June was shaping up to a big month for lacrosse in Prince Albert.
Prime Ministers Park was set to serve as the host venue for the 2020 Saskatchewan Field Lacrosse provincial championships this weekend, while the Prince Albert Predators and Outlaws programs would be in the late stages of their respective Prairie Gold Lacrosse League campaigns.
Instead, everything is in a holding pattern for the sport as they wait for further details on Phase 4 of the Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan.
“It’s been difficult but we’ve remained patient and we are just trying to follow the recommendations and guidelines,” Prince Albert Lacrosse Association president Javan Bexson said on Friday afternoon.
“The worst part of the situation was a little bit of false hope given on Thursday with the government saying that outdoor sports would resume in the first part of phase three. They apologized profusely this morning but it made for a bit of a stressful time as we were panicking to try and get everything ready to go on the drop of a dime basically. Now we’re back to our original plan though for the second part of phase four and getting the kids back going then.”
Since all sporting events around the province were shut down due to the COVID-19 in March, it’s been a group effort with lacrosse organizations across Saskatchewan as they build their return to plan.
“Everyone in the Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association has also been working with other athletic groups,” Bexson said. “I think everyone wants to see things get back up running again, no matter what sport they are involved with.”
Although the Field Lacrosse Provincials will not take place here this weekend, the event itself has not been taken off of the table at this point.
“If competitive play is allowed and we have enough weeks of nice weather remaining, we would certainly like to put together a competition as stated by the guidelines that would be put in place,” Bexson said.
“I know that in Alberta, where they seem to be opening back up a little bit quicker, they’ve been looking at doing a weekend tournament format where they have the same three teams playing throughout the shortened season, so it will be interesting how that works for them.”
As for the indoor side of things, everything is also in a holding pattern, including the PGLL senior and junior leagues.
“Right now it’s a wait and see for the box game and it’s hard to predict when things will start there,” Bexson said.
“It’s a little bit tougher there as we will start to run into what is the normal start of hockey season and it will get a little bit tricky in terms of arena access.”
Further updates on the 2020 lacrosse season will be available on the Prince Albert Lacrosse Association and Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association social media pages.
