House league minor lacrosse salvages a season
Players take to Legacy Bowl for six weeks of fall four-on-four outdoors under return-to-play protocols
This year hasn’t been a complete writeoff for the Peterborough Minor Lacrosse Association.
While the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the summer box lacrosse season for PMLA house league and rep teams, a six-week fall season was salvaged by playing outdoors at the Knights of Columbus Ontario Winter Games Legacy Bowl on Park Street.
About 100 children signed up for weekly sessions which include a 30minute controlled four-on-four scrimmage and a 30-minute Green Machine skills development program run by Trent Excalibur men’s lacrosse coach Mark Farthing and Excalibur players.
On Tuesday nights four teams play in a combined novice-peewee division. On Thursday nights there are four paperweight and four tyke teams.
“It’s a return to activity program we were able to come up with under the Ontario Lacrosse Association’s return to activity guidelines,” said outgoing PMLA president Aaron Garfat.
“You’re not allowed to play fiveon-five traditional lacrosse. Even if we were to do field it could not have been 10-on-10, it would have been seven-on-seven non-contact.”
The registration numbers were well below the usual 650 players who play in the summer and Garfat said they knew that would likely be the case.
“We based everything off about 80 kids to figure out what was going to be the break even in order to run this. We got a little bit more than that,” he said.
To keep costs down teams wore pinnies rather than ordering jerseys. Other expenses included officials, an honorarium to the Green Machine, insurance and balls. The city didn’t charge the PMLA to use the Legacy Bowl.
When the OLA introduced a return to play protocol, allowing a return to activity shut down since mid-March, Garfat said the PMLA thought it was important to offer something.
“To get sticks back in kids’ hands to have some sort of lacrosse. To give kids a chance to play and hopefully it translates into some new registrations for next year. We had 12 kids register for this who have never played before.”
All minor sports organizations worry about the impact the pandemic could have on future participation, he said.
“Especially the summer sports with the fact people have now realized they possibly had fun doing other activities as a family; whether they bought a boat or RV or went camping,” Garfat said.
“I think every summer sport will see some sort of an impact from that probably more on the house league side than rep. This was a way to get people back in the game.
“It seemed most of the players who registered were from the house league side of things. There were a handful of rep players.”
The crossover with the start of hockey season likely i mpacted numbers. “The younger kids, the tykes and paperweights, didn’t start hockey until after Thanksgiving Weekend and we only ran for one week after Thanksgiving,” Garfat said.
It’s been a worthwhile venture. “It’s been great. The parents have been very understanding of any of the new restrictions we’ve had. The players and coaches have done a really good job at understanding there is no physical contact. It’s stick-on-stick if there is any checking.
“The kids are having fun and we haven’t had complaints from anybody about the style of play. I think any of the parents we’ve talked to are just happy their kids are active.”
When the summer season was cancelled the PMLA was concerned about the financial impact of refunding all the registration fees.
To help offset some operating costs and equipment purchased prior to the pandemic, Garfat said many families either made a $20 donation or allowed the PMLA to keep the registration fee and apply it to next year. It really made a difference, he said.
“We’re in a pretty good financial standing going forward,” Garfat said.