It was a chippy affair as the Swift Current Rampage Lacrosse teams hosted the Moose Jaw Mustang squads at Fairview West on Saturday and Sunday.

Getting back into action after nearly 24 months of non-competitive play due to COVID-19 was clearly on display, but Trenton Froese, president of Swift Current Lacrosse and Head Coach of the U16 squad was impressed with how quickly the teams got back into the swing.

"You could tell it was a little bit scrappy.  We hadn't played in a little while.  So balls didn't pass as smoothly as maybe they did two years ago.  But it came together pretty quickly for the players.  I was really impressed with how fast they were able to get right back into the competitive spirit.  I was really proud of all the players and it just felt  fantastic to be back in action."

The U16 squad took victories in both of their matches, winning 7-6 and 5-3 respectively.

The U12s had a similar weekend, with scores of 5-3 and 5-4.  The U14 squad unfortunately suffered on the other end of the coin, losing two close contests 4-3 and 12-9.

The close scores are common in South West Lacrosse, as U12 Coach Kevin Schafer Explained:

"There's so much talent in this corner of the province.  These kids, they're all athletic.  They can just fly right back into things and hardly miss a beat and games are competitive and close.  It's almost like you never left, even though it's been close to 23, 24 months since we've actually played a competitive game."

Froese concurred.  As President of Swift Current Lacrosse, he started working the phones as soon as the provincial government announced that they were stepping up their "return to competitive play" date.  With a number of individual associations coming on board for a shortened season on relatively short notice.

"I was getting emails and text messages from all across the province, just from parents and from players and from coaches from all over the southern half of the province just thanking us for putting the league together and really excited to be able to see players in action again.  It sounded like there were some close games and some great action all over the province.  Just really exciting to see everything come together here."

Next up for the Rampage is a weekend in Regina July 10-11.