The Moose Jaw Lacrosse Association recently started up a series of exhibition mini-games with Regina Field Lacrosse, offering the local group a chance to see action in a competitive environment after more than a month of nothing but practices and preparation.
The opportunity came out of discussions with the provincial health authority and Sask Lacrosse, and once it was determined the mini-games could be played safely and within COVID-19 guidelines, it was game on.
That included a contest in the U15 division on Thursday night that saw the Mustangs take on the Regina Royals.
“It’s exciting to get out there and play games and at least have some sort of competition,” said MJLAX president Cody Nidesh. “It would be nice to be playing full games, but we’re playing mini-games based on what’s allowed under the health authority and the government’s plan for all sports in general. But it’s a form of competition, even if it’s different than any other given year just due to what’s happening.”
Normally, the Mustangs would be long, long finished with their box lacrosse season and would see most of their players getting ready to lace up their skates. But COVID-19 put all of that on delay, with a modified field lacrosse season starting back on July 10 and featuring development practices up until last week.
Those practices proved key, too – Moose Jaw isn’t known as a field powerhouse compared their box exploits, and players have used the time to get up to game speed with the outdoor version of the sport.
“We’re coming out of a box mentality, so it’s been a growing process,” Nidesh said. “It’s learning different positions, how to play the game and it’s quite a bit different compared to the box side of the game, so it’s more of a developmental situation and learning a different game.
The rules are different, contact is different, positions are similar but different in you have to keep x number of players on both sides of the field whether you’re playing a sevens or a 10s game… it’s all a part of learning.”
Fortunately, the instruction has been there. As an example, Kyle Dalgarno – a former Mustangs field standout – worked with players throughout the summer and was joined by the likes of NCAA Lander University standout Quinn Ingalls in passing on the skills, tips and tricks needed to succeed in the field game.
“It went really well, and it certainly helped we had guys like that who have a field background and who have been able to be around and oversee and help mentor the kids and the coaches as well,” Nidesh said.
A full slate of games are scheduled for the coming weeks and will be played at the Summer Games Field on South Hill.
