NEWS

AJAX — The Ironheads will finally have a name to match their home.

Although the Jr. B lacrosse team has played out of the Ajax Community Centre for the past seven years, the name had technically remained the Markham Ironheads, affiliated with that community despite not having played at the Mount Joy Community Centre since the 2009 season.

When the 2017 season kicks off, however, there will be no confusion: it will be the West Durham Ironheads taking to the floor for the April 27 opener in Brampton.

The Ironheads and West Durham Minor Lacrosse Association announced their new partnership April 6 at the Ajax Community Centre.

“We’ve always had a good relationship with West Durham, but long-term, to sustain a junior program, this is huge for us,” said Ron Reed, general manager and head coach of the Ironheads. “This is big-time for us as far as sustaining the program and taking us hopefully to the next level. We can get players coming through the whole entire organization playing high-level rep ball and then a natural progression for them into the Jr. B program.”

The move appears to be a win-win for lacrosse in Pickering and Ajax, and was greeted enthusiastically by Bill Elliott, president of the West Durham Rockmen organization for the past nine-plus years.

The WDMLA offers house league programs from SoftLax, a parent and player program for kids born in 2013 and 2014, right through to intermediate for players born from 1996 to 2000, and has rep teams from tyke through to intermediate.

“I think it will be better for our program, for our players,” said Elliott of the junior affiliation. “It will give them more visibility of where they can go with the program, and hopefully keep them in the game longer. It’s all about the players.”

The Ironheads play the majority of their home games on Wednesday nights, beginning with the home opener May 3 against the Brampton Excelsiors. The plan is to have minor lacrosse days on game nights throughout the season, focusing weekly on a particular age group.

“We’ll hopefully get more of a bond here with the team and the boys will see the way forwards with their careers,” Elliott explained. “I think now that they’re a West Durham team, the fans will be out here more.”

The Ironheads have struggled over the years to be a .500 lacrosse team and make the playoffs, and when they have, they've drawn a tough opponent in the first round and haven't lasted long.

Although Reed admitted it’s difficult to compete with the likes of the Green Gaels, a Whitby team that plays out of Bowmanville and draws from a larger, lacrosse-rich territory, he hopes the long-term affect of the new affiliation will see the team move up the food chain.

“The ultimate goal is obviously to win a championship,” he said. “We have some very tough competition when you’re talking about a team like the Gaels and the amount of feeder teams that they have … Our goal not only is to make the playoffs but to win some rounds in the playoffs and who knows where that will take you.”

With training camp just underway, Reed said it’s too early to know the makeup of the team, but the Ironheads lose only two players to graduation from last year, captain Matt Fountain and Mike Berger. Reed expects at least a couple of others to make Jr. A and isn’t certain about the return of some others at college in the United States.

Reed is optimistic about some of the young talent that will be advancing from the WDMLA.

“The crop of kids coming up looks pretty good, but it’s a big jump to come from midget to junior,” he said. “There’s still a lot of variables at this point.”

The Ironheads reached the playoffs last season with an 8-12 record before being swept in the first round of playoffs by Akwesasne.