Field lacrosse season is underway in the Parkland, and this year the Yorkton Lacrosse Association (YLA) is seeing its highest numbers yet.
Adam Stewart, the YLA president, said there are about 150 kids enrolled in field lacrosse this year. That’s approximately 30 more than last year.
“Our first season was about three years ago. In our first year we had 44 kids. It’s been growing every year,” said Stewart.
Yorkton now has a total of 11 field lacrosse teams, but Stewart said lacrosse still isn’t very popular around Saskatchewan. He said they’re lucky to have the town of Sturgis so close because lacrosse is a popular sport there, too. They have around the same numbers involved as Yorkton does. Other than that, it can be hard to find teams to play.
“After Sturgis, the nearest lacrosse is in Regina. Everything else is farther away,” said Stewart.
Lacrosse is a popular sport to play for kids who are involved with hockey, and Stewart said that’s likely one of the reasons why it’s become so popular in Yorkton.
“The skills are transferable to hockey. A lot of parents of young children are looking for ways to improve their hockey skill, so I think that’s a factor,” said Stewart.
Professional hockey players such as Wayne Gretzky, Brendan Shanahan and Joe Sakic were known to play field lacrosse when they were younger, in hopes of improving their hockey skills.
Some transferable skills include lateral movement and foot speed, avoiding hits, shooting and aim accuracy.
In addition to the transferable hockey skills, Stewart also said the length of the season is another reason why so many families are involved with lacrosse – it’s very short.
“We’re on the field when the snow melts, and we’re done before summer really starts,” he said.
Thirdly, he credited the coaches, refs, volunteers and parents who do a great job supporting the league.
“I think that’s noticed,” offered Stewart.
The season officially kicked off on Saturday as teams faced off at Crossthwaite Field in Yorkton all day long.
