The ramifications of the recent flood that has devastated parts of Southern Alberta rippled into the Airdrie sports community and resulted in the cancellation of a number of Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) games.
The Rockyview Knights and the Rockyview Silvertips each had two of its home games cancelled.
The Knights were scheduled to host the Calgary Sr. Mountaineers June 21 and the Edmonton Outlaws June 23. The Silvertips’ June 22 contest against the Okotoks Marauders was also cancelled as well as a June 23 game against the Manitoba Gryphons.
Many games involving the northern teams went ahead as scheduled.
With clean-up efforts ongoing in Calgary and the other towns and cities that were affected by the flood, the league’s attention will now turn to coordinating the schedules of the teams and their local rinks in order to reschedule the cancelled games.
“We don’t have any clue (as to when the makeup games will take place),” said Knights head coach Gareth Barley June 25. “We’ve been asked by the league which days we would be willing to play and about our availability, so now we’re working with the City of Airdrie arenas department to figure that out.
“We’re hoping to have them done sooner than later without extending the season. Playing late into July would be a bit of a downer when you’re dealing with arena space and people coming in from out of town.”
RMLL president Bill Sucha announced the cancellations on the league’s website.
“The decision to cancel games due to massive flooding in Southern Alberta was not an easy one for the executive,” RMLL president Bill Sucha said in a message on the league’s website. “In the end, it was the unanimous decision to consider the safety of the RMLL members. The flooding affected players, coaches and officials. Some were on evacuation alert, some were evacuated while others have lost everything.”
Sucha added that he doesn’t anticipate any more of the Knights’ or Silvertips’ games being cancelled.
Silvertips’ general manager Greg Kantor said at least one of the two cancelled games would be made up in the first half of July and that the game against Manitoba may not be rescheduled due to travel issues.
In the meantime, the RMLL, in conjunction with Chex Sports in Calgary, is looking for used equipment donations to give to players who lost their equipment in the flood. More information will be available in the coming days on the league’s website rockymountainlax.com.
The Silvertips’ played June 30 against the Calgary Chill at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre.
The Knights returned to the Plainsman and kicked off a four-game homestand July 5 when it hosted the Okotoks Sr. Raiders.
