Donnan and Vimy Lacrosse Open Houses

VIMY LACROSSE OPEN HOUSE – FEBRUARY 11TH – 7-9 PM

(Grades 7 – 12)

Vimy Ridge Academy and Vimy Lacrosse will be hosting their annual Open House on Thursday, February 11th from 7 – 9 pm. Vimy Ridge Academy is located at 8205 – 90 Avenue.  The Open House is open to the public and no registration is required to attend.

The Open House is a great opportunity for prospective male and female student-athletes to see what Vimy Lacrosse has to offer.  Bring your helmet and stick and take shots in our Shooting Cage. Our radar gun will be set up to measure your shot speed. Meet our Teachers and Instructors, passionate about providing sports-alternative education to student-athletes.

Vimy Lacrosse is currently in its 11th year of providing academic and athletic opportunities to its students. Come learn about the specific lacrosse training provided by Vimy Lacrosse in box lacrosse, men’s field lacrosse and women’s field lacrosse.

DONNAN LACROSSE OPEN HOUSE – FEBRUARY 24TH  – 6-8 PM

(Grades 5 – 6)

Donnan School and Donnan Lacrosse will be hosting their annual Open House on Wednesday, February 24th from 6 – 8 pm. Donnan School is located at 7803 – 87 Street. The Open House is open to the public and no registration is required to attend.

The Donnan Lacrosse program is available for Grade 5 and 6 student-athletes, male and female, who are interested in combining the skill development of lacrosse with overall athletic enhancement.  The objective of the program is to develop a foundation of lacrosse skills while working on overall movement and sport skills, which leads to physical literacy.  Student-athletes are exposed to both field and box lacrosse, while being led through numerous other sports to build upon their active lifestyles. Also come ask us how to combine the Donnan Hockey and Lacrosse programs.

The Open House is an opportunity for prospective student-athletes to learn about Donnan School and meet the teachers and instructors involved with the Donnan Lacrosse program. Donnan Lacrosse is having a successful first year and we look to build upon it in 2016/17.

PLEASE CONTACT PAUL RAI – paul.rai@epsb.ca FOR MORE INFORMATION

Donnan Lacrosse Going Strong

The 2015/16 school year is now past the half way mark and Donnan Lacrosse has shown excellent promise for it student-athletes. The program was built on the principle of providing a strong athletic foundation for its students while allowing them to enhance their lacrosse skills. The students have embraced this philosophy as they have been enjoying the different activities as well as the regular lacrosse training.

The Fall focus was on field lacrosse skill development as the students were instructed on the basic skills of the field game. This was the first exposure for many of the students to the field lacrosse sport and they took to it very quickly. Several of the students traveled to Denver in late October to play in their first ever field lacrosse tournament and their growth in the sport was clearly evident. It was a great experience and no one will forget spending Halloween in Denver.

When the snow hit the students moved indoors to start box lacrosse. The excitement and energy from field lacrosse carried over to the box game. Our focus continued to be on the fundamentals and it has become very clear that all the time dedicated to sticks skills has been extremely beneficial. The improvement in the skills has been phenomenal. Much of the credit goes to Jason Knight, our lead teacher at Donnan, who has been committed since Day 1 to helping the students improve in the classroom and the field.

We are now preparing to send many of our Donnan Lacrosse student-athletes to the Best of the West Tournament in Las Vegas. This will be another opportunity to experience the field lacrosse game and show our improvement. We are excited about this event and all the other events in the future that will be open to our Donnan Lacrosse program.

We are now in the process of recruiting for the 2016/17 school year for our next batch of energetic student-athletes. Donnan Lacrosse is open to all students entering Grade 5 or 6. If your child is interested in the program please contact Paul Rai at paul.rai@epsb.ca or call 780-465-5461 x185.

Don’t Pull Your Goalie

After a tragic auto accident in June, the Penn State men’s lacrosse team lost their friend, 21-year-old red shirt sophomore goalie Connor Darcey. The team created this tribute video in his memory. To watch the video go to:  http://laxmag.us/cdarcey

As we move into 2016 it’s important to be grateful for the wonderful lacrosse memories we have from 2015 and look forward to even more in 2016. For Vimy Lacrosse the past year has been exceptional and we are excited about the great opportunities for our players in 2016.

Happy New Year!

Lucky I Am

It has been a long Fall lacrosse season. It started with the trip to Toronto with two teams playing in the Junior NLL Tournament. Back home for a couple of weeks and then off to the Onondaga Nation where the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships were being held. Back home again as the Harvest Lacrosse League was in full swing with six field teams playing in the league. Then at the end of October off to Denver with two Vimy teams playing in a 3D Lacrosse tournament. Home for a couple days then travel to Toronto and Rochester with the Vimy Girls High School team.  I then remained out east and met the Vimy Boys High School team as they played in Delaware and Pennsylvania.  All this was going on while the Vimy Winter Lacrosse Program was kicking off in Leduc. Through all this travel I believe I have spent more time this Fall with families other than my own. Finally back home a week ago today and I am just starting to feel some normalcy again.

With all the lacrosse chaos that has been going on with the teams, the travel and the coaching, I have had little time to reflect on the experiences til now. It has become very clear to me, when I do a self-assessment, that I am a lucky individual. I get to work with some unbelievable student-athletes in a sport that I love. I have the opportunity to coach them and watch them develop. There are definitely the potholes along the way as lessons are forgotten and mistakes are made. There are growing pains, especially with the younger teams as they learn the field lacrosse game. Our females are also learning and have taken their lumps, but they get themselves up and show great resiliency. It is those moments in time, when I see the players’ perseverance, that I know I am where I need to be.

The Vimy players are going places. Our female players are getting recognized. Our High School boys are playing some of their best lacrosse I have seen in the program. The potential in the program is amazing and I expect some great things for some of our players in the next year or two. That is a result of the amount of work the student-athletes have dedicated to the sport of lacrosse over the past several years.

The Vimy Winter Lacrosse Program is a great time for me because I get to see so many new players to the sport of lacrosse. The enthusiasm is contagious and the energy is exciting. The mini tyke and tyke players are the special ones, the youngsters just excited to pick up a ball and run. Do not get me wrong, it can be like herding cats, but it keeps you on your toes. I also love giving the Vimy sticks out to the players. I love seeing the players with our sticks in their hands and the pride they have in their new equipment.

None of this happens without supportive parents. So many parents have worked hard to make Vimy Lacrosse a success in the Edmonton area. I appreciate the support that parents have given to Vimy Lacrosse. I am extremely thankful.

It has been a great Fall season. The lacrosse has been phenomenal, the experiences have been valuable and the growth of our players has been exceptional. Looking towards the next great adventure. Vegas in February! Did I say how lucky I am?

 

 

Successful Harvest Lacrosse League Comes to an End

Last year Vimy Lacrosse decided to host a one day field lacrosse tournament to provide our Vimy lacrosse students with some needed field lacrosse game experience. We felt that our high school students were practicing daily in the Fall, but were not getting the game play opportunities to help better them as players. This year, with the great participation of local Edmonton lacrosse players, we expanded our plans and went with the Fall lacrosse league. The league played under NCAA rules with some modifications to keep the body contact minimal. Vimy put in two teams, a JV team and and Varsity team. We were joined by the Edmonton Triads, the Edmonton Warriors, the Steamwhistlers and the St. FX high school team.

The season has now come to an end and as we look back on it now we view it as a complete success. Players in the area that have been wanting to play field lacrosse in a competitive environment were able to finally participate in a league. Games were well attended and with the great support of Vimy and Donnan lacrosse parents, a concession was available for those spectators. We were treated to some great weather and some great lacrosse. This past weekend saw some very competitive and intense games. I can speak for the Vimy teams when I say their level of play has increased dramatically. It will pay huge dividends and they continue to develop as field lacrosse players. The NCAA rules created a fast paced game with emphasis on getting the ball up the field. Overall we were extremely happy with the way the league went and we look forward to growing it even more next year.

The winners of the league were the Edmonton Triads, who were pushed to the limit by a very feisty and improved Warriors team. The Warriors were forced to play four games on Sunday and were worn out by the end of the day, but they played hard against the Triads. The Triads did lose their first game in a couple of years to the Warriors, but they persevered in the end with their veteran leadership.

Field lacrosse in Edmonton is alive and kicking. The Harvest Lacrosse League will be back even bigger and better next year. Thanks to Tony deGans for his excellent leadership as Commissioner. Thanks to all the teams that participated. Thanks to all our officials, fans, volunteers and supporters. Thanks to Rick Needham for the photos you see in this post. Wait til you see our young VImy players coming down the line.

To see the statistics of the league please go to http://www.pointstreak.com/players/players-division-standings.html?divisionid=87106&seasonid=14885.

Check out the Facebook page for more pictures at https://www.facebook.com/The-Harvest-Lacrosse-League-1639437906344345/