INNISFAIL – If it's spring in Innisfail there will be a festival to welcome the new season.
And in Innisfail there is a special one that has reached a milestone, and it’s for kids with sticks, and regularly played during the Mother’s Day weekend.
The 10th annual Terror of the Tykes Lacrosse Festival was hosted by the Innisfail Minor Lacrosse Association on May 10 and 11 at the Innisfail Twin Arena.
And once again it was a glorious spring day outside the arena as Airdrie’s Ice Ice Baby was joyfully serving shaved ice treats as kids frolicked in nearby green spaces.
Inside the lobby there was a jubilant atmosphere around the booths and displays while the tiny kids with sticks excitedly played their hearts out on both the red and blue rinks.
“It’s exciting and it’s different,” said tournament coordinator Stacie Wadin, a local lacrosse volunteer for the past four years who has three children playing organized lacrosse. “On a normal day you go and play your game and go home. For these events when they are playing more than one game, we bring in this extra stuff.”
The booth and displays included those from Red Deer sports equipment retailer Slash Sports, and the region’s Boho Rio Designs with its handmade jewelry for the moms on Mother’s Day.
For that extra fun, face painting was available for the kids, as well as for the odd grown-up.
Meanwhile, there was plenty of spirited action on the floors of both rinks.
There were 19 U7 and 16 U9 teams playing in the festival.
There was also a “random” U13 game on May 10 between the Innisfail Phantoms and Sylvan Lake Buccaneers.
The festival for U7 and U9 levels is sanctioned by the Central Alberta Lacrosse League and is one of three played this season.
A previous festival was jointly hosted by Ponoka and Lacombe, and there is an upcoming season-ending festival in Olds.
In total, there were about 400 kids from across the region playing in the Innisfail festival, including young players from Innisfail, Olds, Didsbury, Carstairs, Sylvan Lake, Lacombe, Ponoka, Red Deer, Stettler, Hanna and Blackfalds.
Innisfail had two U7 and a pair of U9 teams for its home festival.
Only the home U9 teams played both days.
“The way our Central Alberta Lacrosse League runs festivals, all the U7 and U9 teams in the league come,” said Wadin. “They just play their league games in one location, as opposed to a tournament where you have people paying to come. These are their league games, their regular league games.”
The U9 games do count in league standings, but the U7 games do not record scores.
As a bonus for the young players and lacrosse fans, there was also a junior B game on May 11 between the Innisfail-based Mavericks and the Calgary Chill from the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
“It's great to see it grow. It always shifts a little different every year but I love the little guys and this festival because having kids start when they're so little, it's so fun watching them,” said Wadin. “I love watching the development and watching the kids learn.
“Everything a little better. You can see them doing things that are a little bit smarter.”
