Music secret weapon at Saskatchewan Rush games

In most professional sports leagues, when the whistle blows, the team DJ kills the music. But not for the Saskatchewan Rush.

The newly-minted lacrosse team pumps out the tunes for the entire length of the game, whether the ball is in play or not.

"The entire concept of lacrosse is to have music playing for the entire time," said Rush DJ Trystan Meyers. "From the minute you walk into the arena until the minute you leave, there will be music playing the entire time."

And the team tries to use music to its advantage. Meyers will change the music depending on whether the Rush, or the opposing team, has the ball.

"When we have possession of the ball, the music is high-energy and loud," said Meyers. "When the opposition has the ball, the music is about a quarter volume and lower energy."

Meyers said using music as a weapon can work in the team's advantage.

"The philosophy behind that is to pump up the crowd and the players when we have the ball for a scoring chance, and it's also quieter when they have the ball, so that our defence can talk and coordinate defensive plays to regain the ball.

Even the crowd can get into the action. Spectators can use the hashtag #rushdj to put in requests. That doesn't mean everything will be played, however.

"Stuff like Gangnam Style or the Macarena, something overly cheesy, like that," he said. "The players may not like a few songs, but if the crowd gets into it, singing along, it feeds their energy, so they can't really be mad at that."