Pioneers lacrosse to return in 2024

By Lethbridge Herald on December 1, 2023.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

Senior C lacrosse is making a return to Lethbridge next spring after a six-year hiatus.

The team initially folded in 2018 due a lack of commitment and interest.

The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) gave the go ahead at their AGM on Nov. 25 for the Lethbridge Pioneers to rejoin their Senior C ranks.

Jonathon Zook had some help with building a proposal from past team members, who were the backbones of the organization, to present at the AGM.

“The previous fellas kind of wanted to take a bit of a step back after the team folded just because it’s a lot of work and when you don’t get the commitment, it makes it hard to show up and have things run smoothly,” said Zook.

“They were gracious enough to comeback and really guide me through the process and toss in their ideas and their suggestions and with their help we kind of built a proposal. I put it altogether, I took it up to Edmonton,and yeah the rest is history.”

The process began back in August with spreading the word and messaging players who played in the past.

“There’s been a pretty big resurgence of guys that have played in the past, like my own age, when I played with them in junior, they’re kind of coming back,” said Zook.

 “And then a lot of people from around the area because we’re kind of the closest team to a lot of the programs.”

Zook thought there were a few reasons for wanting a Senior C team back.

“I, myself, personally, have just been itching to play for a long time,” said Zook.

“I know a lot of guys, they’re in the same boat. Another reason why, I mean, it’s always important to grow this sport because it used to thrive a lot more in this city but it’s kind of since died down a little bit. A lot of players here just kind of quit after junior because well since 2018 anyways … they didn’t have a choice. It’s either go to Calgary to play Senior C or Senior B or not play at all and that usually means just not playing at all because who wants to travel that far to play.”

Zook said Senior C is more of just the casual guys who don’t want to do anything serious.

“They don’t want to spend a ton of money, they don’t want to travel too, too much but they still want to play,” said Zook.

 “I would say the league has gotten significantly more competitive over the past couple of years,” he said.

Senior C is for those players who age out of junior and are 21 and up.

The Pioneers will be in the RMLL’s Senior C level loop with nine teams split between  a north and south division.

Players or people who are interested in being involved with the team can find more information on the team’s Instagram account @PioneersLax or email pioneerslax@outlook.com.

The Pioneers will be begin play in April 2024.