Venom rack up Redneck Rumble tourney titles

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

The Redneck Rumble has become a marquee event on the calendar for amateur lacrosse players. Kids of all ages are running around playing the game they love. The only thing that could make the tournament even more fun is seeing a couple local teams take the title on their home turf.
That’s exactly what the bantam and peewee Venom pulled off at the 12th annual instalment of the tournament last weekend at the Strathmore Family Centre.
The peewee Venom dominated the tournament front to back, entering the championship as the No. 1 seed and proving it with their 3-1 victory over the Blackfalds Warriors June 3 at the Gold Arena.
“Coming in, the kids were extra thrilled because they thought it was our tourney to win because it was our host tourney,” said Venom Head Coach Jon Peters. “The final was a nail biter the entire way and Blackfalds has an awesome team. They wanted it as bad as our kids did, but our guys kept fighting until the end.”
The peewees were also involved in the most thrilling game of the tournament, when they edged out the Calgary Hornets 6-5 on June 2, in a game that came down to the buzzer.
Tied at four with less than two minutes to play, the Venom netminder sent a long breakout pass to Grayson Van Tol, who spotted Kieran Bakken on the wing with a pass. Bakken made no mistake and popped in what he thought was the game-winning goal with 1:25 remaining on the clock, as the Venom held a 5-4 lead.
“From a coaching standpoint, that game was extremely stressful,” said Peters. “To go from a 4-3 game, to a 6-5 game in less than three minutes to go is crazy. Both teams were going full tilt to try and get the win and it made for a really exciting game.”
The Hornets weren’t done there, as Glenn Campbell raced down the floor and tied it 14 seconds later.
The Hornets retained possession after the ensuing faceoff, but Venom captain Ryan Barbas stole the ball from a Hornet forward in his own zone and raced down the floor to snipe five-hole with only seconds remaining, to give the Venom the 6-5 victory.
The Venom didn’t need late-game heroics in the tourney opener June 1, as they pounded the Kneehill Bulldogs 11-0. The Venom wrapped up the round robin by knocking off the Warriors 4-2.

Victorious Venom
The bantam Venom also captured the tourney title with a 9-4 win over the Calgary Hornets, in what was sweet revenge after losing in double overtime June 2.
“Everyone was a little down after that overtime loss, but we just told the kids to come back and give it back to them when it mattered most. We had some fresher legs and were really able to take it to them,” said Venom Head Coach Scott Fargey. “It was an awesome way to end the tournament that was ran really well like it always is. The kids had a blast.”
It was a nice taste of revenge for the Venom, which saw them get bumped down to the No. 2 seed after the Hornets clipped the Venom 7-6 in the final round robin game. Tied after the end of regulation, one five-minute overtime period didn’t solve anything, so double overtime took place, where the Hornets used the energy they still had to outlast the Venom.
“That loss was a heart-breaker, but I told the kids that we were going to see them again and they can pay them back for that later,” said Fargey.
Earlier in the weekend, the Venom pushed aside the Calgary Knights 13-7 and disposed of the Olds Stingers 16-9.

Midget claim bronze
The midget Venom didn’t take gold from their host tourney but blanked the Kneehill Bulldogs 8-0 to take the bronze June 3.
The Venom ended up in the bronze game after losing the opener 10-3 to the Medicine Hat Sundevils and were held in check by the Sylvan Lake Buccaneers 4-1. The Venom’s lone round robin win game was June 2, when they blasted the Bulldogs 12-2.
The Venom also grabbed bronze in the novice division, when the local team iced the Medicine Hat Sundevils 2 5-3 in the finale.
The other Medicine Hat team in the same bracket, the Sundevils 2, edged out the Venom 6-1 in the tourney opener. The Venom doubled up the Sundevils 1 6-3 earlier in the round robin and slid past the Rockyview Rage 2 5-4 June 3.
“It was a really exciting tournament overall. The local kids played great which is always great to see, and the tournament was attended really well. General feedback that I heard was the people had a great time and the lacrosse was entertaining,” said tourney organizer Susan Anderson. “We also had some fundraising events that generated a couple thousand dollars for the program, so it was a big for the program.”