Alberta close to being a powerhouse in Jr. A lacrosse

The Okotoks Raiders and Calgary Mountaineers have brought the Minto Cup to Alberta. Now the challenge is to keep it there.

The two Rocky Mountain Jr. A Lacrosse League rivals are coorganizers of this year’s Canada’s Jr. A lacrosse championship in Calgary, only the fourth time Alberta has been the site of the four-team tournament. Almost all of the other Minto Cup tournaments in the trophy’s 117-year history have been held in and won by either Ontario or B.C.

“The time is close. I don’t know if it’s going to be our team this year, but an Alberta champion will be coming down the pike shortly,” said Raiders general manager and head coach Andrew McBride on Thursday. “It’s an inspirational story. Great success and great moments come from great opportunity and all we’ve done is put ourselves in a position where we have an opportunity to do something special.

“I’m really looking forward to the kids embracing the opportunity to play in front of friends and family in their hometown.”

Calgary plays the Coquitlam Adanacs, representing B.C., in the first game of the tournament on Thursday night, and Okotoks faces Ontario’s Brampton Excelsiors in the late game. “The skill level has caught up. We’re as skilled as Ontario or B.C. now. The coaching’s catching up, the competition is catching up,” said McBride. “It’s just having that realization and that belief that we can win. There’s no reason that an Alberta team can’t win, it’s just a game of lacrosse.”