INNISFAIL – The Mavericks Lacrosse Club of Innisfail will once again represent the town and Alberta to compete in the 2025 Founders Cup, a national championship series to determine the best Junior B team in the country.
The tournament, which will feature the six best teams in the country, will be held from Aug. 18 - 24 just outside Calgary at the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex & Jim Starlight Centre in Tsuut'ina.
The Mavericks’ Founders Cup challenge will be the second year in a row.
Last season the upstart squad, playing in just their second season in Innisfail, captured the Junior Tier 1 Provincial Championship that earned the franchise a spot at the Founders Cup.
The local lacrosse squad finished in fifth place in the national tournament that was held in Hamilton, Ont. last August and featured the country’s best nine teams.
This season, however, was one that had the entire team aiming to improve on their stellar 2024 season.
The Mavericks tore through the 20-game regular season Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) with an enviable record of 15 wins, just four losses and a tie,
which was more than enough to claim first place in the league’s Central Division.
They went to win the RMLL championship to claim this year’s Larry Bishop Memorial Cup and the provincial championship.
“Because of last year, just the way that tournament standings worked, we got lucky,” said Wally Genz, the Mavericks’ assistant coach. “It's not that we won championships, but we finished in a place to be able to represent Alberta last year when we faced Manitoba in the final for provincials, (and) to be able to be able to go on to Founders.
“This year we beat everybody,” he said, adding they beat top-ranked Calgary Shamrocks and Fort Saskatchewan Rebels to get to this year’s national championship.
And because of the team’s 2025 dominance the Mavericks are off to the Founders Cup tournament with a firm goal in mind.
“Our goal this year is to make it to the gold medal around,” said Genz. “Yes, last year was a huge learning lesson for us to be able to play that many lacrosse games in a short period of time.
“We have to worry about our physical capabilities, but as well as our mental game.”
With 26 players on the Mavericks roster, including five veterans and five rookies, Genz said a key ingredient for his team’s 2025 success is that his players can play “pretty much” any position.
“We have so much depth on both sides of the ball,” said Genz. “We have our offensive stars that get a lot of goals, but we also have a lot of defensive players that are getting a lot of their own opportunities as well.”
With the Founders Cup just days away the Mavericks have been practising hard at the Innisfail Twin Arena to fine tune themselves for the championship series.
“Absolutely lots of practices,” said Genz. “The Town of Innisfail has really backed us up sort of speak, and the Eagles let us use their room during the off season.
“We have turned the arena almost into a little bit of a Maverick hub,” he added. “We're practising down there twice a week, if not three times a week.”
