The Badlands Lacrosse Novice Raptors are the only Drumheller squad in the Central Alberta Lacrosse League Playoffs after beating out Innisfail and Sylvan Lake this past weekend in Red Deer.
“I’ll be proud of them even if we lose,” says head coach Ren Dumaine, adding if the team wins Friday they’ll be moving onto semi-finals.
The Raptors finished in seventh place this season, with Lacoka finishing sixth.
“It should be a great game if everyone comes out and plays with their heart,d we should be able to take them,” says Dumaine.
There are only 10 players on the Raptor’s roster, and only two players had played lacrosse prior to this season.
“We basically had all rookies and they developed so good and tried hard all year. We’ve got where we are now, and we’ve been doing great. If we lose on Friday I’d be so happy with how the kids have come so far,” said Dumaine. “They’re just drenched in sweat by the end of games. It’s been tough, but they’ve really been giving it hard and it’s paid off. I’m proud.”
Every other team from the Badlands Lacrosse Association has been eliminated.
“It gets tougher as you get older to compete with the bigger cities. The players have to practice on their own time as well,” says Dumaine, adding the team practices twice a week and averages about two games a weekend throughout the two month season.
