The move from Crossfield to Cochrane and Airdrie appears to have agreed with the Rockyview Silvertips.
The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) Jr. B lacrosse team wrapped up its 2013 season on a winning note, with a 14-13 victory July 14 over the Okotoks Marauders at Pason Centennial Arena in Okotoks.
But it wasn’t about the wins and losses this season, as the Silvertips finished with two wins in 16 games to finish sixth in the RMLL South Division. It was more about developing midget-aged players and bringing junior lacrosse to more fans in the Rocky View area.
“It worked pretty well,” said Silvertips general manager Greg Kantor. “That was just our decision to do that based on we felt it was time we had some fan support. We didn’t play in Crossfield at all this season.”
The team featured players from Cochrane, Airdrie and surrounding communities like Crossfield and Olds. It made the move from Crossfield to play home games this season at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre in Cochrane and Plainsman Arena in Airdrie. The split home schedule didn’t faze the players, according to Kantor.
“Our players are really accustomed to playing in both communities as they’ve come up through the minor program because we play back and forth all the time.”
But he would have preferred an even spread for home dates between the two towns.
“Scheduling-wise, we would have preferred to alternate back and forth between Airdrie and Cochrane,” Kantor admitted. “We ended up with a couple of home games at the same place on Saturdays and Sundays. It wasn’t really great for fans that way because they might make the trip for one. But back-to-back is quite hard.”
Still, the Silvertips intend to split home games next season between Cochrane and Airdrie.
“We’re absolutely going to do that,” Kantor said. “You’ll probably see us doing a lot more with the minor program in terms of ensuring we have at least one and hopefully two teams to highlight at each one of our home games.
“We tried to do that this year and I think we can figure out a way to do that a little bit better next year.
“It’s just going to get nothing but better.”
The ’Tips made a season-ending trade, sending starting goalie Rhett Baldwin to playoff-bound Red Deer Rampage. The team also congratulated three graduating players, handing out team jerseys and plaques.
Tom Code, Garret Fraser and Taggart Jacob have aged out of junior lacrosse, but Fraser will play National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 3 lacrosse at La Roche College in Pittsburgh.
