and chemistry to remain in the medal hunt. She said she’s seen a lot of growth from this group considering they grew up playing against one another.
“When these groups come together, I think the biggest thing is making sure that they can get along, play together and become a team and that would definitely be one of our strongest points. These girls really are a team, they’re very mature and they’re good at communication,” said Howse. “This year we’ve really worked hard on our defence as that was our weak point last year and that’s really become much stronger.”
Special award
This season began with a special presentation at the Drillers home opener when the Westlock’s Soul Sisters Memorial Foundation presented an inaugural award, the Moose Award, to a lacrosse player in memory of coach Chris Letendre, whose nickname was Moose. The award, which was crafted by local artist Sean Bratt and will be given out every few years to a player who best emulates the passion and dedication to lacrosse and the spirit of Letendre, went to Westlock’s Brittney Howse.
