A new lacrosse league that will bridge the gap between the minor and senior levels will begin operation in the spring of 2014.
The formation of the Cariboo Central Interior Intermediate Lacrosse League was confirmed during a weekend meeting in Prince George. The league, for 17- and 18-year-olds, will have teams in Prince George, Mackenzie, Quesnel and Williams Lake and is planning its opening weekend for April 26-27 in Williams Lake.
Glen (Moose) Scott, who is already commissioner of the Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association, has taken on the same role with the intermediate league.
"A lot of the younger lacrosse players, after they graduate out of midget, they're looking at coming into the senior league and playing against players that are, say, six-foot-one or two and weigh maybe over 200 pounds," Scott said. "And these young players may only be five-foot-five and weigh 155 or something. They may get a little intimidated having to go from midget right into senior lacrosse but this way they've got a two-year period where they can play against players in their own age group and of their own calibre. It will help develop them as better lacrosse players and get them ready for the senior leagues."
The senior lacrosse association helped facilitate the formation of the new league. Others involved included Steve Murphy and Charlene Dahl of Mackenzie, Lisa Scott of Quesnel and Bob Mills of Williams Lake. In Prince George, Shelley Sivell is working on behalf of the league as a coordinator.
Sivell, whose lacrosse-playing son Andrew will be in the intermediate age group next season, said interest in the league is high in Prince George.
"There's a lot of excitement," she said. "I think we have 16 to 18 kids that are pretty high-calibre that are interested, that have said, 'Yes, I will definitely play.'"
Sivell said the new league will "definitely" fill a niche in Prince George.
"The kids that have been playing since they were six, they get to Grade 10, when they're 16, and all of a sudden if they really want to keep playing and are of that calibre, they have to go to Vancouver or [play senior in Prince George]. This league is a good thing. I know that the minor lacrosse people whose kids are coming up, they're very excited."
Glen Scott said an average of 20 to 30 intermediate-aged players have suited up for PGSLA teams in each of the past few seasons.
He said talk of an intermediate league began about four years ago. At that point in time, the Prince George junior B Posse was still in existence but more and more potential Posse players were heading south to play at the intermediate level so they could make a transition into the B.C. Junior Lacrosse League. The junior Posse fizzled out and that left to the current void between minor lacrosse and senior lacrosse.
Scott said the need for a regional intermediate league was never more clear than in April of this year when former pro players Chris Gill and Dan Stroup were in Prince George to instruct at a skills clinic.
"I was there with a couple of other people from Prince George senior lacrosse and we were looking out at the floor in Kin 3 in the afternoon session and we had 55 bantam and midget players out on the floor," Scott said. "We just looked at each other and said, 'We've got to do something or we're going to lose all these players eventually.'"
Details surrounding the intermediate league are still being finalized. But, under the current plan, each team will play nine regular-season games, followed by playoffs. The league champion will then attend the intermediate provincial championship tournament, normally held in the Lower Mainland in August.
For the most part, regular-season games will be grouped together and will move from city to city each weekend. Scott said the ideal spot for games in Prince George is Kin 1, which has been rebuilt and is scheduled to open early next month.
Scott Anderson, a PGSLA veteran who coached the Prince George midget Posse last season, has expressed interest in guiding the city's new intermediate club. The team name has not yet been chosen.
In Mackenzie, Quesnel and Williams Lake, names that have been suggested are, respectively, the Crushers, Wildfire and Warriors.
