Lacoka’s field lacrosse team Gators are making their way to provincials followimng the first of three field days before the main event that pits the best teams against each other.
Held at the Ponoka Secondary Campus soccer pitches Saturday, July 23, the tournament hosted teams from as far as Cranbrook, B.C. and Saskatoon, Sask. plus the big cities of Calgary and Edmonton who joined to attend the challenge. Three teams played at once with more than 40 teams taking in the whole day.
The field day was packed with parents, families and close to 800 athletes, explained Mike Wood, president of the Lacoka Lacrosse Association.
“It’s an amazing big family. All of us, we work together to try to make these as successful as possible,” he added.
With lacrosse being one of the fastest growing sports in North America, Wood said these field lacrosse days are a way to ensure more kids get involved in the sport. Growth is coming and Lacoka wants to be ready for it.
“We’re going to see our biggest growth in field lacrosse and girls’ lacrosse,” said Wood. “So now we’ve got girls lacrosse playing today and it just keeps growing.”
Indeed, in speaking with the Mustangs organization in Calgary, Wood says they have seen 100 new players in their program just this year.
“It’s days like this, where we all barbecue together. Just in Lacoka we have kids that travel from Brooks. We have kids from Medicine Hat, Didsbury, Olds,” he explained.
“That’s kind of what builds this great big family.”
He was pleased to host the field day in Ponoka as last year the event was held in Lacombe as there are players from both communities.