The Olds Mavericks are out to a 3-0 start in their first season as a Tier II team in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League after a 10-7 victory over the Calgary Wranglers.
"Obviously we're not going to win every game. It'd be nice if we did. But I'm expecting us to be extremely competitive in every game we play, without a doubt," said head coach Andy Sweetman.
The junior B team played in the league's Tier III division last year before moving up. So far, Sweetman hasn't noticed a drastic difference.
"There's kids in Tier III who should be playing a higher level. It's just they're with a local team and it's easier for them to play in town than travel," he said.
"We thought we'd see tougher teams … we thought we'd see more passing and catching and movement on the floor, like what we did in the third period. We're just not seeing it. I'm not going to say it was easy but we found it to be less team-based than what we were expecting."
The main difference between the two tiers is commitment of the players, he said. Everybody has their own personal life but at the higher levels, players put them aside for lacrosse.
The Mavericks need to call up at least one player per game from Olds' Tier III team — the Stingers — to fill their bench. The ones who show a higher commitment level get first crack.
"The guys who are getting called up are the ones who are making it to practice, showing up, putting in that extra effort. We're going to give those guys a chance first before calling up anybody else," Sweetman said.
"We thought we'd see tougher teams ... we thought we'd see more passing and catching and movement on the floor, like what we did in the third period. We're just not seeing it."ANDY SWEETMANHEAD COACH
