Lacrosse season is underway and the varying levels of the Innisfail Phantoms have been playing and improving so far.
Trey Christensen coaches one of the two bantam teams, which has a number of first-year players taking up sticks.
“It's going all right. We're definitely improving,” Christensen said. “Our team hasn't won yet but we're getting there.”
He said his team last year had a similar no-win record in the first part of the season but ended up placing third.
Coach Wally Genz is seeing improvement in his peewee team as well, many of whom are also first years or have been bumped from the novice level as there weren't enough players for a novice team.
“Considering the players that we've got, we're doing very well,” Genz said. Even the experienced players are learning new skills and the whole team has gelled as a unit despite most of the players living in different towns, Genz said.
“We're one big happy family,” Genz said.
The team's record is one win and six losses so far.
“Overall I'm so proud of these kids,” Genz said. He noted three Yeti players have been helping out the team's players improve their skills.
Mini tykes coach Monique Smith said of her six players, five are new to the game.
“We're kind of all learning at the same time,” Smith said. The mini tykes are usually four or five years old.
“They're having a blast,” Smith said. “It's amazing how quick they pick up.”
The mini tyke team is playing mostly to get the kids excited about the game and only plays on weekends. The team has three more tournaments to play in this season.
