Strathmore Venom hosts annual Redneck Rumble

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Strathmore Venom hosted their annual Redneck Rumble, June 2-4 at the Strathmore Civic Centre, attracting teams from across the province to compete. 

A total of 44 games were scheduled to take place over the course of the weekend event, which included the local teams from Strathmore, ranging from U11 to U17 hitting the floor.

Though typically an annual event, this year’s tournament marks the second time it has been hosted since the onset of COVID-19 public health measures had been set in place. 

“It was exciting; there was a lot of stuff going on in the arena too between raffle tables and giveaways, and we had the (Calgary) Roughnecks come out too,” said Travis Gauthier, vice president of Strathmore Lacrosse. “We had DJs going on both floors during the games, so it kind of had that Roughneck atmosphere with music playing and all the activities.”

He added there was a progressive 50/50 draw which took place, as well as “chicken poop bingo” amidst the host of events.

The overall tournament takes place outside of the regular competitive season for participating teams, so rather than gunning for league standing, it’s mostly for fun and for bragging rights. 

According to Gauthier, the Redneck Rumble attracted teams from Medicine Hat, Tabor, Lethbridge, and all over the province. 

With the majority of the round robin format taking place over the first two days of the tournament, each team was to play three games in order to determine their standing going into the finals on Sunday.

Gauthier added he was excited to see that Strathmore Venom lacrosse is growing in numbers at an extremely rapid pace, as participation from athletes more than doubled since last season. 

“We are one of the largest growing clubs and we have a lot of new kids. With new, comes the bumps and bruises of learning a new sport, but it has been overall really good. The general consensus from parents and kids is that everybody is loving it,” he said. “I have heard nothing but good from parents who are absolutely loving it and the excitement for the sport is a change up from hockey. It is a little bit faster than all the outdoor sports, so it is really exciting.”

Gauthier said last year, the Redneck Rumble as a tournament ran extremely smoothly, but the goal for this year was to see more people coming out to fill the stands, enjoy the activities and to bring more exposure to the sport.