Three years before the Saskatchewan Rush arrived and reignited the provinces love for lacrosse, Bridget Pottle was starting a movement.
“When we first started, we were fighting just to be known and now we're struggling because we're not finding enough space for us, which is another problem, but a better problem to have,” Pottle, Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association.
Saskatoon is gearing up to host the Minor Box Lacrosse Provincials, which will be followed by “A” League Provincials in Regina. Pottle says she remembers when the community was hard pressed to put a team together.
“We didn't have enough coming to tryouts so we’d have to go recruit. This past year all five of our teams almost doubled in their tryouts,” she said. “It was just phenomenal being at tryouts and seeing all these kids.”
Pottle said her next goal is to get more girls interested in the sport. This season, two girls are going to nationals on the peewee team, but Pottle says she hopes to someday see a full female team, and league.
"Girls join sports for different reasons than boys do,” she said. “They look for more of the social aspect, which is very important to a young women’s development. I think definitely the more opportunities that we can provide for that the better.”
