The Rockyview Silvertips of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) are getting ready for a big 2024 season that will see them making a long awaited return to Airdrie and playing host to the 2024 Larry Bishop Memorial up.
The Silvertips, a Junior B Tier One team that played in Cochrane the last few years, decided to return to Airdrie permanently following the end of the 2023 season, which saw them finish atop the league standings with a record of 16-3-1.
Recently, the Silvertips completed their 2024 draft class, adding 10 new players to their ranks. Silvertips general manager Darren Deitz said that the team has formally completed the move to Airdrie, and that the primary focus is getting their newest players some floor time.
“We've added some really talented young men with good character and we are excited to see them compete for spots,” said Deitz, who added that of the 10 players the Silvertips drafted, five of them are graduates of the Rocky View Minor Lacrosse (RVML).
Deitz said that the majority of the Silvertips players and personnel call Calgary and the surrounding area home, and having the team based in Airdrie will help them strengthen their connection to the community.
“We want to tap into that and strengthen our relationship with the minor program because, in turn, we hope we can have some of them out to cheer on our guys as well,” said Deitz. “A large percentage of the players in RVML are based in the Airdrie area and we'll [hopefully] be able to continue strengthening that.”
Deitz said all roster spots will have to be earned.
“No spot is a given, even veterans have to compete for spots," he stated. "We drafted some really talented guys that are gonna compete hard.”
Back in November the news of the move from Cochrane to Airdrie came out, and since then, Deitz, who has been the Silvertips general manager since 2019, said the team has been working to re-establish the connections the team once had with the community.
“When we made the decision to move, we intended for it to be for the long term so over time we want to tap into the community and get more involved,” said Deitz, who mentioned that the team has already committed to helping out with RVML Rage Days in mid-April where Silvertips players will be out interacting with minor lacrosse players from Airdrie.
Rage Days will only be one of the ways that the Silvertips will be looking to integrate themselves with the Airdrie community. Deitz mentioned that–while nothing is official–the team has been looking for more opportunities to become more engaged in the community and the younger teams that lie within.
“We're settling in nice,” said Deitz. “We have only had a few floor times but we're excited to work with the minor lacrosse association to help them out in the community.”
According to Deitz, the start of this year's season will commence the final weekend of April, but no schedule has officially been released yet. For fans that haven’t seen the Silvertips play or are unfamiliar with the brand of lacrosse played in the RMLL, Deitz said that they can set their expectations high.
“We finished 1st last season so we put a competitive team on the floor and we try to do better every year but we have very passionate fans and we hope for that to continue,” he said. “It's very entertaining [game] and there are a number of people I talk to that don't typically follow the sport and they come back wanting to see more.”
