With the powerhouse Mustangs box lacrosse program sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MJLAX president Cody Nidesh and the board of directors ended up putting together a field lacrosse schedule to develop that side of the game.
At first, it was only practices, with teams taking the field at 1996 Summer Games Park a couple times a week to hone their skills in the outdoor game. Midway through that plan, MJLAX received clearance from the Sask Health Authority to play a series of exhibition games with the Regina Royals field lacrosse program, a run that led to even further experience and development.
All in all, it went as well as anyone could have hoped given the unknowns heading in.
“I feel it went over pretty successfully,” said Nidesh. “Toward the end the kids were more or less starting to get less engaged in the practice side of things, so once the announcement came out that we were able to play games, the excitement level increased and they ended up having a lot of fun with it.
“The two months went by super fast for us, everyone who was involved as coaches and athletes. You start day one at the beginning of July and all of a sudden here we are in August and it was like you blinked and it was over.”
With a traditional focus on the box game, it took some time for players to catch on to the nuances of the field sport -- positioning, ball movement, rules differences, all things that gradually became more and more familiar.
And as time went on, things improved to the point the Mustangs were able to go toe-to-toe with their field-only Queen City rivals. Nidesh used the organization's U15 group as an example.
“They had a bit of a bigger gap when it came to the knowledge of the game and the skill level,” he said. “Then I went and watched one of their games later on and it was tied with a minute left and unfortunately they lost by a couple goals. So there was definitely improvement at all levels, there was a bigger gap at the start of the mini-games and by the end it was a lot closer… It just showed how quickly our athletes adjusted and improved in a game they didn’t know.”
More important than wins and losses was just being out there playing the game -- and developing that hunger for when things return to normal next season.
“One of the most important things you can do as a lacrosse player is have that ball on your stick,” Nidesh said. “Whether or not we were able to have games, just being out there, throwing a ball around and running through some drills, just some fundamentals to reiterate things. And that little bit will increase their want and need to play the sport again next spring, and having missed out on a full box season, they’ll be hungrier next season and will want to come out.”
The best thing of all? The youngsters were able to have some fun in uncertain times, after spending months largely inside their homes. That alone made the whole thing all worthwhile.
“At the end of it, the majority of them were asking if they could keep going, and that’s what you want, you want them to find a passion for the game,” Nidesh said. “It didn’t come without challenges and lessons learned, but for the short notice we had and putting something together, it was nice to be able to offer something to the athletes.”
