The Prairie Gold Lacrosse League (PGLL) is still months away from beginning the 2025 season, but the Prince Albert Predators are already beginning to put in some work to prepare.
The Predators will be hosting winter camps once a week at St. Francis School from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for 12 weeks beginning on Jan. 5, 2025. The camps are open to all U17 and U21 players.
Predators head coach Lucas Wells says the camp provides an opportunity for the team to get used to the sport of lacrosse and adjust to the systems that the team will implement during the season.
“I think it’s vital for our organization, not just for the new kids, but the older guys that are in school or working. Just getting their sticks in their hands, getting their feet back moving. We can implement some things instead of having to do it at training camp or the first couple practices. We can work on things throughout the winter (and) be prepared. When the first game starts, we know we’re ready to go and we’re loaded with all of our systems and all the new guys are ready to go.”
It was a historic season in 2024 for the Predators. Prince Albert repeated as PGLL champions going undefeated in league play. The Predators also made a bid to appear at the Founders’ Cup and defeated the Saskatchewan SWAT in a play-in game on May 24.
The following weekend, the Predators would play the Queen City Kings in the first of a best-of-three with the winner advancing to the Founders’ Cup. Queen City took the first game 11-10 in overtime in Prince Albert, before eliminating the Predators from Founders’ Cup contention with an 11-3 win in Regina on Jun. 30.
That would be the only two games that Prince Albert would lose all season long. With Founders’ no longer a possibility, the Predators would attend the MacDonald Cup in Brooks, Alberta. They would go undefeated in round robin play and defeated the Lakeland Heat 12-3 in the gold medal game.
The last Saskatchewan team to win the MacDonald Cup was the Biggar Roadrunners back in 1979.
With the success the Predators have had, Wells expects a lot of younger players to be eager to make the jump to the PGLL to replace the graduating talent.
“I know that there’s going to be a lot of younger guys looking to step up and there’s a lot of spots available. As a coaching staff, we’ve always said that it doesn’t matter if you’ve played in the league three years, one year or haven’t played in the league. We’re going put the best people on the floor that we believe give us the best chance to win.”
“With so many open spots, I think that a lot of young guys are going to be hungry, especially after the success we’ve had. A lot of young guys are going to be hungry to take that next step and maybe try and take a spot away from those older guys. It’ll be nice to just see and watch them develop and watch them kind of learn the junior game and see how they improve and react to the physicality of the speed. Just little things like that and see if they can handle it in a winter camp.”
sports@paherald.sk.ca
