The Innisfail Minor Lacrosse Association is presenting its first-ever camps for tyke and mini tyke divisions in February and March.
“This is the first year that we are doing the tyke and mini tyke sessions,” said Dara Gooder, registrar with the Innisfail minor lacrosse association, of the sessions that feature young players between the ages of four and six. “We have had a lot of requests to get the younger divisions involved and we want to show our support for them as well.”
The association's annual spring registration was held on Feb. 2, 4, 16 and 18 at the Innisfail Arena from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
“Our league, the Central Alberta Lacrosse League, requires us to declare teams by March 1 so we need to have all our registrations in by February 28,” said Gooder.
Spring training in the sport begins the third week in March, noted Gooder, pointing to the positive response to spring registration.
“We have had a fantastic turnout so far. We filled up our bantam teams and now we're looking to fill up a second bantam team,” she said. “We've also had great peewee numbers come out. It's exciting for that group because there are new kids coming in that have never played lacrosse before.”
There is no prior experience needed to play Canada's official summer sport, said Gooder.
“We welcome any kids between the ages of four (tykes) and 15 (midgets),” she said, noting the tyke, mini tyke, novice, peewee and midget divisions in lacrosse.
In addition, the association is holding two lacrosse camps on Feb. 28 and March 6 for tyke and mini tyke age groups, which will be hosted by Flow Bros Lacrosse, a Central Alberta lacrosse training organization.
Gooder said the lacrosse camps are being held to introduce the young players to the sport.
The sessions are under the instruction of Trey Christensen, a local Innisfail lacrosse player, who has had noteworthy success with lacrosse, noted Gooder. “He's coached our midget team the past three years to provincial wins. He is working with us to help get our younger kids involved in lacrosse. They don't need any experience to come out to the camp,” explained Gooder. “He wants to show kids what lacrosse is about and encourage them in the sport.
“He's a fantastic coach,” she added.
Those interested can register for the camps being held at Innisfail High School on Feb. 28 and March 6 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. by emailing [email protected]
“Hopefully we can implement a tyke and mini tyke camp into our winter program every year,” Gooder concluded.
For more information visit www.innisfaillacrosse.com
Dara Gooder
"We have had a lot of requests to get the younger divisions involved and we want to show our support for them as well."
