Lethbridge Lacrosse Association attracting new players in 2022

By Lethbridge Herald on May 6, 2022.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Lacrosse Association is celebrating its 20th year in the city this year and looking forward to a full slate of games for the first time since 2019.

“This will be the closest to normal since 2019,” said Mike  Medhurst,LLA president.

The closest to any game action that any team got was an exhibition season last year — which was competition among the Southern Alberta Lacrosse Association — and there were no tournaments, provincials or travelling

“There is all of that this year,” said Medhurst.

Medhurst says this year was quite a bit better as far as attracting new players to the sport of lacrosse.

“We are  fortunate that Lethbridge Lacrosse Association are  all a board of volunteers,” he said.

“So, everyone is from different backgrounds, but everyone has a shared love of lacrosse. And the whole board’s involvement for winter  lacrosse and our come try-it lacrosse nights and just kind of getting kids interested in playing lacrosse again.”

Medhurst agreed those come try-it sessions added to teams in the younger divisions.

“I mean the work  of the volunteers to put those nights on were great, really beneficial for the younger kids because we’ve got a full team in each of the minor age divisions,” he said.

“Kids who are in the  U6 and U8 group, they would have never played lacrosse before. Their only exposure to it would have been if they had older siblings or (friends)  who played and a lot of them, especially in the younger group, they wouldn’t remember. So it’s been attracting new players to the sport.”

LLA’s focus will remain the same as past seasons, which is  getting kids to develop in the sport, enjoy the sport enough to the point where they will continue to play in future seasons and try to convince their friends to play, says Medhurst.

 “Then our earlier start into our March practices were a lot to get kids back to remembering how to play for those that had played before or introducing the game to the kids who are new,” he said.

LLA will see the return of their Floorbusters Memorial  Tournament from May 27-29.

“We try to make it a fun atmosphere for people, for all the teams involved in (it) because there will be vendors at the various arenas,” he said.

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