High expectations for Junior B Athletics
St. Catharines Athletics general manager Jeff Chcoski, left, with Junior B head coach Alec Tamas, right. Photo by: BILL POTRECZ
The St. Catharines WMKL Junior B Athletics plan to serve a dual purpose this season.
The A’s will not only act as an affiliate of the Junior A Athletics, but head coach Alec Tamas and his staff also have their sights set on competing to be a top team in the Ontario Lacrosse League standings.
“It’s a tough balance,” said Tamas, who is in his first full season at the helm. “You want to win, but at the end of the day, our job is to get these guys from B up to Junior A. Our goal is to teach and also make them into better people, better men.
“It’s been great so far. We have so much depth in our organization. It’s been pretty easy to balance so far but I think we have a super competitive team that has a chance to make some noise.”
Tamas will be assisted by former Junior A Athletics Alex Pace (defence) with Sam Leclair and Jeff Wittig helping the offence.
“We’re going to be a very fast team, a very smart team,” Tamas said. “We have a lot of NLL (National Lacrosse League) players on our coaching staff to teach them that fast-paced, play both ways, really smart style of play.
“They really help me out a lot.”
The Junior B Athletics begin regular season play Friday, April 29 at home to the Cambridge Highlanders at Canada Games Park and will have played almost half their regular season before the Junior A Athletics take to the floor for their opener May 22 at Six Nations.
Jeff Chcoski handles general manager duties for both squads and will be keeping an close eye on the Bs.
“Talking to Alec and his staff, with them playing eight or nine games beforehand, if we see one or two or three kids that are sticking out, they will definitely be on our opening day roster,” Chcoski said. “As we open up (practice, May 3) we will be bringing out a bunch of players with us so we can keep watching them.”
Chcoski is also pumped with the level of talent at the junior B level.
“I think they are going to be super good,” he said. “They are still super young. This whole process is still super young. Both teams are looking at a two to three year window to win at both levels. They will be young but from what I see they will be very athletic and very fast.”
The Athletics took over the Junior B program from the St. Catharines Spartans in the fall of 2021 and now have a full season under their belts running both teams.
“This year we’ll make sure that transition is a little smoother,” Chcoski said. “We weren’t quite sure who should be where but as things progressed, it makes it easy for us. It really does make it easy that we are under one umbrella as one team and one family.”
Tamas also feels more comfortable after taking over head coaching duties part way through last season.
“That year gave us so much experience, even coming off a COVID, we didn’t really know where the kids were sitting at after sitting out for a couple of years,” he said. “Now with everyone coming back and running the program — we have a ton of returning players and a lot of experience, a lot of veteran leadership — that’s been helping me out too.
“I learned so much last year. It was my first full year as head coach behind the bench. It helped me out a lot getting ready for this year.”
The Junior Bs still have a few final roster spots to figure out before the opener next week.
“It’s crunch time,” Tamas said. “Not a lot of time to get ready for our first game. We still have to trim down a little bit and guys are away at school who will be coming back. We have a handful of decisions we have to make still.”
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