Rush on in Saskatoon as pro lacrosse team preps for season

Local sports fans may not know a lot about the newly arrived Saskatchewan Rush of the National Lacrosse League, but as the pro team hosts its first training camp in Saskatoon, since relocating from Edmonton, one thing is clear: they don't waste any time.

I think winning will help.- Derek Keenan 

"Lots of pace, temp, physicality, we like to get after it," said head coach and general manager Derek Keenan.

"The fitness level has to be really high. There are only nine teams in our league now, there are 180 jobs, so they are the best players in the world, and so you have to be prepared physically."

The Rush, while somewhat unknown in Saskatoon, is the league's defending champion. The team moved from Edmonton in the off-season, and has every intention of hanging on to the title. The players and the hopefuls have arrived in their new home city to sharpen up and get ready to play.

Vagabond nature of lacrosse a challenge for all teams

One of the reasons they're in a rush to whip the players back into game shape, Keenan said, is that team members are rolling stones, without roots in Saskatoon. Most fly in for the games, with only enough time to practice the night before.

This is the reality of pro lacrosse, according to Keenan. He said Rush players don't make enough to quit their day jobs, so they have to make money in other ways.

"Teachers, police officers, accountants, finance guys; we have a couple of students. So yes there is not enough money in it yet, and I don't know if there will be in my lifetime to make it a full time living, so that's kind of the way our league rolls."

So how will this vagabond team win fans in its new home?

"I think winning will help," laughed Keenan.

The Rush opens its season in Saskatoon early in the New Year.