Yes, it's true, the 2011 season is just around the corner and with the Minto Cup being hosted in Calgary, this is another big year with big expectations for the Mounties. As a result, it's time to get on the floor so training camp is now getting underway.

Please visit Team > Player Camps for currently published dates, and don't forget to register.

After founding the Jr A Mountaineers, together with club President Bill Sucha and now retired lacrosse volunteer Leslie Chruchill, Mounties headcoach John Kilbride is now officially the Mounties former coach.

After many years of service, John has groomed his successor, Rick Windl, who will take over as headcoach of the club for the 2011 season.

Rick was behind the bench as an assistant coach in 2010 and therefore has great familiarity with the club players. Rick was also the headcoach for the 2010 Team Alberta Midget team so he brings a strong background in player development. Rick's resume also includes former headcoach of the Jr B Chill.

Rick ushers in a new era of Mounties lacrosse, as all players from the 2006 expansion year have now aged out and Rick will be looking to take the program to new levels of excellence with a new message, new energy, and a birth in the 2011 Minto Cup as the Alberta Champions.

The Mounties also say goodbye to all assistant coaches including long-time assistant Aaron Williams, who was John Kilbride's longest serving assistant, as well as Kevin Melnyk, and goalie coach Geoff Rainsford.

Joining Rick's coaching staff for 2011 will be former A-Mounties assistant coach Andy Williams, long-time Sr B Mountaineers headcoach Duane Bratt, and Team Alberta Midget assistant coach Steve Turvey.

The 2010 year end banquet is now set. This year the Mounties are changing things up and the banquet will be held at Wild Rose Brewery on Tuesday December 28, at 7:00pm.

Dress is casual and the cost is $30.00 per ticket for non-players. There is a cahs bar and munchies will be served.

The event will include player awards and recognition of graduating players.

We are very pleased to announce the addition of Rick Windl to the Jr A Mounties coaching staff.

Rick has spent the last several years at the helm of the Jr B Chill as well as one of the top instructors at the NSA Lacrosse School. In addition, Rick has an extensive playing background which began back in Ontario. For the last several years Rick has been playing for the Sr B Mountaineers.

Rick will join the rest of the staff as the team gears up for its run at the 2010 Minto Cup.

Once again the Jr A division will be playing a pre-season exhibition tournament. This tournament consists of 4 games in which each Calgary team (Mounties / Raiders) plays each Edmonton team (Eclipse / Miners) once.

This is a very important tournament because most of the clubs will make final cuts based on the performance of players in this tournament. Because of that it is always high-tempo, physical play.

This years tournament is at the Ponoka Cultural & Recreation Centre (4310 - 54 Street, 403-783-4431) and is scheduled for Sunday, April 18. See full schedule details below.

• 1:00 - 2:10pm: Raiders vs. Eclipse
• 2:30 - 3:40pm: Mounties vs. Miners
• 4:00 - 5:10pm: Mounties vs. Eclipse
• 5:30 - 6:40pm: Raiders vs. Miners

The 2010 regular season schedule has now been released by the league and is avialable for download. Visit tickets and schedules for full detials and download information.

The 2009 player awards were passed out to a group of talented players at the Jr A Mountaineers annual banquet in December.

With many outstanding outstanding performances by many players that deserved recognition, it was difficult to make some of the selections. This years recipients received a beautiful glass mug with the Jr A Mountaineers logo engraved in it; awards went to:

• 3-Star Winners:
1. Hergott, Braden (23 pts)
2. Farmer, Dan (16 pts)
3. Anders, Mitch & Donahue, Kiel (tied with 14 pts)
• Rookie of the Year: Ehrhardt, Dallas
• Toughest Face Award: Smistad, Andrew
• Team MVP: Miller, Brandon
• Teddy-Bear Award: Melnyk, Matt
• Offensive Player of the Year: Melnyk, Tyler
• Worst-Smelling Gear Award: Pesowski, Sean
• Defensive Player of the Year: Hergott, Braden
• Coaches Award: Locking, Sheldon
  “Awarded to the player who best exemplifies character, perseverance, dedication, and leadership resulting in an enriched environment for his teammates and his club off the floor, and elite performance on the floor.”
• Band-aide Award: Ehrhardt, Dallas

Thank you graduating players:

• Anders, Mitch
• Davis, Tyler
• Donahue, Kiel
• Farmer, Dan
• Kachor, Troy
• Locking, Sheldon
• Miller, Brandon

The Calgary Roughnecks have established a scholarship for student-athletes. Not many people apply for this scholarship so it is worth your time to give it a shot.

The application deadline is January 31, 2010 so download your application right away.

• Scholarship Application - Download PDF

The Mounties are sad to see Jason Crook leaving the fold but are happy to see that he will still be dedicating his time to both coaching and playing. Jason was one of the valuable assistant coaches with the Mountaineers in 2009, and a Mounties alumni, and will be joining the Jr B Shamrocks lacrosse program.

We will definitely miss Jason's contributions to the club but we know he will be a great asset to the Jr B Shamrocks, and will be critical in shaping and preparing Jr B players for Jr A.

Huge congratulations go out from the Jr A Mounties players to former Mounties ball-boy, Ben Kilbride, as Ben is part of the 2009 PeeWee B City Champion Rockyview Rage RV2!

Ben contributed greatly in his role as ball-boy and the players and coaches were sad to learn he couldn't continue in his role in 2009 but, they were happy to hear it was because he was going to focus on his own lacrosse career. Ben's love for the game seems to have paid off as he and his teammates are the 2009 City Champions!

This group of young players had one of the best seasons in recent memory going 12 - 1 in the regular season to earn first place in their division and a first-round bye in the playoffs where they then went on to win their best-of-three series in a sweep this past weekend to clinch the Championship.

Way to go Rage!!!

The Jr A draft will be taking place Feb 23 at 5:30 pm for the South Jr A clubs.

Eligible players include all graduating Midgets and all currently unprotected Jr B players. Each team can protect a total of 45 players consisting of 10 + 1 graduating Midgets (10 runners and 1 goalie), and 34 unprotected Jr's.

The Mountaineers will contact every player we draft on Tuesday, Feb 23 or Wednesday, Feb 24 via email to notify them of their protected status.

The Alberta Jr A division is planning the first ever pre-season tournament to be held in Red Deer in April 2009.

It is expected that the tournament will be a round-robin format with the winner walking away with bragging rights. Each team will play 2 - 4 games and this tournament is likely to become an annual event for the league.

The Jr A Mountaineers are pleased to announce the addition of 2 new Associate Coaches to the existing staff, former Jr A Mountaineer standout Jason Crook, and Canadian lacrosse goal-factory Kevin Melnyk.

Both of these gentlemen are involved in lacrosse in some way or another but have agreed to donate their time and expertise to the Mountaineers on an "as available" basis, which is why their official titles with the team is "Associate Coaches."

Jason Crook had a distinguished career with the Jr A Mountaineers and has been devoloping his coaching skills in the minor lacrosse ranks for a number of years. Jason will be balancing his Associate Coach role with his new Sr lacrosse career.

Kevin Melnyk has been a fixture in the lacrosse community all his life and was in fact, a member of the 1979 team that last won a game in the Minto Cup. Kevin was a prolific scorer throughout his career and was also known for his hard-nosed style of play.

Jason and Kevin join the staff of Aaron Williams, Geoff Rainsford, and John Kilbride.

The 2008 player awards were passed out to a group of very worthy recipients at the Jr A Mountaineers annual banquet in December.

With many outstanding outstanding performances by many players that deserved recognition, it was difficult to make some of the selections. This years recipients received a beautiful glass mug with the Jr A Mountaineers logo engraved in it; awards went to:

• 3-Star Winners:
1. Donahue, Kiel
2. Swartout, Kane
3. Miller, Brandon
• Rookie of the Year: Melnyk, Tyler
• Team MVP: Pridham, Tyler
• Minto MVP: Miller, Brandon

The Jr A Mountaineers would like to thank all the amazing volunteers from across Alberta who donated their expertise and time to make the 2008 Minto Cup a success.

Thanks to you, the 2008 Minto Cup not only showcased the best Jr A lacrosse in the country, but also treated lacrosse fans to a world-class event which allowed the players to enjoy themselves and focus on lacrosse. The Jr A Mountaineers had a very successful tournament in which it is now largely considered to be the best showing by an Alberta team at the Minto Cup, ever.

Thank you Alberta!

Every year the Jr A Mountaineers must say goodbye to top quality players who age-out of the program. 2008 was no different as the team will be losing 7 key players, each of which will be moving on to exciting new things with their lacrosse careers.

On behalf of the Jr A Mountaineers, thank you to each of you for your dedication and contributions to the ongoing success of the Jr A Mountaineers. 2008 graduating players are:

• Acton, Tom
• Crook, Jason
• Dickie, Drew
• Farmer, Tyler
• Pridham, Tyler
• Swartout, Kane
• Sucha, Steve

The Jr A Mountaineers have been producing the highest quality players since the inception of the club in 2006. We want to showcase some of the current and past players and their lacrosse, school, and work accomplishments.

To facilitate this goal we have added a new featured players section where we can focus on various players, and what they are up to, from time-to-time.

The Alberta Jr A League has commissioned and now launched, the official website for Jr A lacrosse in Alberta at www.abjralacrosse.com. The primary purpose of this website is to be the home for all player stats, standings, and scheduling information for all Jr A clubs.

As most fans familiar with Jr A lacrosse in Alberta already know, the division plays an interlocking schedule with the Alberta Sr B division. This presented some unusual challenges in trying to provide a website for the Jr A division because unfortunately, the Sr division elected not to participate in this online initiative.

As a result, you will not find any stats, standings, or scheduling information for Sr teams unless it relates to a Jr-Sr game.

Also, because scheduling information will be provided at www.abjralacrosse.com, it will no longer be provided on the Mountaineers official website.