Sunshine Coast Rapids Lacrosse is hoping for a big season — its 10th — set to open in early April.

Building on the success of last season, the association will have seven divisions this year with players aged five to 18.

New to the association is the creation of an intermediate B team for players 16 to 18. Lots of hard work went on behind the scenes to make this team a reality, said association president Jason Pratt.

“This year looks like it is going to be a big one,” Pratt said. “The intermediate team is huge for us. It allows our older players to keep playing competitive high-level lacrosse. Lots of our board volunteers really stepped up and a lot of the credit for our continuing success goes to the players themselves. The older players are the ones who have stuck with us and now if some of them are not playing they are giving back to the association by coaching, officiating and volunteering their time.”

The other Rapids teams will include mini tyke (ages five and six), tyke (seven and eight), novice (nine and 10), peewee (11 and 12), bantam (13 and 14) and midget (15 and 16).

Practices have already started for the intermediate team with the other teams starting practice right after spring break. League games will start early next month at the Sunshine Coast Arena in Sechelt with more home games at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre towards the end of April once the ice is taken out.

The intermediate team will play at least 10 home games this year on Saturdays with Sechelt games at 12:30 p.m. and Gibsons games at noon. The other teams’ home schedules will be finalized early next month.

The regular season ends in early June, followed by playoffs and hopefully a trip for many of the teams to the provincial championships. The association will also host its popular Junior B fundraising game on June 15 with a barbecue to end the season.

“Our intention is to offer the exciting game of lacrosse to the youth of the Sunshine Coast and we have been doing that for many years,” Pratt added. “Last year seven companies donated more than $8,000 to our association. They all know who they are and they made a huge difference. Without their support and the support of so many people, we would not be as successful as we are.

“Everyone is very excited about this season and the prospects for success. We have great volunteers, great parents and great players. It’s going to be a fun year.”

Registration forms for the association are available at Trail Bay Sports in Sechelt and GBS in Gibsons. Find out more about the association at www.sunshinecoast
lacrosse.com or on Facebook at RapidsLAX.