Now it’s all a matter of battling through the logistics and planning necessary to create some semblance of a season for the organization’s hundreds of players -- and just how such a campaign might look.
“Obviously Tuesday’s announcement threw us a bit of a curveball, with the original plan, outdoor sports weren’t going until the third week of June and now here we are, in two days we’re allowed to get back to competition,” said MJLAX president Cody Nidesh. “It definitely expedited the process and it’s great news for the kids.”
The organization is once again focussing on the field side of the game for the immediate time being, and the good news is there’s precedence -- when sports returned last summer as the first wave of the pandemic waned, MJLAX quickly put together a field season that saw a slate of exhibition games with Regina teams.
That will likely remain the same, with further plans in the works.
“We have some of the younger groups who are already like ‘hey, we’ll play on Sunday if you want to’,” Nidesh said with laugh. “It’s almost the cart before the horse, but it shows the excitement is there. The kids have been patient, and if we want to play next week with games against Regina we’ll try and make it work. We still have to get approval from the SLA to get our games sanctioned and what not, but that’s a pretty easy process, we just want to make sure we’re doing everything right.”
Teams took the field for their first practices this week, following the eight-players-and-two-coaches protocol like every other group looking to stay active. Overall numbers have remained similar to last season, although some age divisions feature more players and some fewer.
To that end, registration is still open and players are more than welcome to sign up even at this stage of the season, especially as interest grows with games on the horizon. You can visit the MJLAX webpage at www.moosejawmustangslacrosse.ca and click the registration tab for more information and too sign up.
Plans are also being put together to face other communities and even create a bit of a league, but those remain up in the air.
“We’ve had some discussions with other communities and we’ll be getting together here soon to see what it looks like moving forward,” Nidesh said. “We’ll have to decide if we want to form a league for one year, or where do we go from here and make it the best opportunity for the kids this year.”
As for the regular focus for MJLAX -- box lacrosse -- there are still many, many discussions to be had at many different levels.
“We’re exploring options is the best way to put it… there are a lot of factors that go into it, what kind of numbers, what kind of restrictions and all that,” Nitesh said. “The indoor side will probably be a little more restricted, and it’ll be what centres are interested, what kind of a schedule we’ll have, all those kinds of things. So we’ll see what happens, but we’re always hopeful.”
For the latest information on the upcoming season, keep an eye on their website and the Moose Jaw Lacrosse Association Facebook page at www.facebook.com/moosejawmustangslacrosse.
