Provincial Team Tryouts

Past Articles

1. Spotlight on Northwest
2. Masters Lacrosse Startup
3. An opportunity to advertise the World Championships and show your support for Lacrosse in Nova Scotia plus receive free tickets!
   
4. 2007 Referee Clinics Announced
5. 2007 ILF World Indoor Lacrosse Championship
6. 2007 Coaching Certification Courses Announced
7. East Coast Jr A Lacrosse League is operational for the 2007 season! Jr A players....get registered now!!!




Spotlight on Northwest


Hooked on lacrosse

Sport growing exponentially in N.S.

By CHAD LUCAS Sports Reporter

Gavin Quigley has traded the soccer pitch for a summer spent in humid hockey rinks, minus the ice.

The Halifax 12-year-old is one of a growing number of Nova Scotian kids falling in love with lacrosse.

"It’s just a natural summer sport, it’s a fast-paced game," Gavin said. "I used to play soccer, but this is my main sport now."

The world indoor lacrosse championships beginning Monday at Halifax Metro Centre will only draw further attention to a sport that has expanded exponentially across the province in the past seven years.

More than 1,600 youth play in the Metro Minor Lacrosse League, which started in 2000 with 14 teams. Now it has grown to 90 squads from Truro to the South Shore, in divisions from Tyke to Junior.

Scott MacSween, one of Gavin’s teammates on the bantam select Halifax Northwest Rebels, said his friends drew him into the game.

"Everyone else was doing it, so I thought it would be fun," said Scott, 12.

The sport’s popularity took off locally when Sportsnet started televising Toronto Rock games from the National Lacrosse League around 1999-2000, said Metro league commissioner Wayne Finck.

"That was certainly a factor in enticing boys and girls to give it a try."

And lacrosse is a sport that, once you try it, it’s easy to get hooked, said Finck – a former pro player who co-owns the Adanac lacrosse store on the Bedford Highway.

"It’s a great game, first and foremost," he said. "It has a lot of action, and the physical aspect of it is certainly appealing to a great number of players."

Blair Parsons was drawn in after his son, then in Grade 3, joined an after-school club run by Finck.

"I went over to pick up my son and I asked Wayne if there was anything I could do to help," said Parsons. "He put a whistle around my neck and said, ‘Go to work, coach.’"

Parsons is now the head of the Halifax Northwest lacrosse club, which has grown from one novice team of 17 players to a 14-team organization with 230 kids registered.

He says it’s an easy game to enjoy because it’s so accessible.

"It’s a physical game, it’s a fast game, it’s exciting. Anyone who can put a stick in their hands and wants to work at it has an opportunity to enjoy the game.

"It becomes a real passion. It’s one of those games that just takes you over after a while."

Nova Scotian youngsters have not only embraced the game but excelled at it, capturing several medals at national championships in the past few years.

Gavin and Scott played on the provincial peewee team that won gold in the B pool at the Canadian championship last August in Whitby, Ont.

The bantam squad took gold in the B pool at the 2005 nationals in Burnaby, B.C.

"That was fantastic," said Gavin, who captained the peewee squad. "We went from winning no games (the year before) to winning five and getting gold."

Finck said the quality of play throughout the province is quickly improving.

"We’re into year seven of minor lacrosse, so we have players attending … nationals who have played upwards of five or six years," he said. "Their skills are developing. We’ve got some good coaches on stream and results are starting to show on a national basis."

Both Finck and Parsons expect this week’s world championships will pique the interest of even more youth.

"We’re expecting that it will translate into more interest next spring," Finck said.

But growth also brings new challenges. As with any youth sport, volunteers are a precious commodity. Attracting new coaches is a high priority, and Finck would like to see a paid executive director for Lacrosse Nova Scotia.

"We have some people that are doing too much," he said. "We’ve got to spread out that workload a little bit."

The other big hurdle is finding places to play. With the growth of spring and summer hockey leagues and camps, it’s becoming harder to find arenas that don’t keep their ice almost year-round.

"We’ve only got two metro rinks where we have access from mid-April to the end of July, seven days a week," Finck said. "There’s others where we can have them on the weekend, some Monday, Wednesday and Friday… it’s sort of a hodgepodge."

But he’s optimistic that more doors will open as the sport continues to gain prominence.

"Hopefully with the continued growth and exposure the sport gets this week … we’ll have access to more facilities, more coaches and volunteers and administrators will come on board," he said.

( clucas@herald.ca)




Masters Lacrosse Startup


Masters Lacrosse is on! The season starts Sunday, May 6th at 6:30 to 8:00 pm.


Players aged 35 and older can come out and enjoy free flowing non-contact lacrosse. See the Masters Page on the DartmouthBandits.com website for rules.


All players must be registered with Dartmouth Bandits and have paid before stepping on the floor (registrations accepted at the rink!). All players (other than goalies) must be 35 or over.


Helmets, Sticks and Gloves are required.


If you know someone who wants to play please pass on this on!!!


Tish

Dartmouth Bandits Registrar