Strathmore Venom U15B team takes fourth at provincial championship

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Strathmore Venom U15B lacrosse team finished out their provincial tournament, placing fourth overall over the course of the weekend, July 12 to 15. 

Marcus Kartz, vice president and head coach for the U15B team, said the Venom opened their run by defeating Red Deer on Friday night, followed by losses to Lethbridge, Leduc, and Lloydminster, respectively. 

“We fought hard, the team played very, very well, and we were just so thrilled to have made it through the first couple rounds and into a medal game,” he said. “The kids were definitely a little disappointed in the loss (on Sunday), but overall, I think individually they are also proud of themselves even just to make it there.”

Kartz added he recognized through the opportunity to see the team play at the provincial tournament, several things that can be improved going into the next season.

Getting to provincials, the Strathmore Venom battled their way through their regular season, culminating in a gold medal victory during a city championship hosted in Calgary.

Additionally, the U15B team stood victorious at a tournament hosted on Canada Day, also taking place in Calgary. 

“We couldn’t be happier, the team just played their hearts out, they did really well throughout the entire tournament and took gold there at Canada Day, and then through the playoffs, we faced a couple of teams that we were not able to beat through the regular season and then when we faced them again in the playoffs, we fought back and put our progress to work and we ended up closing it out,” said Kartz. “We beat the one Calgary Axemen team in the semi playoffs, they beat us three times through the regular season, and then we played the other Calgary Axemen team for gold. They also beat us twice through the regular season.”

Kartz explained the U15s going to provincials is something that has not occurred in a long time, and he was unable to provide an exact timeline. Last year, the U17 team made it to provincials.

“It is great to see them achieving and growing in the game and everything. They came out and they had a really good Canada Day tournament … and they took a gold medal there, and then they took a gold medal for the Cities, which is a pretty impressive feat considering how small our club is compared to other clubs,” added Tom Craig, president of the Strathmore Venom Lacrosse Club. “Our kids, they sort of gelled in the last half of the season – they just kept getting better and better and better, and they worked so hard in their practices. In that gold medal game at Cities, they did amazing. The only reason they won 6-4 instead of 6-2 is they took their feet off the gas and played more defensive.”

More than half of this year’s U15B team will age out into the U17 bracket next year, introducing room for the retaining players and Kartz to work with new players with ambitions of once again going to provincials.