Three years ago organized field lacrosse didn’t exist in the foothills, now the program boasts Midget provincial gold and silver medals.
The Mustangs split their Midget squad in two for the Alberta Lacrosse Association (ALA) provincial tournament, Sept. 7 at Riverside Park in Okotoks, with the White team represented by the older 1996-born Midget players and the Gold squad composed of 1997-born players.
The disparity in age and experience may have made the difference in the final as the older White team won decisively 14-8 to win the provincial gold with the Mustangs Gold settling for the silver.
“The 1996 group was a little bit older, a little bit faster, a little bit stronger and it showed,” said Mustangs program co-ordinator Jesse Fehr, who was coaching the Gold team in the final. “We had a tough time stopping their transition and they were able to get seven, eight goals in transition and we couldn’t bounce back.”
Mustangs White goalie Andrew Bablitz said keeping possession away from the Gold team was vital to the six-goal victory.
“Just moving the ball really well and holding the ball and keeping control the whole game really helps,” Bablitz said. “There was some downs with the defence not talking, then it picks up, drops and picks up.”
Bablitz, a Grade 11 student at Foothills Composite High School in Okotoks, said it was an odd sensation to play against teammates from the Mustangs program for the gold medal.
“It’s really weird because I know what they like to do,” Bablitz said. “We practice with them and had the same coach all season.”
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The Mustangs White beat the Calgary Elite 2 and the Okotoks Gold team in the round-robin and advanced to the final after edging the Calgary 1 team 9-8 in the semifinal on Sept. 9.
The Mustangs Gold finished at 2-2, earning wins over Calgary 2 and the Red Deer Orangemen.
Fehr said the strong showing at provincials from both Midget teams speaks volumes of the quality of the Mustangs field lacrosse program.
“We have great people running the organization, they really care about the game and really want to improve on it here in Okotoks,” Fehr said. “We’ve made a serious commitment to developing lacrosse and it shows when you have a result like this.”
Fehr, who played field lacrosse with the Duke University Blue Devils and now plies his trade in the National Lacrosse League with the Edmonton Rush, has been at the helm of the field lacrosse program since last summer.
“We’ve come a long way in two years and hopefully we can keep at it,” he said. “It shows from our results at provincials from this year to last year and just everyday in practice.”
The Midget Mustangs took the silver medal at the 2011 tournament, losing handily to Calgary.
Fehr has witnessed first-hand the development of his players, many of whom have close ties to the Okotoks Junior Raiders, where Fehr serves as assistant coach.
“I’ve known guys like Colton Bymak, who was a ball boy for the Junior A Raiders, and now to coach him and see him go through the recruiting process is really rewarding,” Fehr said. “We’ve got siblings of guys who play for the Raiders like Tom Fream and Cade McCormick and it’s awesome to coach them and see their passion for the game.”
The Raiders have a presence on the sidelines too, as attack player Jordan Getz, a 2012 first round pick, and Okotoks native Bret Davis and second-year Raider Ben Fream helped coach with the program in the summer.
“Davis is an aspiring Division 1 player and Jordan Getz same thing and knows a lot about field lacrosse. Ben Fream is trying to play high level Division I college lacrosse,” Fehr said. “They’re just the right people to help coach these kids and give them what they need to follow the same path.”
The Calgary Elite took the gold medal in both the Bantam and Peewee divisions.
For more information on Okotoks field lacrosse go to www.foothillslacrosse.com
