CORNER BROOK Ron Dobbin picked up a new pair of glasses earlier this week.
Perhaps to aid him in his self-appointed role as the “eyes in the stands” for the west coast members of the Newfoundland and Labrador bantam lacrosse team as they prepare to join their east coast teammates as one unit at the 2011 Bantam Lacrosse Championship of Canada in Whity, Ont.
While head coach Sean Fitzgerald works with the boys in St. John’s, Dobbin essentially took it upon himself to introduce the sport to seven west coast kids — including his two sons James and Christopher. Joining them are Brandon Bragg, Andrew Stone and Justin Brake, all also of Corner Brook, and Billy Joy and Julien Guignard of Stephenville. The other seven members of the team hail from the capital city.
Dobbin began working with the boys in March, when they were all greener than the grass lacrosse is usually played on. Although this version — known as box lacrosse — is played indoors, the basic idea remains the same and both versions are plenty physical, which is a big part of why the west coast kids are so vital to the provincial team, according to Dobbin.
“Look at the size of them,” he said during a group workout at the Pepsi Centre Monday night. “The St. John’s kids are not as big as these boys are ... James, Christopher and Brandon are the size of kids that will play for Ontario and B.C. They can cope with them and it will take the pressure off the smaller kids.”
Being physically gifted is fine, but a certain level of talent for the game would also help at a national competition, the first in which this province will enter a team. A recent camp in St. John’s that saw the entire team practice together and play exhibition matches against the provincial midget squad demonstrated the talent portion is coming along nicely as well.
“I spoke with (coach Fitzgerald) after the camp was over and he said it was amazing how far along they’ve come in just four months,” Dobbin said. “He said it was incredible the difference between what he saw back in April and what he saw now.”
The sport isn’t for the weak of heart.
Dobbin, who coached the game for 12 years in Toronto from novice right up to junior, describes it as more physical than hockey, but not as dirty as the ice sport can get.
“In hockey, you’re on blades and if you lose control you don’t know where you’re going to end up,” he said. “In lacrosse, you’re on your feet and you learn to take the hit. That was one of the reasons why they played against the midgets — because (Fitzgerald) knew the boys could hit, but he wanted to see whether they could take it too, and they did.
The first day of the tournament, Sunday, has a full slate of games, with Newfoundland playing New Brunswick first. That will allow the boys to sit and watch all the other provinces the rest of the day and, according to Dobbin, it’ll likely be a jaw-dropping experience for them.
“They’ll sit with their mouths open,” he predicted. “They’ll see the difference in the speed ... these kids have been playing lacrosse for years and the things they can do with the ball — incredible.”
With that in mind, the main objective for this particular competition is to come back as better lacrosse players than when they left. Of the 10 teams involved — two of which are from Ontario — Dobbin figures four of the teams the Newfoundland team will play should provide competitive games.
The other six? Well, they’re going to be much stronger.
Grand design
But that’s not a problem for Dobbin, who isn’t involved with the team in any official capacity even though his fingerprints are all over the basic training of the west coast kids.
His grand design in all this is to introduce lacrosse as an option in this area of the province, where it previously had little to no exposure. He plans to create a little lacrosse league once the summer is over and the kids are back in school.
“You’ve got your baseball, soccer and hockey,” he said.
“My intention is getting this thing organized is not to interfere with anything else on the go, because these kids have all played these sports for years, but a lot of this started with kids who don’t play hockey because it gives them a sport to play in the wintertime as well because you can play this sport for 12 months of the year.
“Will it take off here? Yes, there’s no question.”
Other than the fun and challenge of learning a new sport, Dobbin points at the benefits the game provides those who are still hoping to excel in other sports.
“Look at the kid who got drafted this year at five overall (Ryan Strome, by the New York Islanders),” he said.
“He attributed, and all the scouts attributed, his success to the fact in the wintertime he plays hockey and in the summertime he plays lacrosse.
“His hand-eye co-ordination has improved so much and that’s exactly what these kids are going to find out too,” he added.
“They will learn to trust their judgement ... in the first three months they’d reach for the ball, they’d always be looking at their stick and they might miss it. Now the stick goes up and they don’t even look at it.”
