Popularity of field lacrosse on the rise in Edmonton

A few years ago, it seemed like field lacrosse had all but disappeared in Edmonton.

The Edmonton Razorbacks, one of the city’s only field lacrosse associations, had appeared to have fallen into darkness.

Their jerseys and equipment remained unused, collecting dust for two years.

At the time, even the Red Deer lacrosse league was struggling, with barely enough players to make up two teams.

But today, the situation is completely different. Field lacrosse has exploded in popularity in Edmonton.

After listening to pleas from his son, Chris Redford decided to bring back the Edmonton Razorbacks in 2009.

Only six boys signed up. The players — enthusiastic and eager to play the sport — would travel on weekends to Red Deer to take on the Orangemen teams.

Since that year, the number of players signing up to play field lacrosse has snowballed.

The year after the league was brought back, 35 players signed up to join the Razorbacks, allowing Redford to form two teams.

The next year, the numbers doubled to more than 70. The year after that, 120.

This year, Redford, now the president of the association, was shocked when he saw how many players were signing up to play with the Razorbacks.

“The numbers this year were unprecedented,” he said.

“I was stunned. I definitely didn’t expect to have 240 kids sign up to play.”

Redford said the organization does not advertise its league.

Children and parents learn about the Razorbacks simply through word of mouth.

“Every year, people are telling me they found out about the league through a friend,” Redford said.

“The kids enjoy it so much, they tell their friends, who then want to sign up and play.”

And the players who do sign up can’t seem to get enough. The return rate for players is extremely high, said Redford.

Even those original six boys who wanted to desperately play field lacrosse back in 2009 are still playing with the Razorbacks today.

While there are many box lacrosse leagues scattered across Alberta, field lacrosse leagues are much harder to come by.

The Edmonton Razorbacks are the only non-elite field lacrosse association in the city.

To an outsider, the main difference between field and box lacrosse appears to be that the former is played outdoors, the latter indoors. But in reality, they two games are like night and day, practically two different sports.

“All that is really similar between the two games is the stick and the ball,” said Redford.

Box lacrosse, the Canadian- born and most popular version of the sport, is played on an arena rink, minus the ice. Six players, including a goalie protecting a smaller net, are on the arena floor at a time. Each game is divided into four 15-minute quarters and includes 30-second shot clock.

Field lacrosse is played outdoors, in an open field, giving the nine players plus a goalie more room to manoeuvre.

The games are timed like hockey, with three 20-minute periods. Field lacrosse goalies wear less equipment while protecting a larger net, and three players on the pitch — typically defenders — are permitted longer sticks.

Redford said box lacrosse is similar to basketball. The games are very fast-paced and include lots of back-and-forth, end-to-end action.

Meanwhile, field lacrosse has a completely different pace.

“You have a lot more time to move with the ball, so there is more strategy in a field lacrosse game,” he said.

The Edmonton Razorbacks have big plans for the future. If the number of players continues to rise as it has over the past four years, Redford said he will form an intercity house league, where players can play games on a weekly basis.

Redford said expects the numbers will indeed continue to increase.