As the Eagles sang back in the 70's, there's a new kid in town.  

Well, the truth is, there's a bunch of new kids in town and they're members of the Tier Two Junior "B" Rockyview Rage, a new expansion club playing in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.

According to Head Coach Kent Proctor, the team is made up of players from Airdrie, Cochrane and all points between and will play their home games, once they have one, in the Spray Lakes Totem One Arena in Cochrane.  The Rage is starting the season with six straight road games.  So far, they've played three of those games, all of which have been losses, something that doesn't come as much of a surprise to Proctor.

"The RMLL max for a roster is 25.  We're not there yet.  We have just under 20 that are signed and that's not enough for this level.  We're still actively recruiting and we have some open spots."

Proctor said most of his players are inexperienced when it comes to Junior lacrosse.  

"A large portion of our team is very inexperienced as far as junior lacrosse goes.  Even some of our older players that have come out of retirement if you will, they never played Junior after Minor.  They've been away from the sport anywhere from a year to I think we have one player that's been away for three years, maybe even four.  They haven't played Junior lacrosse.  We have a handful of kids that have and they're very valuable right now because there's a steep learning curve for the players that are new to this particular style of lacrosse."

Proctor said he's expecting to receive a couple of players from the Tier One Junior "B" Rockyview Silvertips once their season gets underway.

Despite being a little "wet behind the ears," Proctor said he's very happy with the way the team is shaping up so far.

"I've been really happy with the development, you know the rust coming off some of the kids who have taken a year or two off.  They've gotten back into the sport relatively quickly.  Really like the attitude on the team.  We've got a great bunch of kids.  They're coachable, they're excited about the season and they really want to learn and do well.  It's been very positive.  Yeah, would I like to have some more numbers, for sure but it's our first year and, like I say, there's a lot of kids who aren't sure where they're going to end up just yet."

The Rage will be back in action this Friday night when they travel to Strathmore to take on the Venom.  Their home opener goes Friday, May 11th in Cochrane when they face the Calgary Wranglers.  They'll play in the Major League Lacrosse Showcase Weekend in Airdrie on Sunday, May 13th against the Sylvan Lake Yetti.  

 

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