The annual Bridge City polocrosse tournament is moving to a new location this year.
It will be held at the Sunny Plain Ranch, roughly 40 minutes southeast of Saskatoon. The field was built from scratch on a farm.
Polocrosse, a combination of polo and lacrosse has been gaining popularity, primarily through the prairies as of late, with events here attracting teams from across Canada, North America and even around the globe.
One member of the family team participating in this year’s event, Gayle Smith, says the sport has become a generational event for the family, as they compete yearly.
“It’s so satisfying to have family involved, that’s a huge part of it for me. We will have my 13-year-old grandson playing this year as well,” said Smith.
“Three generations of our family play polocrosse.”
Smith’s son-in-law Lance will be playing in his second season of polocrosse tournaments.
“It’s nice to have our own field and share it with the polocrosse world,” said player and team member Lance Fradette.
There are three players on each side, on offence, midfield and defence in their respective zones. Each player rides a horse and carries a racket similar to a lacrosse racket, that can throw and scoop up the ball.
The goal is to throw the ball between the two goal posts at either end of the field.
“We will also be running a basics of Polocrosse clinic for people of all skill levels, being taught by a lady from Texas who is coming up here,” added Smith.
“Clubs seem to be growing each year, especially in Saskatchewan. I grew up playing basketball primarily and played a lot of team sports, the awesome thing about polocrosse is the team sport aspect. Not a lot of equine activities or sports are team-oriented,” said Fradette.
The tournament runs from August 27 and 28 with the clinic being held before the tournament gets underway.
For more information the Bridge City polocrosse Facebook page.
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