HUNTSVILLE - The Huntsville High School boys’ field lacrosse team is ready for the 2012 Muskoka-Parry Sound League play.
The Hoyas, who will take on Gravenhurst, Bracebridge-Muskoka Lakes and Parry Sound in two round-robin tournaments this year, begin play this Friday in Parry Sound. The second leg of the league tournament is next Friday, May 11, in Bracebridge.
Gravenhurst will host the MPS championship on May 23.
Jim Higgs, the teacher supervisor/manager for the Hoyas, said that Huntsville is not hosting a leg in the MPS tournament because the school wants to concentrate its efforts on hosting its annual Huntsville Blackfly tournament, scheduled for May 16.
“We probably could have held an MPS tournament. The way it was set up in the past is that each town would host one tournament,” he said.
The tournament is expected to attract as many as seven other teams for the one-day event, to be held at Conroy Park.
The Hoyas are fielding a team of 24 players, and have been practicing two times a week for the past three weeks under the direction of coach Jason Rudge.
Higgs said the team is coming together very well in anticipation of their first game, which is at 9 a.m. in Parry Sound against the host Panthers.
“The team looks good. We have a lot of players who are junior-aged because of field lacrosse with Huntsville minor lacrosse, which has really helped. Usually we don’t have that many juniors, but because of that program we do,” he said.
The winners of the MPS tournament would automatically qualify for their respective divisions at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships since there is no Georgian Bay association championship tournament.
According to Higgs, Huntsville will try to beat out Bracebridge-Muskoka Lakes for their MPS title and to see who would qualify for the triple-A playoffs, while Gravenhurst and Parry Sound will battle to see who will represent the region in the double-A group.
Bracebridge-Muskoka Lakes represented the region last year at the triple-A provincials, while Gravenhurst was the double-A representative.
The triple-A provincials, which Huntsville is shooting for, will be held in Mississauga June 7 to 8.