When you’ve been to the height of junior lacrosse as a player, it’s only natural to pursue those dreams as a coach.
Geoff Thompson, a Minto Cup champion in 1997, is bringing his considerable lacrosse pedigree to the Murray Arena this season as the new head coach of the Okotoks Junior B Marauders.
“I come from a small town in Ontario, Huntsville, which takes back to the Oshawa Green Gaels days where my dad and a lot of his teammates played for and won five Minto Cups,” he said. “And then I was fortunate enough to play with Whitby in 1997 and I won the Minto Cup under Jim Bishop who was the same coach that my dad won Minto Cups under.”
Thompson is hoping to add to that championship resume in Okotoks, taking over the head coaching duties from Don Haynes, who’s on the staff as an assistant coach.
“I’ve been in Alberta for just over 10 years and after COVID decided I wanted to get back into some coaching,” said Thompson. “I started with the Axemen program in their minor-system and worked with the Calgary Jr. Roughnecks program as well.”
Connections through the latter helped to lay the path towards an opportunity in Okotoks after getting to know team manager Steve Harlow and a handful of players along with chances to help out at senior camps run by the Mountaineers.
“I got the opportunity to work with kids from all ages, coaching at the U13 level and then got to work with the older kids,” he said. “It’s really that passion for the game and knowing you can have an influence on these guys at a different level coming from my playing days at a higher level.
“I love the element that kids are super coachable at this age and really getting into that adulthood element of life.”
Thompson coached briefly at the junior level when he was playing senior in Ontario before his playing career took him to stops in Brooklyn then North Shore and Langley in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
The Marauders have been building for the season since December floor times and have been ramped up for a couple of months of training along with a trio of exhibition games. Okotoks finished last season second in the division with an 11-8-1 record and made it to the second round of the playoffs.
“It’s really looking positive right now,” Thompson said. “We’ve talked a lot about the process, that you can’t win playoff games or championships this early in the season, so we continue to focus on the process.”
Offensively, Thompson cited veteran attackers Owen Williams, Max Pocherewny and Jacob Harlow as key contributors along with Drew Dunbar, their 13th overall selection in the draft.
The strong rookie class will also have a lot of opportunities to earn playing time in defensive and transition roles, the coach added.
In goal, the Marauders will have familiarity with the likes of Carter Webber, Ashton De Groot and Carson Sproul poised to return to the floor.
“The first step is to make sure we’re working hard through the season and making the playoffs,” he said. “Step one is the playoffs and then that process starts to turn to the Founders’ Cup after that.
“I truly believe that if we’re building off the fundamentals and playing the game the right way, that come the end of July, August, we’re fighting for that provincial championship and onto a Canadian championship.”
Okotoks opens its season at home on April 27 versus the Southern Alberta Rockies, a 6 p.m. start at the Murray Arena.
For more information, go to rockymountainlax.com/junior-b-tier-1.
