Red Deer Rampage Junior B lacrosse has high expectations this season
(Story Credit: IAN GUSTAFSON)
It’s been nine months since the Red Deer Rampage Junior B Lacrosse team last played.
With less than a week away from the beginning of the 2023 Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League Jr. B Tier I season the Rampage is ready to take the challenge on.
And they’ll do so with a new coach.
Red Deer’s Troy Tisdale will take over as head coach which was the position previously held by Andrew Munden.
Tisdale’s coaching resume stretches well over a decade in Red Deer serving as the head coach on many minor lacrosse teams through the bantam and midget lacrosse systems.
But what swayed him to take the position was the opportunity to coach many of his former players once again.
“I know a lot of the boys on the team. I’ve coached them through a lot of their minor lacrosse… I coached the midget A’s right before COVID hit and then that shut things down. Now I’ve stepped up to coach the Rampage here,” he said.
“It’s nice to know them right off the start and to have an understanding of the way they play. As well as their approach to the game and their personalities… I like that aspect of it.
He described himself as more of a players’ coach and he hopes to help the players gel together not only as a team but as friends. He also wants to bring positive energy to the team and he expects a good work ethic from his players.
“I wouldn’t say I’m hard-nosed. I get kids very involved and I like the team to be actively involved in everything we’re doing,” he said.
Last season the Rampage finished third in the East Division and was knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by the Calgary Chill 2-0 in a best-of-three series.
The Rampage will kick off the 2023 campaign against the Mountain View Mavericks on Friday, April 28 at 9 p.m. at the Dawe Centre. The next day Red Deer will head to Calgary to take on the Chill at the Brentwood Sportsplex at 6 p.m.
Tisdale said he’s excited to get things started.
“We’ve got a good group of kids and we’ve got a lot of talent. We expect to do very well this year and we have high expectations,” he said.
“We’d love to go all the way to the [Founder’s Cup] we’ll contend. We’ll compete hard and we definitely have a good club on the floor.”
Meanwhile the Red Deer Renegades will also begin their RMLL Jr. B Tier II season next weekend taking on the Parkland Posse on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Dawe Centre.
