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.