They might be a little bit older but they never lost the love they had for the game of their youth.
That is why over 200 lacrosse players were in Fergus on the weekend of June 4 and 5 to take part in the Halton Hills Rams Master Lacrosse tournament.
Bob Foster, of Fergus, plays on the Rams and was one of the organizers of the event. He noted that in a take-off of the Halton Hills team name, the tournament was dubbed the “Goats Classic.”
It had two division: the senior masters, for those over age 35, and the junior masters, for those between ages 21 and 34. The age rule is set, but all players have to be one year removed from competitive lacrosse.
“This is all about physical fitness and enjoying the game and playing the game we all enjoyed growing up,” said Foster, who is one of several players from Fergus on the Halton Hills team.
And, he added, the game these seniors play is more than just a pick-up game that many seniors continue after their playing days are over. He said it is a “competitive” seniors lacrosse.
There were 11 senior masters teams and seven junior masters. The scores from the final rounds indicated just how competitive the games could be.
In the junior division, Welland shut down Whitby 8-0 in the A division. Toronto beat Orangeville 6-3 in the B final.
Brampton topped Aurora 12-5 in the C division, and Orangeville beat Mimico 6-2 in the D final.
Orangeville played twice in the title round because the tournament had an odd number of junior teams.
In the senior division, the hometown Halton Hills Rams made it to the A final before being downed 5-3 by Huntsville.
In the B final, two Six Nations teams met, with Six Nations A beating Six Nations Rez Dogs 15-2.
In the C final, Brampton beat Toronto Beaches 6-5. In the D final, Owen Sound topped Niagara 12-8.
In the E final, London edged Durham Region 5-3, and in the F final, Oakville beat six Nations 9-8.
Six Nations played twice in the final round because of an odd number of senior division teams.
Foster said a great time was had by all and there were 200 men in town for the weekend.
He added it was a very good tournament. The pool results were very close with several teams having two wins and one loss in the first three rounds.
The games were so close tournament officials had to use a tiebreaker formula to establish the finals, including such statistics as fewest penalty minutes and lowest goals against.
